De Havilland / Hawker Siddeley

Sea Vixen and DH.110

The Sea Vixen represented the pinnacle of DeHavilland's highly successful twin boom family; sadly it will always be remembered for the horrific crash into the crowd of the DH110 prototype at the 1952 SBAC Farnborough Airshow, which led directly to the strict SBAC airshow safety rules against flying over the crowd line, that still apply to all public airshows in the UK.

The more advanced FAW2 added "saddle" fuel tanks over the twin booms and swapped the first generation Firestreak missile for the much more capable Red Top. The Observer's hatch was modified with a frangible perspex canopy allowing him to eject through the canopy if needed (sadly, Sea Vixens suffered from a high rate of accidents).

The FAW1 was the mount of the famous 766 Squadron "Fred's Five" Royal Navy formation display team, a role subsequently taken up by the FAW2 and the "Simons Sircus" formation display team, named after the 766 Sqn CO, Lt Cdr Simon Idiens RN.

Although a capable and effective aircraft, it was never really "state of the art". Retired prematurely as a result of the UK Government's austerity decision to withdraw from "East of Suez" in the early 1970s, it was never tested in combat, although Sea Vixens saw active operations during the 1961 Kuwait crisis, the Tanganyika mutiny, Radfan rebellion, withdrawal from Aden and the Biera Patrol blockade of Rhodesia.

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DH.110 Prototype

DH.110 First Naval Prototype

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Despite an astonishingly long gestation, the Sea Vixen FAW.1, armed with the FireStreak Infra-red Air to Air missile, gave the RN a truly modern and flexible aircraft, which was equally at home in the ground attack role. Although it could be unforgiving to fly, it was popular with pilots (although less so with the Observers, stuck in the dark black hole to starboard).

Sea Vixen FAW.2

893 Sqn HMS HERMES eovilton

Sea Vixen FAW.2

899 Sqn HMS EAGLE

Sea Vixen FAW.1

766 Sqn RNAS Yeovilton

Sea Vixen FAW.2

899 Sqn HMS EAGLE

Hawker Siddeley Sea Vixen FAW Mk2 - 899 NAS, HMS EAGLE 1971

Airfix have produced a truly modern "state of the art" kit in their 1/48 scale Sea Vixen. Easy to build (but very large when built!) it is the most accurate Sea Vixen kit available (link to the first of several build pages).

Link to my Sea Vixen Reference Pictures (warning - very picture heavy)

DeHavilland Sea Vixen FAW Mk1 - 766 NAS, RNAS Yeovilton 1966

This is the old Frog FAW.2 kit (or rather a Russian re-pop), backdated to an FAW.1 with the Magna Resin conversion kit and Model Art decals. Link to Build Page

Hawker Siddeley Sea Vixen FAW Mk2 - 899 NAS, HMS EAGLE 1974

This was one of the last kits issued by Frog; I bought this kit in the very week in 1976 that their demise was announced. A typical Frog kit - chunky and simple, but reasonably accurate. Perfectionists will worry that the forward fuselage is too short and fat. Enthusiasts will simply enjoy the purposeful lines of this truly "different" aircraft. This one has been repainted and re-decaled twice since first built. It remains the all-time favourite of my model collection.

Above: Photoshopped from an original picture by LA(Phot) Owen King Royal Navy

DeHavilland DH110 Pirate / Sea Vixen Mk20 - 1955

This project was a way to use up one of the (now outdated) FROG Sea Vixen kits in my 'stash'. Its booms have been shortened, wing folds removed, nose blunted and a few other bits and bobs changed. (Link to build page)

Development of the DH110 started in 1949 and it first flew 2 years later. In September 1952 at the Farnborough Air Show, whilst maneuvering hard at the end of a supersonic run toward the crowd, the first DH110 prototype disintegrated in the air, killing pilot John Derry and test observer Anthony Richards instantly.

As the airframe broke up, the DH110's engines and cockpit section continued into the crowd, killing 29 spectators and injuring over 60.

After a redesign of the wing structure, flight testing resumed in 1954; XF828, the first semi-navalised prototype (fitted with arrestor hook, but without folding wings), took to the sky in 1955.

Hawker Siddeley Sea Vixen FAW Mk2 - 893 NAS, HMS HERMES 1970

Xtrakit and MPM produced this 1/72 Sea Vixen kit in 2008, which can be built as an FAW.1 or FAW.2 .  It is not an easy build, with some disappointing omissions and errors, but can still be made into a fine replica.  Decals are a mix of kit, Model Art, FROG and Xtradecal.

Link to build page

DeHavilland DH110 Prototype - 1955

This is the Grand-Daddy of all Sea Vixen models, the original FROG DH.110 kit from 1955.  It doesn’t actually represent any of the real aircraft, bearing a mixture of features of several early and late protoypes and production proposals.  Even it’s serial is fictitious (that number was never issued).

When compare dwith the converted Sea Vixen above, you can see just how stubby and short the later FROG kit was - even accounting for the differnet (and longer) engines, this slimmer fuselage is a much more realistic shape.

(Link to build page)