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[Sea Vixen]
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| DE HAVILLAND SEA VIXEN |
|---|
| SURVIVORS |
|---|
[History]
[Survivors & Leading Particulars]
[Pictures]
[References & Credits]
This page last updated on 15th April 2006
[Listing]
[Leading Particulars]
Not being a particularly famous aircraft, it is surprising how many Sea Vixens have been
preserved, one even being in flying condition. This contrasts with earlier Fleet Air Arm aircraft
(such as the Wyvern or Scimitar) which are real rarities nowadays.
One Sea Vixen and a nose section have even ended up in Australia!
As the Sea Vixen was retired early in 1972, all the airframes had around ten more years of
fatigue life left in them. Had the RN's carriers not been lost, it is feasible that the Sea
Vixen could have been operational into the 1980s. After all, Lightnings
were operational until the late 1980s, and were of around the same generation.
The airframe itself, being designed for the pounding a carrier borne aircraft gets, is extremely tough.
Certainly most landing accidents only took Sea Vixens off line for a few days while repairs
were carried out. This and extensive anti-corrosion features also mean that examples at
museums, even when parked in the open, have survived years of inactivity very well. One example - XP924 - has
even been returned to the skies, and graces the airshow circuit.
The list here is as complete as I can make it from
personal knowledge, visitor contributions and scouring various books (in particular, Peter R. March's Military
Aircraft Markings and Ken Ellis' Wrecks & Relics) and magazines (in particular,
Mark Nicholls' article in October 1996's issue of FlyPast). If you have any changes please
let me know. I am not including examples on target ranges or on dumps
as they're unlikely to be rescued for preservation. Some serial numbers are links to the relevant
entry in the survivors gallery - with a recent(ish) picture of the preserved aircraft as it is today.
If you have pictures of Sea Vixens you'd like to share with the world, please, please, let me know! I'd
especially welcome pictures of the aircraft that aren't in the survivors gallery.
| FAW.1 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XJ481 | Fleet Air Arm Museum (stored), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset |
| XJ482 | Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk |
| FAW.2 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XJ490 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia |
| XJ494 | Phoenix Aviation, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire |
| XJ560 | Newark Air Museum, Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire |
| XJ565 | de Havilland Heritage Centre/Mosquito Aircraft Museum, London Colney, Hertfordshire |
| XJ571 | Hallett Foundation, Solent Sky, Southampton, Hampshire |
| XJ580 | Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, West Sussex |
| XN685 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire |
| XP919 | Blyth Valley Aviation Collection, Walpole, Suffolk |
| XS576 | OFMC, Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire |
| XS590 | Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset |
| FAW(TT).2 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XS587 | Gatwick Aviation Museum, Charlwood, Surrey |
| D.3 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| G-CVIX (ex XP924) | de Havilland Aviation (flyer), Bournemouth International Airport, Hurn, Dorset |
| NOSE/COCKPIT/OTHER SECTIONS |
| SIMULATOR |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| N/A | Fleet Air Arm Museum (store), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset |
| FAW.1 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XJ476 | Solent Sky, Southampton, Hampshire |
| XJ488 | Robertsbridge Aviation Society, Robertsbridge, East Sussex |
| FAW.2 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XJ575 | Wellesbourne Wartime Museum, Wellesbourne Mountford airfield, Warwickshire |
| XJ579 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire |
| XJ607 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia |
| XN647 | Privately owned, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire |
| XN650 | Roy & Sue Jerman, Welshpool, Powys, Wales |
| XN651 | Tony Collins, Lavendon, Buckinghamshire |
| XN696 | Blyth Valley Aviation Collection, Walpole, Suffolk |
| XP925 | Sea Vixen Preservation Group, 1268 ATC, Haslemere, Surrey |
| FAW.2(MOD) |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XJ571 | Bournemouth Aviation Museum, Hurn, Dorset |
| D.3 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| XS577 | Privately owned, Switzerland |
| Variant | DH.110 | FAW.20/1 | FAW.2 |
|---|
| First flight | 26 Sep 1951 | 20 Mar 1957 | 1 Jun 1962 |
| Crew | Two; pilot and observer (radar operator) |
| Armament | None | Two Microcell 2-inch rocket packs in retractable boxes, four Firestreak IR AAMs, four 500 lb bombs. | Four Firestreak or Red Top IR AAMs, four 500 lb bombs, four SNEB rocket pods, two Bullpup AGMs. |
| Powerplant | Two 7,500 lb Rolls Royce Avon RA.7 turbojets | Two 11,250 lb (5,102 kgp) Rolls Royce Avon Mk.208 turbojets. |
| Max. speed | ? | 582 mph at 20,000 ft | 577 mph (1,070 km/h) or Mach 0.94 at 20,000 ft (6,096 m) |
| Service ceiling | ? | 48,000 ft (14,630 m) |
| Range | ? | 686 nautical miles (1,271 km) on internal fuel only |
| Empty weight | ? | 31,715 lb |
| Max. take off weight | 35,000 lb | 37,000 lb (16,783 kg) | 45,700 lb |
| Wing span | 50 ft (15.24 m) |
| Wing area | 648 sq ft (62.2 sq m) |
| Length | 52 ft 1.5 in | 55.58 ft (16.94 m) |
| Height | 10 ft 9 in | 11 ft 6 in |
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