Де Хавилланд DH.110: Ұшақ тарихы және апаттар

Carrier based fighter aircraft family

{|Infobox aircraft type
|type= Carrier based fighter
|national origin= United Kingdom
|manufacturer= de Havilland
|first flight= 26 September 1951

The design of the DH 110 used the twin boom tail design layout of the de Havilland Vampire and de Havilland Venom. It had an all metal structure, 45 degree swept wings, and an armament of four 30 mm ADEN cannons. By early 1949 the DH.110 design was expected to be adaptable to fulfil four requirements: F4/48, F5/49 (a long range RAF fighter), N.40/46 (naval night fighter) and N.8/49 (naval strike aircraft). To this end the prototypes required would be three for F.4/48, four for common RAF and RN development, and two each for the other three roles and by July the authorities were ready to order the 13 prototypes

In 1949, however, the Royal Navy decided to procure the de Havilland Sea Venom which, as a development of an existing aircraft, was cheaper, and would be available sooner to meet its immediate needs for a jet powered night fighter to replace its fleet of piston engined de Havilland Sea Hornets and Vought F4U Corsairs. The RAF decided to cut its order to two prototypes. On 26 September 1951, an initial prototype was completed and conducted its maiden flight from the Hatfield Aerodrome, flown by the test pilot John Cunningham. Early flight tests of the prototype demonstrated that the aircraft's performance exceeded expectations. By the following year, the prototype was regularly flying in excess of the speed of sound. Following a demonstration of its ability to break the sound barrier during a low level flight, the aircraft disintegrated and debris landed in the midst of spectators killing 31 people, including the crew of two, the test pilot John Derry and his flight test observer, Tony Richards. Subsequent investigation of the accident traced the failure to faulty design of the wing leading edge section ahead of the main spar. The design had been satisfactory for the earlier Vampire and Venom but not for the higher stresses induced by the rolling pull out manoeuvre at 650 mph flown by the DH110 prototype at Farnborough. The leading edge skin, without the extra reinforcing structure that would be added later, buckled, which resulted in the outer portions of the swept back wings being torn off (similar display routines had been flown on preceding days by the other prototype DH110 which had an aerodynamic fence providing external stiffening for the skin located precisely over the area where the buckling originated.). The subsequent shift in the DH 110's centre of pressure caused the aircraft to pitch up, the cockpit and tail sections breaking away and the engines being torn from the airframe by the g loading. One of the engines hit an area crowded with spectators at the end of the runway, causing the majority of the deaths. Sixty other spectators were injured by debris from the cockpit landing close to the main spectator enclosures alongside the runway. This incident led to a restructuring of safety regulations for air shows in the UK, and no member of the public died as a result of a British airshow flight for more than 62 years, until the crash of a Hawker Hunter warbird killed 11 people during the Shoreham Air Show on 22 August 2015. As a result of these changes the DH 110 was no longer able to exceed the speed of sound, only reaching Mach 0.95 in a steep dive where its controls were immovable until passing 10000 feet (3048 m). By this time, the Royal Air Force announced the abandonment of its interest in the DH 110, after deciding to buy the Gloster Javelin instead; However, the Fleet Air Arm had decided that it would adopt the aircraft as a replacement for its interim fleet of Sea Venoms. In February 1955, an order was placed for 110 navalised aircraft, which received the name Sea Vixen. In June 1955, a semi navalised prototype, XF828, was completed for the purpose of conducting carrier flight deck suitability trials. On 20 June 1955, this aircraft made its first flight from de Havilland's facility at Christchurch Airfield in Dorset. The following year, XF828 performed its first arrested deck landing on the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier
In April 1956, the finalised production drawings were formally issued. On 2 July 1959, the first Sea Vixen equipped squadron was formed. Production Sea Vixens were manufactured at first by de Havilland at its former World War II Airspeed Ltd. "shadow factory" at Christchurch near Bournemouth, starting in March 1957. However, the changes in aerodynamics meant that the 1,000 lb bomb could no longer be carried. Visually the FAW.1 and FAW.2 could be distinguished by the tail booms which extended forward over the wing leading edges of the FAW.2. In 1962, the Sea Vixen FAW.2 conducted its maiden flight; the type entered service with frontline squadrons in 1964. Overall, a total of 29 FAW.2s were newly built along with a further 67 FAW.1s that were rebuilt and upgraded to FAW.2 standard. In 1966, the original FAW.1 begun to be phased out. In 1972, the career of the Sea Vixen FAW.2 came to an end. The Sea Vixen FAW2 could be armed with up to four Hawker Siddeley Red Top infrared homing missiles with all aspect capability (can be fired against a head on target). The Red Top could home on to heat sources generated by kinetic heating of a fast approaching supersonic target such as the Tupolev Tu 22 Blinder bomber. The Red Top system was integrated into the AI 18R (R for Red Top) radar. From 1969 the Sea Vixen FAW2 practiced intercepts of a supersonic target against the Concorde SST in flight tests over the Irish Sea. The Admiralty had planned to replace the Sea Vixen with the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1. The aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and were both planned to be refitted to properly carry and fly the new fighters. Due to defence cuts, and following the decommissioning of HMS Eagle, only HMS Ark Royal underwent the conversion work to fly the new Phantom FG.1. A small number of Sea Vixens subsequently saw service as drones, in which capacity they were redesignated as the Sea Vixen D.3. Only four aircraft were converted to the D.3 standard, though three more were dispatched to Farnborough to undergo conversion, but ultimately went unconverted. The Red Top homing head was pointed in the direction of the target by slaving it to the AI18 radar, which was operated by the observer. for which it could be armed with two Microcell unguided two inch (51 mm) rocket packs, Bullpup air to ground missiles, and four or two bombs. The Sea Vixen FAW.1 was cleared to carry the Red Beard free fall nuclear bomb in the event of an "extreme operational emergency". The Sea Vixen was powered by a pair of Rolls Royce Avon 208 turbojet engines and could reach a maximum speed of and a range of up to 600 mile (966 km). Sections of the fuselage skin were chemically milled while other parts were machine milled. The powered folding wing made use of a pair of wing fold joints which involved a total of six main attachment points. The Sea Vixen had a crew of two, a pilot and a radar operator. The pilot's canopy was offset to the left hand side of the fuselage, while the radar operator sat to the right completely within the fuselage, the latter gaining access to his position through a flush fitting top hatch, nicknamed the "Coal Hole". The observer's position was darkened and located deeper down into the fuselage, improving the visibility of the radar imagery. Both positions were fitted with fully automated height adjustable Martin Baker Mk.4 ejector seats, which were capable of being deployed under a range of conditions and circumstances, including the aircraft being submerged in water. Each crew member had a single centralised service connector comprising circuits that served ventilated g suits as well as controls for humidity and temperature for crew comfort. Sea Vixens saw further service during the 1960s, performing duties on Beira Patrol, a Royal Navy operation designed to prevent oil reaching landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The Sea Vixen also saw service in the Far East. In 1967, once again in the Persian Gulf, Sea Vixens helped cover the withdrawal from Aden. There were a number of Royal Navy warships involved, including the carriers , and HMS Eagle (carrying the Sea Vixens) and the LPD (Landing Platform Dock)
The Sea Vixen's tactics against faster supersonic fighters such as the BAC Lightning and the Dassault Mirage III was to keep turning until its opponents went low on fuel and then catch them with the Red Top when they tried to break away using afterburner. The Sea Vixen also flew in an aerobatic role, performing in two Royal Navy display teams: Simon's Sircus and Fred's Five. Of the 145 Sea Vixens constructed, 55 were lost in accidents. Two DH.110 development prototypes were also lost. The 55 Sea Vixens lost represented a loss rate of almost 38%. 30 (54%) of these were fatal incidents, 21 of which involved the death of both pilot and observer. A small number of Sea Vixens were sent to FR Aviation at Tarrant Rushton airfield for conversion to D.3 drone standard, with some undergoing testing at RAF Llanbedr before the drone programme was abandoned. Among them was XP924, now G CVIX, the only Sea Vixen to remain in flying condition, which has now been returned to 899 NAS colours. Formerly owned and operated by De Havilland Aviation, G CVIX could be viewed at their hangar at Bournemouth Airport in Dorset and at air shows around the UK. The Air Accident Investigation Branch published an enquiry into damage suffered by G CVIX on landing at Bournemouth on 5 April 2012. On 16 September 2014, G CVIX was transferred to Naval Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of Fly Navy Heritage Trust and will be based at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset. |style="text align:right;"| November 1958
|style="text align:center;"| Never
|style="text align:right;"| 2 July 1959
|| ? || Intensive Flying Trials Unit (IFTU) based at RNAS Yeovilton. | style="vertical align:top;"
|| 892 Sqn
|style="text align:right;"| April 1964
|style="text align:center;"| Never
|style="text align:right;"| February 1966
|style="text align:right;"| December 1963
|style="text align:center;"| December 1964 Eagle
|style="text align:right;"| February 1972
|| 120–127130–137
|| Flew from: Eagle. Last operational carrier embarked Sea Vixen squadron
| style="vertical align:top;"
|| 766 Sqn
|style="text align:center;"| Never? |style="text align:right;"| 10 February 1970? || 750–755]]

Aircraft formerly on public display:
Sea Vixen FAW.1 XJ481, Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. Part of the Museum's reserve collection, and is in storage at Cobham Hall. Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ494, owned and maintained by Classic British Jets Collection, and was on display at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, Leicestershire until they closed in June 2020. Sea Vixen D.3 G CVIX, the former XP924, registered until 2014 to DS Aviation (UK) at Bournemouth Airport, Dorset. It has a display of registration mark exemption to fly in its original Royal Navy markings as "XP924" coded "134". It originally flew with 899 Naval Air Squadron Fleet Air Arm as "134" from November 1968 until 1970 from HMS Eagle. The ownership of XP924 moved to the Fly Navy Heritage Trust – with a formal donation ceremony at RNAS Yeovilton on 16 September 2014 – to be maintained and operated from Yeovilton by Naval Aviation Ltd., a subsidiary of Fly Navy Heritage Trust. On 27 May 2017, XP924 performed an emergency wheels up landing at Yeovilton after a hydraulic failure. The pilot was uninjured during the belly landing. In November 2020, the trust announced that fundraising efforts and ongoing investment to return XP924 to flying condition had been suspended indefinitely. The following complete airframes are on public display:

Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ490, Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra, Australia. Airframe complete, but internals removed.

Model Serial Number Location Photo Notes Sea Vixen FAW.1 XJ482 Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, Suffolk. The first Sea Vixen delivered to the Royal Navy. Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ560 Newark Air Museum, Nottinghamshire. On outdoor display Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ565 de Havilland Aircraft Museum, Hertfordshire. On outdoor display Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ571 Solent Sky, Hampshire. On indoor display Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ580 Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, West Sussex. On indoor display Sea Vixen FAW.2 XN685 Midland Air Museum, Coventry. On outdoor display Sea Vixen FAW.2 XS576 IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire. On indoor display Sea Vixen TT.2 XS587 Gatwick Aviation Museum, Surrey. Painted in target tug livery Sea Vixen FAW.2 XS590 Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. The last production Sea Vixen, built in 1966.