07/31/2009. Remarks by Bill Coffman: "This Vampire, the World's oldest flying jet aircraft, made its last flight on Sunday June 4, 2009. Built in the UK in 1947 by English Electric for the RAF, however the assigned s/n VP773 was never applied, instead the aircraft was transferred to the RCAF and shipped to Canada where it was assembled at de Havilland Canada in Downsview.

Serialed as 17072 it served with 410 (F) Squadron and has been part of the "Blue Devils" acrobatic display team, performing in Cananda at Brantford, Drummondville, Rockcliffe, St. Hubert, Trenton, and the Canadian National Exhibition, and in the USA at Chicago, Detroit/Willow Run, and the Cleveland Air Races. At Cleveland, the RCAF pilots amazed the USAAF P-80 pilots by flying their jets around the small-aircraft race pylons in the middle of the field.

When the RCAF Vampires were decommissioned in 1958, 27 of these aircraft, including 17072 registered as N6878D, were sold to an American group in Wisconsin who had plans to convert them into business jets. When this fell through N6878D changed ownership over a dozen times, including Tallmantz's movie business. In early 1988 it was seen unmarked in an over-all white color scheme, before it was sold to John Travolta in 1989. Travolta, who owned N6878D for three years, had it completely rebuilt and refurbished and painted in a "Battle of Britain" RAF paint scheme.

In 2001 it was sold on to Lake Air who sold it to Al Rubin for the nascent Wings of Flight Museum at Markham airport. It arrived back in Canada on November 11, 2005. It was stored and serviced at Peterborough that winter. Bureaucratic problems with obtaining a Canadian CofA led to the Vampire being hangared in Batavia, New York, USA at the Genesee Warbirds Museum with other Jet Warbirds, and retaining its 'N' license. It was damaged in a hangar there and has been under restoration for the past three years.

The Vampire made its first post-restoration flight to the "Rochester Wings" air show on June 4. On take off for the flight back to Batavia, pilot Peter Treicher, who is a Jet Warbird Instructor with experience in T-33s, and a variety of eastern European jets, encountered a vibration in the engine and turned to make an emergency landing. The engine stopped in the turn, but he was able to make a wheels-up landing on the grass parallel to the take off runway. The Vampire skidded across a taxi runway and hit a mounded berm on the other side, which launched it back into the air. It crashed back on the turf, smashing the nose forward of the cockpit and injuring the pilot's spine in the impact.

Emergency vehicles arrived quickly, but there was no fire, and Treichler was able to get out safely on his own. Leaking fuel from the full tanks led the firemen to cover the Vampire in foam, probably causing as much damage as the crash itself. The fuselage forward of the wings is badly damaged, and the engine and mounts have been pushed out of alignment, while the wings and tail appear to be undamaged. The wreck was loaded on a flat-bed and moved into a hangar for FAA inspection. Ironically, an FAA convention was being held in conjunction with the air show.

Peter Treicher was treated in the Rochester Hospital and will recover at home with a spinal brace. Al Rubin reports that the Vampire is damaged beyond restoration for flight, but could be restored for static display. It is now in the hands of the FAA and the Insurance Company and they will make the decisions on the future of this Vampire. It was booked to appear at several air shows this summer including the CWH Fly Fest. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that this veteran Canadian Aircraft will ever fly again."