Reflections – DH Vampire

De Havilland Vampire

My first association with the Vampire was at Laverton in 1948.

My father was then an engineer officer with No 1 Aircraft Depot and had overseen the assembly of A78-1, an ex RAF Mk. 1 aircraft. I was on course at Point Cook and so quickly organised myself to be able to see my first jet. I have strong memories of sitting in the cockpit and wondering whether I would ever get to fly such an advanced machine.

The next time I sat in a Vampire cockpit was in 1954 at the start of my conversion to the aircraft. I had been nominated to go to the United Kingdom as a member of the advance party for one of the RAN’s new aircraft, the Gannet, and gas turbine experience was a pre-requisite.

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