Looking for pics of Rhodesian Vampire "R1378"

[Reini78]

And further, were the RRAF FB.5(2) versions fitted with aircondition?

[junglierating]

?

 

[Reini78]

8 minutes ago, junglierating said:

?

 

Have decals for this aircraft, which is a FB.52, and consider to build it in the near future. Prefer to have pics of the real aircraft.

The Mk.9 Vampires had an air-condition housing in the area of the starboard air intake. Mk.5s were often retrofitted with aircondition in hot climate areas.

[junglierating]

Wheres the pics ?

[Selwyn]

49 minutes ago, junglierating said:

Wheres the pics ?

I think he's asking for pictures, although i have no idea what a "LF" picture is!

 

Selwyn

[junglierating]

1 hour ago, Selwyn said:

I think he's asking for pictures, although i have no idea what a "LF" picture is!

 

Selwyn

Oh I see ...a/c doesn't help either in my world and yours it means aircraft...but now I know about air con....its all in the context.

There was a big article in an 1980s SAM about Zimbabwe/Rhodesia...free decals too....I'll take a look at let Renei know

[David Womby]

16 hours ago, Reini78 said:

And further, were the RRAF FB.5(2) versions fitted with A/C?

Are you sure it was an FB5?  I thought the Rhodesian single seaters were FB9s and they all had air conditioning.

 

David

[Reini78]

LF means "looking for" 😉

 

As far as I know, Rhodesia initially only had Mk9, later they received Mk.5(2) from South Africa during the ongoing war in the 70ies.

[Britman]

LF? Fooled me! Please use long hand, it's easier to understand.

 

Keith

[Rabbit Leader]

My recent RRAF Vampire research also agrees with Reini’s, that Rhodesia substituted its original FB.9’s for ex SAAF FB.52’s sometime in the early seventies. The FB.9 Vampire has an extended starboard intake to house an A/C unit and these can be seen in the photos below. Although not conclusive, I’d say these ex SAAF Vampires were also fitted with the extended intake, but that’s my guesstimate! I’ll see what else I can dig up later.

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Here’s a restored one that’s captioned as an FB.52. So if this is a typical example, then I’d say yes to your air cond question. Hope this helps.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

[vampiredave]

You are obviously not looking in the right place:

 

Sixteen Vampire FB 9s, SR100 to SR115 (WX212, WX219, WX228, WX231 to WX223, WX235 to WX242, WX256 and WX260) were ferried from RAF Benson to Salisbury, with the first four aircraft (SR100 to SR103) arriving at New Salisbury Airport on 12 December 1953. These aircraft were delivered by Major A O G (Archie) Wilson, Lt D A (Dicky) Bradshaw, Lt Mike Schumann and Lt Charles H Paxton, all of whom had previously received their jet conversion training at No.208 AFS, RAF Merryfield. On 20 May 1954, a further batch of four aircraft (SR104 to SR107) was delivered and accompanied by a Vampire trainer (XD454) flown by two RAF instructors, Flt Lt E Richards and Flt Lt J Upton, to help with the jet conversion of the SRAF pilots. The order for Vampire FB 9s was completed on 4 May 1955 with the delivery of SR110 and SR111.

 

These were followed, between March and October 1955, by sixteen Vampire T 11s, SR116 to SR131, (XE816 to XE819, XE823 to XE826, XE938 to XE941, XH268 to XH270, and XH275), the first of which arrived at Salisbury Airport on 5 March. In October 1954 the SRAF changed its name again when the Queen conferred the prefix 'Royal' and the Vampire serials were changed accordingly to RRAF100 to RRAF115 for the fighters and RRAF116 to RRAF131 for the trainers.

 

Between 1974 and 1977, additional Vampire airframes and spares were received from the South African Air Force to maintain its capability during the prolonged Bush War .These aircraft had been held in storage following their withdrawal from service two years earlier and included nineteen Vampire T 55s, thirteen Vampire FB 9s and four Vampire FB 52s.