de Havilland Sea Vixen - Survivors
Preservation may not be permanent - XN691 derelict at North Weald, February 2001 (scrapped 5 months later); author
Not being a particularly famous aircraft, it is surprising how many Sea Vixens have been preserved, one - XP924 - even being in flying condition. This contrasts with earlier Fleet Air Arm aircraft (such as the Wyvern or Scimitar) which are real rarities nowadays. One Sea Vixen and a nose section have even ended up in Australia!
As the Sea Vixen was retired early in 1972, many of the airframes had several years of fatigue life left in them. Had the RN's carriers not been lost, it is feasible that the Sea Vixen could have been operational into the 1980s. After all, Lightnings were operational until the late 1980s, and were of around the same generation. The airframe itself, being designed for the pounding a carrier borne aircraft gets, is extremely tough. Certainly most landing accidents only took Sea Vixens off line for a few days while repairs were carried out. This and extensive anti-corrosion features also mean that examples at museums, even when parked in the open, have survived years of inactivity very well.
Click on the serial of a survivor entry for further information. Please comment on any individual survivor entry you feel requires an update!
Complete aircraft
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XJ481 | FAW.1 | Fleet Air Arm Museum (stored), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | 09/05/2022 |
XJ482 | FAW.1 | Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton, Suffolk | 17/06/2020 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XJ490 | FAW.2 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia | 09/05/2022 |
XJ494 | FAW.2 | Classic British Jets Collection, Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire | 09/01/2022 |
XJ560 | FAW.2 | Newark Air Museum, Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire | 11/04/2021 |
XJ565 | FAW.2 | de Havilland Aircraft Museum, London Colney, Hertfordshire | 18/06/2024 |
XJ571 | FAW.2 | Hallett Foundation, Solent Sky, Southampton, Hampshire | 15/01/2022 |
XJ580 | FAW.2 | Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, West Sussex | 27/07/2022 |
XN685 | FAW.2 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire | 16/05/2022 |
XS576 | FAW.2 | Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire | 25/03/2022 |
XS590 | FAW.2 | Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | 04/11/2021 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XS587 | FAW(TT).2 | Gatwick Aviation Museum, Charlwood, Surrey | 07/08/2023 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XP924 (ex G-CVIX) | D.3 | Bournemouth Aviation Museum (stored), RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset | 16/02/2024 |
Nose/cockpit/other sections
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
Simulator | Simulator | Privately owned, South Wales Aviation Museum, (stored), St. Athan, Wales | 24/02/2023 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XJ476 | FAW.1 | Boscombe Down Aviation Collection, Old Sarum Airfield, Wiltshire | 14/06/2020 |
XJ488 | FAW.1 | Robertsbridge Aviation Society, Robertsbridge, East Sussex | 02/08/2021 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XJ575 | FAW.2 | Wellesbourne Wartime Museum, Wellesbourne Mountford airfield, Warwickshire | 18/06/2021 |
XJ579 | FAW.2 | Midland Air Museum, Coventry Airport, Warwickshire | 16/05/2022 |
XJ607 | FAW.2 | Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra Aerodrome, Queensland, Australia | 09/05/2022 |
XN647 | FAW.2 | Robin Phipps, Steventon, Oxfordshire | 17/02/2022 |
XN650 | FAW.2 | Privately owned, Spanhoe Airfield, Northamptonshire | 09/05/2022 |
XN651 | FAW.2 | Tony Collins, Lavendon, Buckinghamshire | 29/08/2021 |
XN696 | FAW.2 | North East Land Sea & Air Museum, Sunderland Airport, Tyne & Wear | 27/06/2022 |
XP925 | FAW.2 | Privately owned, Stoneykirk, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland | 17/06/2020 |
Serial | Mark | Owner & location | Updated |
XS577 | D.3 | Privately owned, Chantel St Denis, Switzerland | 02/08/2021 |