Pioneers across the Pond

The inside story of how No 54 Squadron’s DH Vampire F3s became the first jet fighters to fly trans-Atlantic RAF 100 TRANS-ATLANTIC VAMPIRES No 54 Squadron’s new Vampire F3s lined up at RAF Odiham, Hampshire, prior to the trans- Atlantic flight. AEROPLANE The place of No 54 Squadron among the pioneers of the early jet age is assured. In 1947 it had formed the RAF’s first jet aerobatic team, a three-ship of de Havilland Vampire Is led by the unit’s