De Havilland D.H.100 Vampire FB Mk.5

By 1947, the RAF leadership had already decided to use the Gloster Meteor as the main fighter type, and the Vampire lost the opportunity to be used in its original role. However, De Havilland in turn proposed a combat modification of the Vampire, which coincided with the RAF's interest expressed a year earlier in a combat Vampire Mk.IV as a replacement for the Tempests. However, the Ministry of Supply required the use of the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, by then already tentatively built into the prototypes of the Vampire Mk.II. Problems with fitting the 150 kg heavier engine eventually led to the Vampire Mk.IV project being cancelled despite strong Canadian interest. The new fighter was therefore to be based on a fighter version of the F.3 with the proven Goblin engine, on which other changes originally intended for the Vampire IV were to be applied. This meant reinforced wings without end-arches, reinforced landing gear, ejection seat, armour around the engine, and armament with both the original four cannons in the nose and two petisetliber bombs under the wings and eight unguided rockets. However, work on a mock-up of the new version, designated GA Mk.5 and then FB Mk.5, stopped in July 1947 after the death of Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. in the wreckage of the experimental D.H.108 Swallow. Eventually, therefore, the first machine of the new version was not completed until the following year, and on 23 June 1948 VV214 made its maiden flight. Despite the specification, it was not possible to build a ejection seat into the Vampire because the fuselage was too narrow for the types of the time. One machine was given the originally requested Nene engine, to be sold later to France as the FB Mk.51 prototype. The main manufacturer was to be English Electric, but production also got underway at Hatfield, where about 300 were built. The first production machines were taken over by the RAF in 1948.

Due to the deteriorating international situation after the Berlin Crisis, it was decided to significantly modernise and expand the tactical air force units stationed in Germany. FB.5 was one of the basic types of this modernization, eventually reaching a total of 19 squadrons, such as the 3., 4., 67. and 266. In late 1952, the squadrons of the 2nd Tactical Air Army at Wunstorf were rearmed with the Venom FB.1 and by 1954, all units in Germany were gradually rearmed with the Venom and the Sabre. FB.5 Vampires also served with six squadrons in the Middle East and two in the Far East. The 60th Squadron at Tengah Air Base in Singapore received the FB.5 in December 1950, and by early the next year was engaged against communist insurgents in Malaya.

The biggest foreign user of this version was France, which, after trial operations of the Vampire F.1, bought a total of 94 FB.5s from the RAF from 1949. The FB.5 and French-licensed FB.51 Vampires took part in the fight against the Tunisian rebels in 1951 and also against the Algerians in 1955-1961. During the same period, several Vampires were taken over by the French Navy, which used them as trainers. The Italians also acquired FB.5s, but these were only five machines for verification, followed by already export and licensed versions.

Ten machines were bought by South Africa in 1950, where they became the first machines of a rather large vampire fleet. One Vampire FB.5 even made it to Egypt in 1949 despite the embargo. Venezuela similarly acquired 24 machines between 1949 and 1952, later supplemented by training T.55, and Venezuelan Vampires were among the machines used in the 1958 military mutiny. The last two known users of the Vampire FB.5 were New Zealand, which bought eight scrapped and scrapped machines in 1952 to replenish its FB.52 stock, Four more decommissioned British FB.5 Vampires and three FB.9 found their way to Lebanon in 1958 with American money.

RAF fighter planes using Vampire FB Mk.5



Other single machines flew at 45., 111. and 151. peruti, 226, 229, 233, 236 Operational Conversion Units, 202, 203, 206, 208, 210 Advanced Flying Schools, Central Flying School, Central Navigation and Control School, Central Navigation School, Far East Training Squadron, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Flying Training Schools, 102, 103 Flying Refresher Schools, Royal Air Force Ferry Command, and at many other units and bases as liaison.

Source:
www.vflintham.demon.co.uk via web.archive.org
http://www.rafweb.org/
forum.valka.cz

Foreign users of Vampire FB Mk.5
Foreign users of Vampire FB Mk.5



* test for the development of FB.31
** next under license as SNCASE Mistral
*** demonstration aircraft purchased by government

Source
www.worldairforces.com
http://www.adf-serials.com/nz-serials/

http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fighter/vampfb6.html

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