The Sea Vixen / Vixliner / Vixen / Sea Phixen ; its development and service

[Rheged]

Fellow Whiffers, I offer you another backstory, which you are welcome to enjoy, deride, ignore or utilise in any way you choose.  I am most indebted  to Tomz and Smeds  for their outstanding work on lesser known Sea Vixen variants.   As with every other backstory I produce, fellow whiffers are invited and encouraged to add to this material in order that a complete history of this aircraft can be available to all.

Thank you,   Rheged

The Sea Vixen /   Vixliner  /   Vixen / Sea Phixen  ; its development and service.

Origins

In 1946, the de Havilland Aircraft Company began negotiations with the Board of Admiralty over the Fleet Air Arm future requirement for a jet engined radar equipped all-weather fighter. Over ocean operations necessitated a twin engined aircraft with a crew of two: contemporary  radar and navigation equipment requiring a separate operator.  Speed, manoeuvrability at all altitudes and favourable carrier deck take-off and landing capabilities were desirable. De Havilland's proposal, the DH 110 was a twin Rolls Royce Avon powered aircraft armed with four 30mm ADEN cannons.

In January 1947, specifications N.40/46 and F.44/46 were issued by the Air Ministry for a night fighter to equip the Royal Air Force . De Havilland submitted its proposal for the DH 110 to both services. The RAF expressed a preference for Metrovick F.9 engines, which became the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire when Metropolitan-Vickers sold its engine division. Several prototypes of the DH110 and competing Gloster GA5 were authorised.

Initial Development

In 1949, however, the Admiralty chose  to acquire the de Havilland Sea Venom which was cheaper and more rapidly available as it was a development of an existing airframe. The RAF reduced their order to two prototypes, having expressed a preference for  Gloster's GA5, now named the Javelin. De Havilland  continued work on the DH 110. On 26 September 1951, an initial prototype was completed Early flight tests of the prototype demonstrated that the aircraft's performance exceeded expectations. By the following year, the prototype was regularly flying above Mach one. The first prototype  (WG236) was scheduled to appear at Farnborough in September 1951, but work on the possible installation of a wing fold mechanism to meet FAA requirements revealed a design flaw in the wing leading edge ahead of the main spar. Had this not been discovered, the weakness could have resulted in the breaking up of the aircraft in flight. If this had occurred during the Farnborough display, the result would have been catastrophic. Both prototypes were immediately grounded and the wing redesigned. RAF interest waned and resources were concentrated on the Javelin.

Following an urgent re-appraisal of the DH110, the Fleet Air Aim chose to continue with the modified  aircraft, and by June 1952 both prototypes had returned to flight testing. In September of the same year, the Admiralty ordered 112 aircraft  which was now named the Sea Vixen. August 1953 saw the first flight of a fully navalised Sea Vixen; radar technology having rapidly advanced, the latest equipment was integrated with the airframe. By October 1956, the first operational Sea Vixen FAW 1 squadron (892)  began landing on the deck of HMS Ark Royal.

Operations 

During their FAA  service, Sea Vixens flew from five Royal Navy aircraft carriers (Ark Royal, Eagle, Victorious, Hermes and Centaur)  as well as cross-decking with USN carriers. Although these aircraft did not participate in any major engagements, they were involved in the 1961 Iraq-Kuwait stand-off, the 1964 Tanganyika army mutiny and prevented escalation of the Indonesian Confrontation in late 1964.   Sea Vixens participated for much of the 1960's in the Beira patrol, a  Royal Navy operation designed to prevent oil reaching landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. Two FAA aerobatic teams used Sea Vixens,   Simon's Sircus and Fred's Five.

Later Developments

De Havilland continued to upgrade the Sea Vixen with new electronics and uprated engines, the FAW 2 being the outcome of this, with a further 70 in total being manufactured. The basic airframe was also modified to produce the DH120 Vixliner.  Our colleague Tomz has researched this conversion in some detail with the results available at De Havilland DH-120 Vixliner  https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=52220.msg1020297#msg1020297  .   Although not a great success in itself, the Vixliner's production  contributed to the evolution of the DH125 (later HS125) known in RAF service as the Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1, which was also operated by the United States Air Force as a calibration aircraft, under the designation C-29.

The RAF's preferred aircraft, the Gloster Javelin, experienced some difficulties achieving the specification of the original Air Ministry requirement, and as a result  a number of Sea Vixens were diverted from the Fleet Air Arm inventory to two RAF squadrons to provide sufficient all-weather and night fighter cover for the V bomber bases of Eastern England. Wearing standard RAF camouflage colours the Vixen squadrons operated from Coltishall between 1961 and 1964

Some Sea Vixen airframes were used as development aircraft. The raspberry ripple painted "Foxy Lady" of Boscombe Down carried a number of test items during her 15 year life, most of these are still secret.  Another test airframe  , the Sea Phixen, saw a Phantom front end (cockpit and engine intakes) grafted onto a Sea Vixen fuselage.  The reason for this hybrid has never been made public, but our colleague Smeds has been able to produce photographic evidence of this unusual but good-looking aircraft  Sea Phixen FAW.2   https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=52286.msg1021836#msg1021836
Other variants include the target towing TT2s,   unmanned drone D3s and the supposed FAW50, the existence of which is not widely known.

Positively the Last Appearance!

In 1972, the Sea Vixen was being phased out and replaced by the Phantom in FAA front line service. The plan was to convert several airframes to D3 standard to use in guided missile testing and development.  However, a proposal to sell the accommodation vessel  (former aircraft carrier) HMS Centaur to Peru had been made. Negotiations proceeded at a very leisurely pace, with the Marina de Guerra del Peru   hoping to acquire suitable aircraft for the carrier.  In 1978 to 1981, Centaur was  given a partial refit, allowing her to steam at 20 knots and operate aircraft. When in Peruvian navy service, a further fuller rebuild would take place.    At the same time, 18 Sea Vixen FAW2s were refitted to FAW50 standard. 
At this point, the situation was complicated by the Peruvian government  supporting Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands.  The sale was off,  preparations made to sell Centaur for scrap and to distribute the FAW50 Sea Vixens to museums. This plan was cancelled in 1982, when the  Falklands were invaded  by Argentina.  The fleet Air Arm managed to identify a dozen pilots and navigators with more or less recent Sea Vixen experience and with a group of former Gannet  crews preparations were made to send Centaur south.  Fortunately, it was not necessary to implement this plan , HMS Centaur went for scrap and a number of Sea Vixens went to museums. 

The last flying Sea Vixen was the civilian registed G-CVIX, formerly a D3 coded XP924. This aircraft flew with the  Fly Navy Heritage Trust until 27 May 2017, when XP924 performed an emergency wheels-up landing at Yeovilton after a hydraulic failure.

[NARSES2]

Great read