Things are moving along with the Vampire.  Mary Ellen Conrado out from the US to volunteer with HARS has done a great job on the fantastic work ably assisted by John Davis.  After further finishing work involving, among other things, applying reinforcing patches and tapes, then plan is to move the fuselage into hangars 2 [...]

Work has continued on Vampire 673 with the removal of both left and right hand wing sections.  With the Vampire now completely disassembled, Terry and the team will begin the tedious inspection processes required to bring A79-637 back to flight.

On 22 May, HARS members removed the Goblin engine from Vampire A79-637 as part of the recently renewed restoration activities on that wonderful de Havilland aeroplane with its antecedents at the very beginning of the Jet era of aviation. Work on removing the engine began on 21 May, with Vampire team members ensuring that all [...]

Restoration work on Vampire A79-637 is now back on track under the project management of HARS member Terry Wilson.  A special Vampire Quarantine area has been established and marked out to ensure no unwanted parts or materials contaminate the restoration workspace. The rear booms of the Vampire have been successfully removed and are now freestanding. [...]

The Vampire began as an experimental aircraft with design work beginning at the de Havilland works at Hatfield in mid 1942. Originally named the ‘Spider Crab’, the aircraft was entirely a de Havilland project, exploiting the company’s extensive experience in using moulded plywood for aircraft construction, as used in the Mosquito bomber. It was the last time composite [...]