Vampire over Cambridgeshire today
 

With such an eerie silence within the Cambridgeshire skies of late (other than the very occassional Lakenheath / Mildenhall jets) what an absolute delight today to see and hear a beautiful, sleek Vampire gracing the sky over Ramsey / Upwood way. It was obviously enjoying itself up there, in the clear blue sky and sunshine, with a few gentle wing overs, 1/2 Horiz '8s and 1/2 Cubans. It was here about midday. Watching it took me right back to my early JP days up at Linton.

I'm sure there must have been several ex-RAF chaps lazing / working in their gardens around here ( it was very much an Air Force area in days gone by) and so I wondered if any others saw it ? . . . though how could they have possibly missed it ?!!? The colour scheme was the normal silver / grey and I'm guessing it may be Duxford based, perhaps ?

But I was wondering if anyone knows any more about it ? Is it Duxford based ? Who owns it / flys it ?

Whoever it was, please do come again; I'll be in the garden for the next month or two ! :D

T11 WZ507 owned by the Vampire Preservation Group based at Coventry made 2 flights today.

T.11, WZ507 is now the sole remaining airworthy Vampire in the UK.

It used to be based at North Weald. Here is an A2A of it over the QE2 Bridge

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An interesting take off

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And returning to land

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That brings back a few happy memories.

Was it that aircraft which ripped up a chunk of runway at Halfpenny Green?

Brilliant, so many memories - thank youi!

Bill

What a sight! I well recall as a kid seeing the Vintage Pair out of Little Rissie back in the 70's playing over Gloucestershire in the good old days. Great to see one still flying as believe the VP duo were sadly lost in separate accidents - along with crew directly/indirectly. Here's to many more safe hours in the air for that T11!

Beautiful.... simply Beautiful.

A closer look at the landing image gives the impression the pilot is wearing a shirt and tie.

Now that is going to work in ‘the office’!

TN.

Let’s not forget the men and women who assembled that jet 70 years ago, most if not all of them probably long since dead, but the quality of their work lives on. Something I would imagine they were really proud of.

Not quite all the work was top notch! We had a brand new Vampire T11 arrive on the line at RAF Swinderby in 1956 that everyone wanted to fly. I was lucky and got my hands on it very early on for a solo medium level aerobatics sortie. Half way through a high speed loop there was a loud bang and the plane flicked violently. I levelled off and looked out at the left wing, which was trying to drop and had changed colour from silver to green. During my return to Swinderby I had to hold up the wing, more particularly on finals to land. The aircraft was dismantled and sent to an MU and we received the result of the inquiry a few weeks later. One wing had been made at De Havilland Hatfield and the other at Broughton Cheshire. As they were different one had to be built up with filler to match the other! Normally they were in pairs, but this Vampire was not, even though it looked wonderful!

.....and did it come back to Swinderby?
I was on the last course at 8 FTS, there, and remember one aircraft which became quite “excitable” at high Mach numbers, well, high Mach numbers for a T11 ( .8?).

Cant say the looked particularly beautiful in 1964, getting very tired !

So sad to drive past Swinderby on the A46 to see its state if dereliction.

That said, have you ever driven into the new village on what was the domestic site, it's alive and vibrant.

As an 18 year old they were all beautifull, especially the new ones, although I preferred the single seat Mk5's and 9's even though they looked clapped/worn out.

The norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron operates a single seat Vampire along with a trainer. They have used North Wedald as their summer airshow base several times. These images are from their 2016 visit.

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I could never see the attraction for the T11. It was very sluggish compared to the 5s and 9s although it did have bang seats and a fire extinguisher! But nothing could compare to the T33.

pontiflex, you were obviously trained in the prairies!

Well, yes I have, but perhaps age is catching up with me. I still remember it as the place when as a spotty faced youth of 19 I was let loose in a high (Ish) performance jet ! . Living in the excellent mess AND getting paid for it,

Nearest experience I had to flying a Mosquito !

Ah, the memories !

Broughton is in Wales, Cheshire is in England!