50th Anniversary of the Royal Australian Air ForcePrint Page

This De Havilland Vampire Jet commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), formed March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force.  It directly continues the traditions of the second oldest Air Force in the world, the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and humanitarian support.

The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire was a British jet-engine fighter. The DH.100 Vampire was commissioned by the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) during the Second World War, and was the second jet fighter to enter service with the RAF, after the pioneering Gloster Meteor. Although the Vampire arrived too late to see combat during the war, it served with front line RAF squadrons until 1955, and continued in use as a trainer until 1966.

In Australia, the first Vampire F30 fighter (A79-1) flew in June 1949, and it was followed by 56 more F30 variants before the final 23 aircraft were completed as FB31s with strengthened and clipped wings with underwing hardpoints. The last FB31 was delivered in August 1953, and 24 late-production F30s were subsequently upgraded to FB31 standard. Single seat Vampires were retired in the RAAF in 1954.
 

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