De Havilland Vampire

what is it?

The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by a single jet engine. Development of the Vampire as an experimental aircraft began in 1941 during the Second World War, to exploit the revolutionary innovation of jet propulsion.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · mid wing · retractable tricycle gear · 11.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 882 km/htop speed
• size 5,620 kgmax take-off weight
• built 3,268made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 83 years ago, in 1943.
• 🏎️Top speed is 6.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.6 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.5× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1943-09-20

introduced

1945

retired

1979

status

retired

number built

3,268

role

fighter aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

de Havilland Aircraft Company

engines

1× de Havilland Goblin 3

crew

1

length

9.4 m

wingspan

11.6 m

height

2.7 m

max take-off weight

5,620 kg

top speed

882 km/h

range

—

ceiling

13,045 m

wings

mid wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.