de Havilland Sea Vixen
Links, References & Credits
Links
References - Books

Quite simply
the best book on the Sea Vixen in existence. Yes, it's quite pricey but often the best books are! A good thick book taking
in the whole sweep of Vixen history from the DH-110 prototypes to the retirement of the last D.3 drones, along with
unbuilt development proposals and lots - and lots - of photos and personal recollections from those who flew and worked
on the type. A real masterwork and if you only buy one book on the Sea Vixen, you owe it to yourself to make it this one.
Probably easiest to get hold of from Air Britain (discounted to £28 for
A-B members and ex-Fleet Air Arm personnel).
A lavishly illustrated history
of the type with over 100 mostly monochrome photos, lots of colour profile drawings and detailed history of each
airframe. Thoroughly recommended and an absolute bargain!
Rather a small section on the Sea Vixen and as a
result it's a bit of rush through its history, with a small selection of black and white photos. Worth getting
if you're interested in the Vampire & Venom as well, but not really worthwhile just for the Sea Vixen
content.
A profile publication with development and service
history, lots of colour profiles, pictures, scale plans and a small selection of detail pictures.
Sadly the profiles are very poor and the plans not much better.
A worthwhile read about the most famous test pilot casualty of the 1950s. Includes details of DH.110 development and some photos of
the DH.110 (including a good cockpit shot).
Short history and selection of photos along with squadron details. If you can find it cheap, worth a go.
References - Magazines
- 21st Profile volume 1 number 1 - history and some good photos.
- Aeroplane Monthly, July 1997 - Personal Album - six black and white pictures taken
during 1960-62 on HMS Victorious, showing an FAW.1. Four show a spectacular on-board crash which
the crew were lucky to get out of.
- Aeroplane Monthly, November 2004 - Database: Sea Vixen - 17 pages of articles on the type's
development, service history, what it was like to fly and survivors list. Lots of photos and diagrams. Well worth
seeking out.
- Aircraft Illustrated, October 1996: Foxy Lady - article on G-CVIX and de Havilland Aviation Wales, with
six good pictures (four in colour).
- Air International, April 1991: Sea Vixen, Britain's first missile specialist - history,
pictures and a cutaway.
- AIR Pictorial, February 1971: de Havilland Sea Vixen by Elfan ap Rees - development and service history with a fair
number pictures, although these are all monochrome and fairly small - there is a rare shot of Simon's Sircus displaying though.
- Aviation News volume 2 number 10 - 1/72 scale plans and some colour profiles.
- Flight, April 5 1957: article describing the development of the aircraft.
- Flight, February 5 1960:
technical article with full details and cutaway drawings.
- FlyPast, May 1992: Solo by Sea Vixen - Marcus Edwards relates his first flight in a Sea Vixen. Makes
fascinating reading, and has four black and white pictures (including a spectacular carrier landing crash).
- Jets, Summer 2000: Flying Again: Sea Vixen by Glenn Sands -
report on XP924 flying again with a number of good colour photos.
- FlyPast, October 1996: Sea Vixen Unvanquished - history, photos and list of surviving airframes.
- Scale Aircraft Modelling volume 14 number 1, October 1991: Aircraft In Detail - history, good photos and side views.
- Scale Aircraft Modelling volume 16 number 8, June 1994: Inside Story - detail pictures of FAW.2 XN691.
- Scale Aircraft Modelling volume 18 number 8, October 1996: Under The Hood - drawings of the cockpit interiors,
some pictures and how to make a quick fix for the Frog/Revell FAW.2 kit's nose appearance problem.
- Fine Scale Modeler, September 1996
includes a review of the Dynavector 1/48 vacform Sea Vixen model kit.
- Scale Models International, May 1996: article on building the Dynavector 1/48 vacform kit.
- Take Off number 130: Flying the Sea Vixen - a pilot's view - lots of text and pictures (mostly
monochrome), and includes a colour drawing of an FAW.1. Interesting and entertaining to read, but of
little use for modelling references.
Credits
This section would have been greatly the poorer without contributions from the following - so many thanks to (in
alphabetical order):
Cliff Aldred, David Allen, Jens Håkon Brandal, Kevin Burchett, Graham Cooper, the late Dick Clements, Paul Crossley,
Ray Deacon, John Eacott, Nicolas Godfurnon, Rick Kent, Chris Laidlaw, Garry Lakin, Peter R. March, Nick Sayer
and Jonathan Stilwell.
Thanks also to the following organisations:
Buckinghamshire Aircraft Recovery Group, Demobbed, f4 Aviation, Gatwick Aviation Museum, Midland Air Museum, Phoenix Aviation,
Sea Vixen Preservation Group, Southampton Hall of Aviation and the Wellesbourne Wartime Museum.
Visitor Comments
4 people have commented on this page. This is comment section 1 of 1.
John Shuker from shropshire. u.k
Posted at 10:02am on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
can any one help me find a book seller selling roy sutherlands flightline series de havilland sea
vixen faw 1&2 thank you for your time
Michael House from Bournemouth
Posted at 6:16pm on Monday, September 6th, 2010
Has anyone any current news on the Vixen;has a new pilot been found? She is sorely missed locally.
Dean Pritchard from Merseyside.NW England
Posted at 12:44am on Thursday, June 24th, 2010
XP924 is a beautiful plane- If you ever bring her up here, i would relish a flight!!
Gregg Bender from Charles Town, West Virginia
Posted at 1:29am on Monday, January 19th, 2009
Have to agree that Richard Franks book is a steal at the price.