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| de Havilland Sea Vixen |
|---|
| Survivors |
[History] [Memories] [Survivors & Leading Particulars] [Pictures] [Models] [Links, References & Credits]
[Listing] [Leading Particulars]
| Survivors Listing |
|---|
|
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, many of the airframes had several 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. Click on the serial of a survivor entry for further information. Please comment on any individual survivor entry you feel requires an update! |
Preservation doesn't mean survival - XN691 derelict at North Weald, February 2001 (scrapped 5 months later); author |
| Complete aircraft |
|---|
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XJ481 | FAW.1 | Fleet Air Arm Museum (stored), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | September 2007 |
| XJ482 | FAW.1 | Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk | 01/10/2008 |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XJ490 | FAW.2 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia | June 2008 |
| XJ494 | FAW.2 | Phoenix Aviation, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire | 11/06/2005 |
| XJ560 | FAW.2 | Newark Air Museum, Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire | 13/03/2008 |
| XJ565 | FAW.2 | de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, London Colney, Hertfordshire | |
| XJ571 | FAW.2 | Hallett Foundation, Solent Sky, Southampton, Hampshire | 07/10/2008 |
| XJ580 | FAW.2 | Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, West Sussex | 03/09/2005 |
| XN685 | FAW.2 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire | |
| XP919 | FAW.2 | Blyth Valley Aviation Collection, Walpole, Suffolk | June 2008 |
| XS576 | FAW.2 | OFMC, Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire | 08/10/2006 |
| XS590 | FAW.2 | Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | 25/10/2007 |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XS587 | FAW(TT).2 | Gatwick Aviation Museum, Charlwood, Surrey | 01/10/2008 |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XP924 (G-CVIX) | D.3 | De Havilland Aviation (flyer), Bournemouth International Airport, Hurn, Dorset | 01/10/2008 |
| Nose/cockpit/other sections |
|---|
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| Simulator | Simulator | Fleet Air Arm Museum (store), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | June 2008 |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XJ476 | FAW.1 | Boscombe Down Aviaton Collection, Boscombe Down, Wiltshire | 14th August 2008 |
| XJ488 | FAW.1 | Robertsbridge Aviation Society, Robertsbridge, East Sussex | |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XJ575 | FAW.2 | Wellesbourne Wartime Museum, Wellesbourne Mountford airfield, Warwickshire | |
| XJ579 | FAW.2 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire | 20/06/2008 |
| XJ607 | FAW.2 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia | June 2008 |
| XN647 | FAW.2 | Privately owned, Steventon, Oxfordshire | June 2008 |
| XN650 | FAW.2 | Privately owned, Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire | 27 June 2008 |
| XN651 | FAW.2 | Tony Collins, Lavendon, Buckinghamshire | June 2008 |
| XN696 | FAW.2 | Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk | June 2008 |
| XP925 | FAW.2 | Sea Vixen Preservation Group, 1268 ATC, Haslemere, Surrey | |
| Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
| XS577 | D.3 | Privately owned, Switzerland | June 2008 |
| Leading Particulars |
|---|
| 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 | ||
All these pages and 'author' credited images copyright © 2008 Handmade by Machine Ltd.