de Havilland Sea Vixen

[Music] the de havilland c vixen was the first british two-seat fighter to ever break the sound barrier known initially as dh-110 it was one of javelin aircraft company's earliest jet fighters the aircraft was also famous among the navy men for its immediately noticeable twin boom tail and its unconventional cockpit layout and while the aircraft exceeded expectations in its earliest stages and took part in the peak decade for the fleet air arm and the navy's aircraft carrier force as well as the overwhelming operation that halted iraq's plans to invade kuwait the civicstan's career was plagued tragedy intrigue and even one more curious record [Music] breaking the sound barrier in the aftermath of world war ii the royal navy was finally able to transport aircraft and carriers and saw the need for a jet-powered fighter capable of flying day and night in all kinds of weather conditions these requirements demanded several specific design features such as swept wings for the jet power two engines to fly across the ocean and crew of two in order to operate the onboard radar navigate and fly the plane when the royal air force issued a similar requirement british aviation manufacturer de havilland concluded that a single aircraft could satisfy both branches their competition gloucester aircraft produced the ga5 model which later became the javelin while de havilland produced the dh-110 fighter although the royal air force was leaning towards gloucester's design they issued a contract as insurance to daviland ordering five for them plus four for the royal navy however the navy recalled their order not long after the announcement the branch had decided that a simpler cheaper and quicker option was a better fit for them and introduced an improved version of an already existing development model the sea venom the royal air force then followed suit and decided to cut costs as well so they reduced their order to two prototypes de havilland then continued working on the prototypes the dh110 prototype was an odd looking fighter with a similar layout as the de havilland venom and vampire an all metal structure with 45 degree swept wings and a twin boom tail design power was provided by a set of two rolls-royce avon turbojet engines on either side of the fuselage each capable of generating 7 500 pounds of thrust the dh-110 would then be capable of overcoming the sound barrier in a shallow dive the initial prototype was completed on september 26 1951 and it performed its maiden flight with test pilot john cunningham of the hatfield aerodrome early test flights demonstrated that the aircraft's performance exceeded the expectations set by the royal air force becoming the first british two-seat combat plane to achieve supersonic speeds [Music] the prototype seemed to be an ideal vehicle with a great future in early 1952 regularly flying past the speed of sound however disaster would soon strike airshow disaster [Music] on september 6 1952 a prototype dh110 jet fighter was demonstrating its abilities on the farnborough airshow in hampshire england where the model crashed in front of the spectators the jet disintegrated in midair during an aerobatic maneuver immediately taking the lives of pilot john derry and flight test observer anthony richards according to john dario biographer brian rivas as dairy straightened up the prototype and pulled into a climb position the outer part of the starboard wing failed and broke off immediately followed by the port wing this sudden change in the aircraft's center of gravity caused the plane to rear up and the cockpit section both engines and the tail plane tore off in less than a second some debris from the mid-air explosion fell on top of the crowd taking the lives of 29 people and injuring over 60. according to eyewitness richard gartner who was five years old when the airshow disaster occurred quote i'll never forget it looked like confetti looked like silver confetti the remaining airframe floated down right in front of us it just came down like a leaf and then the two engines like two missiles shot out of the airframe and hurtled in the direction of the airshow after the incident a panel of expert investigators determined that the cause of the sudden breakup was a structural malfunction due to a slight design flaw in the swept wing's leading edge according to rivas the wing had only 64 percent of its intended strength from that point onward the united kingdom implemented stricter safety measures jets flying straight needed to remain at least 750 feet away from the spectators while those performing aerobatic maneuvers were required to stay up to 1480 feet away all while flying at an altitude of at least 490 feet the tragic 1952 crash remained britain's worst airshow disaster until the 2015 shoreham airshow 63 years later [Music] complete overhaul immediately after the farnborough airshow incident all dh110 models were grounded to upgrade them with several modifications as the dh110 design evolved aircraft weaponry systems fire control systems radar equipment and cockpit instrumentation were also changing the long list of implemented changes was executed from the remaining second prototype onwards these modifications included a strengthened airframe redesigned landing gear a slightly modified fuselage an all-moving tail plane and cambered leading extensions the modified prototype flew for the first time in july 1952 almost two years after the disaster however due to the significant changes the model could no longer break the sound barrier and only reached mach 0.95 in a steep dive with immovable controls by then the royal air force announced their decision to buy the gloucester javelin delta wing after losing interest in the dh-110 the sea vixen was now stuck in limbo but the fleet air arm a fighting arm of the royal navy in charge of delivering naval air power from land and sea changed their mind and decided they would adopt the aircraft to replace their interim fleet up to havalan's sea venoms then in february of 1955 the faa placed an order for 110 navalized dh110 aircraft and renamed them the de havilland sea vixens two years later in july of 1959 the first sea vixen equipped squadron was finally formed [Music] operational service despite never participating in combat throughout its service with the fleet air arm the aircraft took part in many operations in several different roles besides its immediately noticeable twin boom tail one of the de havilland sea vixen's most notable features was its very unconventional cockpit layout instead of sitting in a tandem style the pair sat side by side however the navigator's seat was placed inside the right side of the airframe offering zero visibility at the same time the pilot sat in a left offset seat just next to the navigator when the c vixen performed its secondary task as ground attack aircraft the crew swapped roles with the pilot handling most of the work and the observer reduced to calling out speed and altitude especially in dive attacks when the pilot's attention was solely focused on the gun site throughout 1960 the sea vixen was part of the peak decade of the fleet air arm and the navy's aircraft carrier force then in july of 1961 the british armed forces participated in operation vantage a plan to support the newly independent state of kuwait against territorial claims by neighboring iraq the hms victorious carrier moved to the persian gulf while hms bulwark landed support marines in kuwait throughout the mission sea vixens continually patrolled the skies the naval force ended up being so large that the pressure caused iraqi prime minister abdul kareem kasem to backpedal his plans to invade in 1964 the sea vixens were part of the hms centaur force they provided air cover for marines on the ground to support the british government in the tanganyika colony in modern day tanzania as the tiny nation attempted to separate from the commonwealth the aircraft also provided protection and air support to royal air force troops bringing supplies and equipment to the area then in 1966 the defense white paper a major review of the united kingdom's defense strategy initiated by the labor government under prime minister harold wilson cancelled the navy's long-awaited cba-01 carrier along with many other projects and the sea vixen's days were now numbered the sea vixen's final drought with the fleet air arm was to oversee and secure the withdrawal of english forces from otton protectorate in 1967 an armed insurgency against the federation of south arabia [Music] in addition the sea vixen also flew in aerobatic shows performing in two royal navy display teams simon circus and fred's five [Music] however malfunctions turned into fatal accidents in the blink of an eye between 1960 and 1970 out of the 145 sea vixens 55 were lost in accidents of which 30 were fatal [Music] legacy the davalan c vixen served in the fleet air arms of the royal navy until 1972 when the last squadron was disbanded in favor of the american mcdonnell douglas phantom although the airframes were still in good condition their weapon systems had become increasingly outdated after retirement from active service several of the remaining models were used to train drone pilots ultimately less than 150 sea vixen airframes were built despite its many faults and tragic incidents the sea vixen also achieved one more record it was the first british fighter to be armed entirely with rockets air-to-air missiles and bombs without an on-board gun thank you for watching our video please like and subscribe to our dark documentaries channels to find more exciting historical content and let us know in the comments below what you think of the sea vixen and its bumpy career

Channel: Dark Skies

Views: 719,909

Keywords: air force, aircraft, airplanes, aviation, dark docs, dark skies, de havilland, de havilland vampire, documentary, documentary channel, forgotten weapons, history, history channel

Id: PYWImmS5k9c

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 04 2021