Just watched a Sea Vixen dump a load of stuff in the sea
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Just watched a Sea Vixen dump a load of stuff in the sea
Admittedly, years ago. Just wonder how often this went on in the past and what a waist and when did it end? I'm no echo warrior but there must be so much s£it down there?
vid around 1:16 and the "cradle" goes to the depths
"
vid around 1:16 and the "cradle" goes to the depths
"
Quite simple the strop was stressed to such an extent during launch that
it was cheaper to manufacture a new one than to recover test and ship back
onto the carrier.
cliver029
it was cheaper to manufacture a new one than to recover test and ship back
onto the carrier.
cliver029
Last edited by cliver029; 1st Sep 2021 at 21:57. Reason: Spelling
Saturday evenings in the late '50s or early '60s there was a live TV show ('Saturday Night Live' or something) fronted by Raymond Baxter which tried to do something spectacular each time; one time it was a locomotive crash at Longmoor military railway and another was live shots of an aircraft carrier.
I remember Baxter saying that when catapulted away, the strop was left to simply fall off imto the water and that each strop cost £7-0s-0d (pre 1971 money if you don't know)
I remember Baxter saying that when catapulted away, the strop was left to simply fall off imto the water and that each strop cost £7-0s-0d (pre 1971 money if you don't know)
Not quite the same type of "stuff" but I remember the Sea Vixen, when it was in Red Bull's hands, mistakenly dropping a mechanics toolkit from the weapons bay on a slow flypast at a Coventry airshow. I bet words were exchanged later..
Admittedly, years ago. Just wonder how often this went on in the past and what a waist and when did it end? I'm no echo warrior but there must be so much s£it down there?
vid around 1:16 and the "cradle" goes to the depths
"The Sea Vixen - YouTube
vid around 1:16 and the "cradle" goes to the depths
"The Sea Vixen - YouTube
Seriously, all steam catapults in the RN (until Ark Royal) launched fixed wing with Bridles, which went into the 'oggin: not just the Vixen. Ark was fitted with bridle catchers allowing their re-use up to (IIRC) 20 or 30 times, when they were then untethered and allowed to go off the launch.
The USN developed a replacement whereby the shuttle latches on to the NLG and pulls the aircraft down the cat without a bridle.
As mentioned, the Vixen didn't have a 'weapons bay'
This photo shows the bridle catcher ropes :
And here's the bridle being arrested by the catcher as the F4K launches from Ark waist cat
Last edited by John Eacott; 2nd Sep 2021 at 09:26. Reason: Add photos
On that particular aircraft the tool kit would have been behind the radome along with the folding ladder. That is where I always kept it No radar was fitted, just 1800Lbs of ballast.
One day when all the seas are dry or we can travel across the oceans on the seabed, people will come across an old white Jaguar XJS in the middle of the Bay of Biscay and think, "How the hell did that get there?"
Last edited by DaveReidUK; 2nd Sep 2021 at 15:00. Reason: better photo
DaveReidUK
That is the hatch where the undercarriage locks and hook lock were stored..
Possibly if this was not correctly secured they could have made a bid for freedom.
Lucky that none went down the engine!!
That is the hatch where the undercarriage locks and hook lock were stored..
Possibly if this was not correctly secured they could have made a bid for freedom.
Lucky that none went down the engine!!
It would be naïve in the extreme to think that cat-strops (or indeed musical instruments) are the most polluting/expensive/wasteful things to be casually discarded at sea by the world's navies.