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These pictures were taken at RNAS Yeovilton on September 29 2001 at a reunion open to all ex-Sea Vixen fliers, maintenance crews and partners. There were also some aviation enthusiasts in attendance.
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Head on view with flaps and undercarriage down. |
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Note how the flaps are continued inboard of the tail booms and shaped to follow the boom contours.
The assymetric arrangement of the pilot's and observer's cockpits is evident. |
Close to stalling speed. |
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Another view showing the flap arrangement well. The starboard stores pylons are also clearly visible.
The Sea Vixen could carry quite a variety of armament. In the intercept role this could be as many as four Firestreak or, in the case of the Mk2, Red Top heat seeking missiles. In the strike role a varied selection of bombs could be mounted or 2 inch rocket projectiles. There was provision to fit 28 rockets in a pair of drop down silos below the nose. Additionally the stores pylons could be fitted with as many as 4 x 24 or 4 x 36 of pods of these Microcell rockets. A Vixen loosing off all its rockets, even in ripple fire, was a sight to behold, and noisy too. Probably one of the least useful weapons carried by the Vixen, and other aircraft in Britain and the US, was the Bullpup missile. This was nothing more than a US war surplus 250lb blast bomb in a fancy rocket powered skin. One that required the launching aircraft to loiter around, exposed to anti-aircraft defences, whilst the crew controlled it on to the target using a joystick in an attempt to keep the tail flame over the target. Hum! |
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