De Haviland Vampire questions

[PanzerWulff]

I have a couple questions about the vampire for our resident experts
1) what modern engine (for efficency ease of maintainance and availability of parts) would make a good replacement for the origional engine?
2) would an avionics upgrade to allow the firing of the Penguin anti shipping missle fit in the Vampire's airframe?
Thanks!
"Panzer"

[AeroplaneDriver]

As far as the engine, I imagine a Honeywell TFE731 (business jet engine found on Lears, Citations, Hawkers, Falcons, etc.  Military version is the F124 I think) would fit, and is in the same thrust class as the late Goblins, but with far, far better fuel consumption.  The intakes would probably need enlarging for a turbofan, but that shouldnt be too hard.

As for the Penguin...the Vampire sits very low to the ground.  Not sure if there is clearance for a big missile.  Sea Skua might fit though.  With the room freed up by replacing the original avionics with modern stuff I would think there would be room for some extra black boxes.

[kitnut617]

I agree with AD, the airframe would actually dictate what you could put into it.  Not just size wise, but just how powerful too.  But if you look at this website --- http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html --- you could probably get an idea what you could use.  If you wanted to go bigger I would consider the Venom instead.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Looking a bit deeper at the Penguin, I dont see how it would fit on the Vampire with its 1m+ wingspan.  Sea Skua might work since it is much smaller, though you sacrifice range and need a way to illuminate the target.  Maverick may be a good compromise for anti-ship missions, but again, as with the Sea Skua, missile wingspan MAY still be an issue on the Vampire.

[The Rat]

Have you considered twin engines? Here's a couple of quick lash ups I did a couple of years ago, feel free to use them if you like:

This one has enlarged wing root intakes:


And this one has a large nose intake:

[PanzerWulff]

I dont think ground clearance is going to be much of an issue as I will be stretching it's legs as it will be on FLOATS! I like the twin engine idea but I'm not sure I could pull it off in the 1 week timeframe I have to build it,the enlarged intakes should not be a problem though.the reason I was wondering about the engine is for the greater thrust needed to get my heavier float equipped version off the water and still give it comparable performance to a non float equipped aircraft (speed & range wise I know the floats will cause some loss of manuverability)
"Panzer"

[kitbasher]

Chop an Adour off a Hawk, perhaps?