- Yes
- No
De Havilland Vampire T.55
History:
In 1953 the FACH (Chilean Air Force) was worried because at that time the only combat aircraft available were the old P-47 Thunderbolt, B-25 Mitchell and Catalinas, this was worrying since in those years Chile’s neighbors were already beginning to buy their first Jets, especially Argentina that had acquired 100 Gloster Meteor Mk 4 from Great Britain, something that could not be ignored. For this reason, attempts were made to negotiate the acquisition of the F-80C and T-33A from the United States, both negotiable through the PAM (mutual aid pact), but the United States was not willing to do this because they did not want to alter the stability of the region. Another reason was that there was a shortage of these aircraft due to the Korean War (These aircraft would later also be acquired by Chile in 1956).
For this reason, Chile decided to accept an offer from the United Kingdom for De Havilland Vampire T.55 jets, which were an export version of the T.11 model used in the United Kingdom. This version was also known as the DH.115 Vampire Trainer, as it had two seats for the pilot and the student. Despite being considered trainer jets, they had all the available armament present in the single-seat Vampires, they had 4 Hispano Mk.V 20 mm cannons with 600 rounds as their main armament, although if the plane was piloted by 2 people, 2 cannons had to be removed due to the center of gravity. They also had hardpoints for carrying bombs, rockets, and fuel tanks with a capacity of up to 1,000 lb in weight on each wing.
Thus, on October 21, 1953, a contract was signed for the purchase of five Vampire T.55 (J-01 to J-05) for a total sum of £256,486. This material would be assigned to the 7th Aviation Group, with all aircraft delivered by 1954. These new jets featured the latest type of single-piece cockpit, a cabin heating and cooling system, two retractable Ferranti MK IVE gyroscopic sights per aircraft, a recording camera and two STR-9X VHF systems per aircraft, detachable 100-gallon tanks, Mk8 rocket pods, and EM/EF bomb racks. Unfortunately, on September 7, 1954, the Vampire J-03 would be lost in an accident.
In January 1955 a ceremony was held to celebrate the end of the “assistants course” attended by the country’s defense minister and other senior military officials, on this occasion an aerial and static demonstration of the new Vampires was carried out showing their 20 mm cannons and RP-3 rockets without explosive warhead, below I show you a video of the Vampire exhibition in Chile.
By the end of 1955, the first insignia for the 7th Aviation Group was designed. It consisted of the popular characters “Tom and Jerry” having a boxing match in the clouds. Although it was not an official insignia, it was also used on the pilots’ flight uniforms.
On April 22, 1957, the FACH acquired a new Vampire T.55, which was touring South America with the aim of generating interest in other countries in the region. This aircraft wore the typical British camouflage: dark olive green with ocean gray on the upper wings and light gray on the lower wings. It was equipped with Martin-Baker ejection seats and an ADF Marconi radiocompass, equipment that the Chilean Vampires did not have. The new Vampire T.55 was painted with the Chilean national insignia and given the designation J-304, before the other T.55s received the new three-digit numbering.
By February 1965, the Vampires were transferred to the north of the country to be operated by the 8th Aviation Group, which only operated bombers, so they had to adapt to using fighter jets. The Vampires would now use the winged bomb insignia that characterized the 8th Aviation Group. Due to tensions bordering on 1967, the head of the Vampire squadron decided to equip the Vampires with rocket launchers for HVAR rockets and 100 lb bomb carriers, and launch rails for 80 mm SURA rockets were added.
Finally, by 1972, four Vampire T.55s were decommissioned, leaving only Vampire number J-301 in service until 1980, as it had the fewest flight hours. This was the case because in 1972 a second batch of Vampires was acquired, this time of Vampire T.11 and Sea Vampire T.22 models, all belonging to Great Britain, which would extend the history of these aircraft for a few more years in Chile. However, the history of the other two models will be explored in another suggestion.
Specifications:
- Crew:
- 1 or 2
- Armament:
- Primary: 4 x 20mm Hispano MK.V cannons
- Secondary:
- Bombs: 2x 1000 lb bombs, 2x 500 lb bombs, 2x 100 lb bombs
- Rockets: 4x HVAR rockets, 8x SURA rockets, 8x RP-3 rockets
- Dimensions:
- Lenght: 10.34 m
- Wingspan: 12 m
- Height: 2 m
- Weight empty: 3347 kg
- Max Takeoff Weight: 5298 kg
- Performance:
- Powerplant: De Havilland Goblin 35, thrust of 1590 kgf
- Maximum Speed: 885 km/h at 6100 m, 866 km/h at sea level
- Rate of climb: 22.9 m/s
- Service ceiling: 12200 m
Photos:
Sources:
- https://museoaeronautico.dgac.gob.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/avion_vampire.pdf
- Amazon.com
- De Havilland Vampire The Complete History by David Watkins