My first flight

DHC-1 Chipmunk T10 WB627 with 5 AEF at Cambridge Airport in 1987 with the ATC.

The flight took us from Cambridge to over North Weald, then back via Duxford for a touch and go, and then back to Cambridge. The weather was perfect for flying.

WB627 is now an instructional fuselage with the CCF at Dulwich college, sadly now missing its wings and engine.

Since then it has been a mix of ultralights, spam cans and airliners!

Vampire NF.10 ID

Mark12

Vampire NF.10 WM704 23 Squadron. I have a photo of this aircraft taken on the 10th March 1953 in preparation for the coronation review flypast, so hopefully this narrows the date down to the correct year for you, as it is painted in exactly the same scheme/squadron codes.

Positive vampire ID for Tbirdman

Finally got the pic to work – I think.

T

Hi Tbirdman

The following vampires were on a goodwill visit to the SAAF in Capetown in May 1954. The Squadron took four aircraft:- WR207, WR211, WR193, WX227.

The aircraft that had the red flash (shown in your BW photo), in which you were photographed was WR211, it was in fact the 32 Squadron CO’s aircraft who at the time was J.H.A. ( Paddy ) Hemmingway.

I now have a group photo showing these 4 aircraft together.

G-ADAC

I knew I was something special! :rolleyes:

G-ADAC

MILES M2F HAWK MAJOR

Its a good book indeed….. are they planning a Hurricane one too?

I had a good look at the airframe yesterday after the airshow. It will represent a unique shape at future airshows. WW1 and interwar bi-planes are becoming better represented, and WW2 types are very well represented too.

The pre-WW2 RAF had Watts propeller driven hurricane and spitfires, short nosed Blenhiems, Gladiators and Battles. With the Blenhiem being converted, and a Battle project now in the UK, I wonder if anyone will restore a Hurricane or Spitfire to its early configuration? This would make an excellent pre-WW2 formation.

“In July 1945 the Lincoln programme was amended to include 61 Lincoln Bombers and 12 Avro Tudor airliners, (a pressurised airliner which shared the wing and engine design of the Lincoln) however despite creating a wooden mockup of the Tudor in 1948 the Tudor was dropped from Australian production plans and instead the order amended to 73 Lincoln Bombers.”

Hello Mark,

I note from reading the above taken from your excellent Project website http://www.aarg.com.au/Lincoln.htm that the Avro Tudor airliner shared many components with the Lincoln.

In researching the remaining de Havilland Sea Hornet 130 series Merlin engines, I have discovered that most were converted from the Mk102, latterly Mk600 Merlins that were intended to power the Tudor. The cancellation of this airliner variant meant the ever resourceful Rolls Royce, re-engineered them to power this fighter instead.

I’m sure the afterburner on the Vampire was purely an early attempt at getting one running in a flying airframe by de Havilland to explore the parameters. What was the first application of an afterburner that entered service use?

I doubt if heat was a the limiting factor for this Vampire installation, but as several have said here, radiated noise and vibration would have comprimised the surrounding structures.

A service use of this in the vampire would not have been practical even if the stuctural deficiencies had been overcome, as the fuel consumption would have rendered it with even less endurance than a Lightning owing to its limited capacity anyway! 😀