Anyone who was visiting the Museum recently might have noticed the arrival of a large haulage truck with a strange shaped object strapped to its flat bed. This was our new acquisition, a , being delivered from Fishbourne. No, not a Roman relic but rather an excellent example of a front line RAF ground attack fighter from the 1950s.
You might be excused for not really knowing about the attack version of the Venom as they were never actually based in the UK. In fact they went initially in 1953 to eight front line squadrons in Germany where they replaced the Vampire and Meteor. They were also allocated to a further eight fighter squadrons in the Middle East, Near East and Far East. There was also a two seater night fighter variant that was based both in the UK and Germany as well as being used by the Fleet Air Arm but really, that was a totally different aircraft.
At first glance the Vampire FB5 and the Venom FB4 look very similar but in fact there are many differences that dictated that the RAF had to update its front line squadrons. Perhaps the key factor was the engine which in the Venom was almost 50% more powerful than that in the Vampire. It was faster than the Meteor Mk8, was more manoeuvrable, had a faster rate of climb, a higher ceiling and was a more stable gun platform. Added to these benefits were the facts that the FB4 was fitted with an ejection seat and had power assisted ailerons. It also had more hard points (positions where weapons could be attached) and could carry 2000lbs of external weapons (bombs/rockets).
The Venom FB4 saw operational service in Malaya, Oman, Aden and Suez. It began being phased out of RAF service in 1957 when the squadrons in Germany were reequipped with the new Hawker Hunter. The same reequipment programme continued slowly throughout the Middle and Far Eastern squadrons with 28 Squadron in Kai Tak, Hong Kong flying the last Venom FB4 sortie on 27 June 1962.
Our Director was on the last Vampire/Venom Operational Conversion Course at RAF Pembrey in 1957. The name Vampire/Venom was a clue as all the flying , weapons training, formation, tactics, etc., was conducted on the Vampire, the conversion to the actual Venom remained a squadron responsibility. Having successfully completed the course and been posted to 8 Squadron, Khormaksar, Aden, he was on embarkation leave when the ‘Sands\ Axe’ of 1957 caused his posting to be cancelled. Duncan Sands, Defence Minister at that time, axed twenty nine fighter squadrons overnight causing a huge manpower problem. It was not until 1962 that the Director finally joined number 8 Squadron and by then the Hunter had already replaced the Venom. So, he never got to actually fly the Venom.
However, that was not the end of the Venom story. The Swiss were very interested in the aircraft when it first came into service as its performance particularly suited their geographical circumstances. It entered service with the Swiss Air Force in 1953 and was finally retired some thirty years later. Switzerland was also the only country to build the Venom under licence, producing 250 examples of the single seat fighter. This more recent retirement date has resulted in most examples of the Venom FB4 found in museums being of Swiss origin. That is true of our cockpit.
When will you get the opportunity to look into and sit in our cockpit>? That’s a difficult question to answer as we really have not had the time to properly check it out ourselves. Once this is done and we can set in progress a plan for any necessary work, then we will have a better idea. If it is possible to have it available for our Families’ Day ion the 4th August 2024 then we will certainly strive for that. Meanwhile, watch this space………
