Fangtastic Beast: de Havilland Vampire WZ507

The Vampire Preservation Group's two-seater T.11 is a very rare bird indeed.

The only example of its kind still flying in the UK, it was shot for a feature in the February 2022 issue of FlyPast.

When we sent photographer Darren Harbar to Coventry to take some ground shots we popped along for the ride and had a little walk-around of the aircraft whilst we were there. 

It was a sunny but crisp morning on the day of our photoshoot and rather than wait for a tug, Darren used his own car to remove the Vampire from the Bat Cave, AKA the hangar WZ507 currently occupies at Coventry Airport.

The tow hook is unique to the Vampire. It slots into place and clears the undercarriage gear door, but the hitch on the other end can be used on a regular tow bar, even a BMW, as you can see.

The Vampire Preservation Group's de Haviland Vampire WZ507 was built in 1952 and is thought to be one of only 11 Vampires still flying anywhere in the world and is the only T.11 variant.

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