The last remaining Sea Vixen jet made an emergency landing at Yeovilton, UK. And here’s an interesting video.
As we have already reported, the last remaining Sea Vixen aircraft, XP924 G-CVIX “Foxy Lady”, performed an emergency landing at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, UK, on May 27.
The Sea Vixen, the first British two-seat aircraft type to break the sound barrier in a dive in the early 1950s, was returning to its homebase after taking part in Duxford airshow, near Cambridge, when it experienced a failure that prevented the undercarriage to be lowered, forcing the pilot to perform an emergency gear-up landing.
Steven Canning, a reader of The Aviationist, filmed the successful belly-landing at Yeovilton: the clip shows the pilot releasing the canopy as soon as the Sea Vixen touches the runway (in order to escape the cockpit as fast as possible) and the aircraft sliding up the runway, pretty much under control and closely followed by emergency vehicles, until it comes to a rest.
Video credit: Steven Canning
“Foxy Lady” first flew on Sept. 23, 1963 and was delivered to 899 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton on Dec. 18, 1963. It was retired from active service in August 1971. It is currently operated by Fly Navy Heritage Trust Navy Wings from Yeovilton.
