Had a couple of hundred hours on the Vampire III&V single seaters on 20 Sqn (Valley '50-'51) and (cadged) hours on 608 (Auxiliary) Sqn ('51-'52). Know nothing about the T-11 (which only entered service in Jan '52 (Wiki). 608 never had a T-11, but a Meteor T-7 for I/F and ratings.
The only time we worried about the tarmac was after a "wet start". Pushing the tail down would empty the tail pipe of unburned fuel into a pool (on the tarmac ?) in which the aircraft was now sitting. We pushed it back clear of the fuel and lit the blue paper. This produced a big "whoomph !" and a fearsome 50-foot flame out of the back for a second or two, after which we taxied off and paid no further heed to the surface below.
After shut-down, the tailpipe was very hot (and not at all smelly, as the heat had burned off any last drops of Avtur). It was commonpace for an erk, who'd bought a cold meat pie from the NAAFI van on a cold morning, to park it inside the pipe to warm up. So our "walk round" always included a look for a pie up the pipe !
Lovely little aircraft to handle, ground vis phenomenal, believe it made a good trainer. Perhaps the T-11 had the tail aimed closer to the ground than the monopostos ?
Danny.