The Vampire remained in front-line RAF service until 1953 when its transfer began to secondary roles such as ground attack and pilot training, for which specialist variants were produced.

de Havilland pursued the further development of the type; major derivatives produced include the DH.115, a specialised dual-seat trainer and the more advanced DH.112 Venom, a refined variant for ground attack and night-fighter operations.

Although no official specification had been issued, de Havilland proceeded to design a single-engined aircraft that had air-intakes set into the wing roots to feed a centrally mounted engine, which used a centrifugal compressor.

[4][5] Its first design, the DH.99, was set out in a brochure dated 6 June 1941; it was an all-metal, twin-boom, tricycle undercarriage aircraft armed with four cannon.

[4] The aircraft was considered to be a largely experimental design due to its use of a single engine and some unorthodox features, unlike the Gloster Meteor which had been specified for production early on.

[6][5] In February 1942, the MAP suggested dropping the project for a bomber but de Havilland stated that the twin-boom was, despite Ministry doubts, only an engineering problem to be overcome.

Internally designated as the DH.100 and originally named the "Spider Crab", the aircraft was entirely a de Havilland project, being principally worked upon at the company's facility at Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

[14] An alternative powerplant to the de Havilland Goblin soon became available in the form of the Rolls-Royce Nene, another turbojet engine capable of generating similar levels of thrust.

[15][verification needed][16] The Vampires of the RAAF were powered by the Nene engine; these were initially outfitted with dorsal intakes, later moved underneath the fuselage.

[17] In 1949, Boulton Paul Aircraft redesigned the wing-root intakes and internal ducting based on the installation of the Nene in the prototype Hawker Sea Hawk.

[9] Underwing fuel drop-tanks of 100 and 200 gallon capacities were fitted; other modifications included lowering the tailplane and reshaping the vertical surfaces of the tail.

On 8 June 1946, the Vampire was introduced to the British public when Fighter Command's 247 Squadron was given the honour of leading the flypast over London at the Victory Day Celebrations.

[24][25] Despite demonstrating that the technique was feasible, with many landings being made with undercarriage retracted on flexible decks both at RAE Farnborough and on board the carrier HMS Warrior, the proposal was not taken further.

"[23][27] On 23 March 1948, John Cunningham, flying a modified Vampire Mk I with extended wing tips and powered by the Ghost engine, achieved a new world altitude record of 59,446 ft (18,119 m).

From Goose Bay airfield they went on to Montreal (c. 3,000 mi/4,830 km) to start the RAF's annual goodwill tour of Canada and the US, where they gave formation aerobatic displays.

[9] In comparison to later aircraft, the Vampire had a relatively disorganised cockpit that in some aspects lacked ergonomic measures, such as the fuel gauges being difficult for the pilot to observe without pulling back the control column.

Due to the low positioning of the engine, a Vampire could not remain on idle for long as the heat from the jet exhaust would melt the tarmac behind the aircraft.

[36] Pilots converting from piston-engined types would find themselves having to adapt to the slower acceleration of turbojet engines and the corresponding need to moderate rapid throttle movements to avoid instigating a compressor stall.

[32] Heavy use of the rudder was required at slower speeds, during which pilots had to be cautious during shallow turns to avoid stalls; this would be typically embarrassing rather than dangerous due to the relative ease of recovery, which was principally achieved via positive elevator application.

On 3 July 1948, the Vampire became the first jet aircraft to equip peacetime units of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, gradually replacing the de Havilland Mosquito in this capacity.

An external tank or 500 lb (227 kg) bomb could be carried under each wing, and eight "3-inch" rocket projectiles ("RPs") could be stacked in pairs on four attachments inboard of the booms.

[41] Specifically, the Vampire FB.5 typically undertook attack missions using a combination of rockets and bombs against insurgent targets often located in remote jungle areas throughout in Malaysia.

After its replacement by the De Havilland Venom, these aircraft underwent conversion to the NF(T).10 standard, after which they were operated by the Central Navigation and Control School at RAF Shawbury.

[25] A pair of prototypes were followed by 18 production aircraft which were used to gain experience in carrier jet operations before the arrival of the two-seat Sea Vampire T.22 trainers.

[9] All of the 80 F.30 fighters and FB.31 fighter-bomber Vampires that were subsequently built by de Havilland Australia were powered by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) versions of the Nene engine manufactured under licence at their facility in Melbourne.

Vampire trainer production in Australia amounted to 110 aircraft, and the initial order was filled by 35 T.33s for the RAAF; deliveries being made in 1952 with five T.34s for the RAN delivered in 1954.

The Vampire had the function of introducing Canadian fighter pilots not only to jet propulsion, but also to other amenities such as cockpit pressurisation and the tricycle landing gear arrangement.

As part of a larger effort to build up the post-war French Air Force, a number of Goblin-powered Vampire FB.5s were delivered to France from 1949 onwards.

The Nene engine was alleged to be responsible for the Mistral having greater rate of climb and a higher top speed than the standard Vampire.

A second batch of 100 Vampire Mk.6 (J-1101 to J-1200) were built under licence by a consortium of Swiss aviation companies, including Eidgenössische Flugzeugwerke Emmen, Pilatus Aircraft and Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein.