The Vampire began as an experimental aircraft with design work beginning at the de Havilland works at Hatfield in mid 1942. Originally named the ‘Spider Crab’, the aircraft was entirely a de Havilland project, exploiting the company’s extensive experience in using moulded plywood for aircraft construction, as used in the Mosquito bomber. It […]
As early as 1949 the RAAF began planning a replacement jet fighter for the locally-built CAC Mustang and DHA Vampire. Successive aircraft under consideration included the Grumman Panther; the proposed CAC large, twin-jet, all-weather CA-23 fighter; and the Hawker P.1081. In the event, Gloster Meteors were obtained in 1951 for service with 77 Squadron […]
A65-94 was built in Oklahoma city as a C-47B-30-DK and was delivered to the USAF on 20 April 1945 registered as 44-76774. The aircraft was then delivered to the RAAF on 2 May 1945 as A65-94 with a domestic registration of ‘VH-RFK’ and served in 38, 36 and then 34 […]