Vampire
 

I need some good pictures of the Dehavilland Vampire, can you guy's dig some up? I have the Kerry Sterner kit now under way.

RE: Vampire
 

http://hedgehoghollow.com/ipms/walkarounds/vampire.html

http://www.constable.ca/vampire.htm

http://www.rcaf.com/aircraft/fighter...p?name=Vampire

RE: Vampire
 

Hi,

Yesterday I saw my friend's Kerry Sterner's Vampire fly. Plane had a fantastic flight. Solid in the air and a very docile plane.
If you are not after a lot of speed then this is the plane to go for. Powered by a tuned down Jetcat 120 but still had bags of power.
I have enclosed some shots

BTW.. these shots were taken in the same location were Vampires used to be flown in the 1950s.

Reuben

RE: Vampire
 

Thanks for the pictures can you get some more pictures of that jet for me.

RE: Vampire
 

I'm building one too.
Do a google search of: DH Vampire and DH 100 Vampire.
There's a ton of info out there.
You can also check ebay for books and the Warpaint book. The stuff I ordered came from the UK, but it worked out fine.
BRG,
Jon

RE: Vampire
 

How is the build going can you send me pictures? What gear are you going to use?

RE: Vampire
 

F86_SABRE ..Is Kerry over in Malta?? Or just his Vampire?? Or are you over here??

I have a question - one that has concerned me for quite a while: Is the low mounted stab ( MkII - V) affected by the turbine exhaust at all? I know Kerry's original had the high mounted tail (Mk I) which seemed to make sense. I want to do a Mk V, because my father in law flew them.. So far I have a grand total of 2 bulkheads cut out....:)

RE: Vampire
 

Hi,

There are no issues on the low stab. It is still above the duct flow, however, what you can do is to make a piece of wood that covers the stab on start-up so that it would get some cover in case of a wet start.
Kerry Sterner is in USA, I am in Malta (Europe) and the plane flew in Malta.
Its a nice plane...I am impressed by its slow flying capabilities. I reckon its an ideal turbine trainer. Has a large wing area and at around 26lbs weight the plane flies real slow. Landing were a non event..straight down.
I have a short video of the plane landing which I took with my photo camera but unfortunnately I do not know how to load this video on here.

Some other photos have been included again

Reuben

RE: Vampire
 

Reuben

I would love to see that video, and Kerry has a nice lazer cut wood kit for $225 would save you alot of time Nony.

RE: Vampire
 

WD40,

tried to put the video here but was not able too...I got mixed up in the process. I am able to place fotos but not video (sorry). I would display the video if I am able to locate a place or go through the process of putting the video here.

My friend had bought the kit from Sterner a few months ago.

Some more fotos.

Reuben

RE: Vampire
 

Thanks, I know about the kit... I have a stubborn streak that wants to do it the labor instensive way......logic may prevail in the end...

RE: Vampire
 

Maybe someone could post the video for you. Do the booms come off the back so you get in a car?

RE: Vampire
 

Check your PM..I'll give it a try.

Sorry, I misunderstood/misread your post..I thought it was Kerry Sterners personal Vampire that you saw fly.. Ithink I got it straight now :D:D:D

RE: Vampire
 

Kerry Sterners Vampire is awesome! I know him personally, and he really strives for quality, and the service after the sale is even better......If you are looking for one, give him a call or email.
Blair

RE: Vampire
 

Hey great , a Vampire thread ! I started mine last November after having the plans for almost 2 yrs . Did the one in the pictures only take 2 months to build ?[X(] Mine will take MUCH longer . The pictures are great and I would love to see even more close up detail shots of the canopy , tail bullets , intakes etc. These are the first pictures I've seen of a completed Sterner Vamp . I asked Kerry for some pictures a few times but he was unable to provide them.

My power is coming from my other recently crashed twin boom . The P80 is in for repairs now:( I'm trying (for the last year!) to get a hold of the Sierra Precision landing gear . The workmanship is excellent but I can't help but feel that I'm getting the runaround . I wonder what gear is used on the Maltese machine ? I may have to look for alternatives.

Here's are pics of mine so far....


Marc

RE: Vampire
 

Hi,
I'm just planking the fuse right now. Working on it on and off. I bought the semi kit from Kerry around 3 years ago. Comes with the formers, ribs, f/g intakes and canopy.
I talked to Daryl from Sierra Precision at Warbirds over Delaware about the gear. They also have the wheel and brake assy. I'm not sure, but I think it's the only gear available for the VAMPIRE.They're running a batch right now, I think he said around 6 sets. They usually wait until they get some advance orders, then do a run. They don't stock the gear as it's not in very high demand.
A f/g fuse has been kicked around for quite a while, but nothing ever came of it. Daryl said there's someone in Australia that is/has made the molds. It would save a lot of time, but not sure of the cost. Anyway, I'll just plank the fuse and save the money for the retracts.
Kerry also has plans for a 1/4 scale version, 120" wingspan as I remember. I saw it f/g but not painted. Not sure if he's flown it yet.
The last bit of info I'm trying to find is the color of the cockpit and whether the speed brakes could be opened at an intermediate position. All of the contemporary cockpits are painted black but I found some shots of an unrestored cockpit that's painted a light pale green. Also, the pictures in the pilots manual show a color other than black. Unfortunately, the pics are in black and white, but it's definitely not black. I think the speed brake was a two position affair, either closed or open. The speed brake control has no neutral, like the flap control, and therefore could not be locked in an intermediate position. Anyone trying for scale flap deflection-80 degrees!
Here's a couple of shots from my collection.
BRG,
Jon

RE: Vampire
 

I've been sitting on the bookmark for awhile..it may even be F86Sabre's friend :

http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/3228/link12.htm

Marc..long time no hear from !!!!

RE: Vampire
 

Here is the kit

RE: Vampire
 

Hi Wayne ! It looks like the Langley Vamp got a makeover . It was looking a little rough when I climbed over it with my camera a couple of years ago. I had some isues with the parts fit . A few of the laser cut parts where not the same as the plans . Some of the stringer notches where not correct and one former was not high enough on the top so I had to build it up to allow a smooth curve . I'm away from home right now so can't give specifics. There are a few outline inaccuracies that I'm trying to correct as well . For anything other than the MK 1 , the stab chord needs to be increased by 0.9". When I get back home I'll give Sierra another call . It's been "next week" for months now !

Marc

RE: Vampire
 

I have quite a few Vamp pictures . I was thinking of being patriotic and going with a Canadian scheme but most are pretty boring . I'm looking at a Swiss target towing scheme that's quite bright . This little picture shows the Swiss nose but I do have a picture with the conventional nose in a book called "DeHavilland Twin Booms" . There's also a cool British target towing scheme as well.

RE: Vampire
 

Hi Marc!!
That's not the Langley Vamp..This one is out at the Reynolds Museum in Wetaskawin. There is a really nice one in the Calgary museum, but it is not a Bat face.....

Any chance you would be out this way Sept 16 -18 ?? Princeton is that weekend........

RE: Vampire
 

Could that be Tak Ali Reuben ?

Regards,

David Gladwin

RE: Vampire
 

Hi Marc,
I know about the stab chord, but I figured, unless you're going to enter it in competition, who's going to know and for me at least, it's not worth the trouble to re-design the stab.
What other inaccuracies did you discover? The only other thing that I could find was the cross section of the front fuse. It LOOKS like it's too rounded and doesn't transition to the "3 sided" cross section soon enough. I'm not saying it's wrong, as Kerry is real good about accuracy, but looking at a head on and comparing it to the pics I have, it doesn't look right to me.
Do you need shots of the fin, fairings, etc of the real one or the model? I've got lots of detail shots of the aircraft if you need them.

WD40- The booms are not removable. I guess you design them to be removable, but it would take a bit of work.

I'm thinking of mounting the elevator servo forward and running a c/f pushrod through the cable hole. Also, I'm toying with the idea of making two hatches, as the single hatch is really long. Also thinking of duplicating the nose hatch and put switches, jacks, etc there instead of removing the hatch every flight.
BRG,
Jon

RE: Vampire
 

Wayne,

That makes a lot of sense ! The Vamp looked a little too nice . It's hard to get documentation on the correct "Bat Nose" . So far there are the two that I've shown but I also came across some documentation at the Langly museum that looks different again. I guess if you wanted to enter scale competition you could just pick an existing aircraft , such as the one near you. Even if there never was one like that in actual service , it is an actual aircraft . I don't know about Princeton . Sounds fun though !

Jon,

I'm probably being too picky because I'm not likely to compete either. The inaccuracies I discovered so far involve the bottom of the rudder not having a curved line on the rounded vertical stab and some issues with the tailboom. Again I have to say that I don't have the plans in front of me so I'm going from memory. I believe the Vamp had some positive incidence and the plan is 0-0 . I think the airfoil thickness is also different so the way that the boom intersects the wing does not look correct to me when I compare it to 3 views and photos. The depth of the boom looks a little too small and the transition to the top of the wing at the front of the boom is too abrupt . Also, there should be a larger proportion of the boom below the TE of the wing . To fix these problems I'm going to leave the boom depth the same but lower it by 1/4" with respect to the rest of the aircraft. Before I make a final decision I'm going to crawl over a Vamp at a local museum with a measuring tape and camera.

Marc

RE: Vampire
 

Marc..I have not seen two bat faces the same. I don't know if there was a standardized design.....