Sea Vixen
 

Dear all,

The Royal Navy Historic Flight Sea Vixen has made a wheels up landing back at Yeovilton after its display at Duxford....loss of hydraulics meant flapless landing after circuits talking with engineers, but the pilot walked away with no fire or impacts other than skidding along Yeoviltons finest concrete. Pictures coming in but are not mine so not sure if I can share. Poo

Picture credit - Scott Dabinett

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c5&oe=59A05B79

It declared an gear related emergency state 2 at Boscombe last week. That photo looks like what I was relived not see from the office window.

I think she's a bit too complex an aircraft for the Navy to maintain! :D

It seems to be far too complex for the civilian team that maintains it are capable of doing so. It is a civilian Permit to Fly aircraft and in no way connected to the military bar the facilities Yeovilton offers and the pilot whom I believe is still serving. Oh, the canopy carts were fitted by a mate still serving in the RAF as a favour. They worked.

Painful to see. Couple of questions came to mind:

1. Was there anyone in the coal hole.

2. Are the bang seats armed.

3. Is it SOP to jettison the canopy in such a situation

And obviously very happy everyone was ok.

Sea Vixen Does Wheels-Up Emergency Landing at Yeovilton 27 May 2017
https://theaviationist.com/wp-conten...incident-2.jpg Photo by Mr. Scott Dabinett

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...7.jpg~original

Recent Vampire ripping up runway thread had discussion about switches in odd places - Sea Vixen has similar issues with gear handle position but doing 'after landing checks' whilst still on runway? 5 April 2012

Read all about THEM: Postwar 5 de Havilland Vampire, Venom and Sea Vixen

https://www.scribd.com/doc/52083880/...-and-Sea-Vixen (PDF 93 MegaGiggles)

I do not know anything other than the words in this Sea Vixen FAW Mk2 pilot notes page here:

The Sea Vixen has a RAT, which AFAIR was primarily for hydraulic services, particularly the flight controls. Daily check before / after flight with automatic deployment as normal hydraulic pressure decayed.
The undercarriage had an emergency lowering selection on the normal gear handle, being either a segregated hydraulic supply or a dedicated reserve.
Thus a gear up landing would be the result of very unusual circumstances. The gear could have suffered a mechanical jam, but all three at once - selection system.
The hydraulic flight controls appeared to be working; thus some power may have been available - not a complete loss of fluid? Flaps up perhaps a recommendation for a gear up landing; wing tank retention appears to have been a good decision.Tail bumpers are sturdy metal blocks which could be used during aerodynamic braking, but in this instance they may have minimise rear fuselage damage.
Canopy jettison might have been a well considered alternative because the operating system is electric, and presumably the plan was to select all power off after touchdown. The canopy elect and a manual backup / emergency unlock IMHO were not very reliable.

All of the above subject to failing memory of a low hours, love / hate relationship with the aircraft - involving many elect / fuel pump failures, undercarriage, canopy, and hook problems; fortunately only operated the aircraft feet dry.

"Far too complex for the civilian team...." I wondered how long that bandwagon would take to start rolling. Before it does it's worth pointing out that an awful lot of Sea Vixens (and other fighters of that generation) were lost in accidents while in service

A big BRAVO ZULU to Si Hargreaves for sticking with the jet and for such a smooth landing thus minimising the damage. :ok::ok:

Short vid clip of approach, touch down and canopy jettison...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5qEhY3XD6Q

-RP

LJ - I'll second that

safetypee
The Sea Vixen D3 has electrically selected-hydraulically operated undercarriage and flaps. The underwing tanks cannot be jettisoned as this is disabled.

Probably just my imagination, but did it seem that he had the gear down for longer than one would normally expect during the Duxford display preceding this landing? It is on youtube beside the clip linked above.

The last time I saw a Sea Vixen land with the gear up it never flew again, but was used as a ground training aid at HMS Daedalus.

I hope this one will fare better, but I doubt if the money will be available to repair it.

Fonsini,

This was a display sortie whereby minimum crew only is permitted. The Vixen can be flown solo and, therefore, there was no-one in the 'coal hole'. The seats were live.

More likely, too expensive for a group of well meaning, however trained and experienced, volunteers.

Let us make one thing clear, this aircraft DOES NOT belong to the RN Historic Flight. It belongs to the Fly Navy Heritage Trust, a registered charity recognised by the Naval Service and one that operates without paying for its facilities, aviation fuel or other services.

Rumour has it that its participation at Duxford was not endorsed by Finance Director Navy nor was an MoU in place and signed.