De Havilland DH.112 Venom

The de Havilland DH.112 Venom was a British post-war single-engined jet aircraft derived largely from the Vampire and first called the Vampire FB 8 before it took its own name. It was built to Air Ministry Specification F.15/49 as an interim type between the first-generation straight-wing jet fighters, such as the Meteor and Vampire, and later swept-wing aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter and the Sea Vixen. The first prototype, VV612, flew at Hatfield on 2 September 1949 with John Derry, and the initial FB 1 entered RAF service in 1952, with 375 built. An improved NF.2 night fighter followed in 1950, the NF 3 in 1953, and the single-seat FB.4 in 1955, of which 250 were built. The RAF used the Venom in the Suez Crisis, the Malayan Emergency and the Aden Emergency, and withdrew it from front-line service in 1962.