As some of you may know, a recent thread regarding the restoration of Canberra WF922 at the MAM Coventry was posted on this site. Through you all reading this, a certain member of the forum went through his slides to discover that he had a photograph of WF922 coming into land at Boscombe Down around 1970. This is the only photo we have of the Canberra in flight during service.
It is because of this photograph that I am now posting this thread and wondered if their are any budding aviation photographers out there that may also possibly have in their collection a photograph, preferably colour, of Sea Vixen XN685 which I myself work on at the MAM Cov, as we do not have one single photo of this aircraft. I have tried everything possible to obtain a picture of her so I can repaint her as accuratly as possible.
If their is anybody out there with a photo of her, I would love to her from you.
regards Robmac
By: Peter - 21st March 2005 at 23:13
Thanks for the update Robmac! It sounds like she is in loving hands! It will be great to one day have her systems and electrics operating again for sure.
By: Merlin3945 - 21st March 2005 at 23:08
http://www.transportphotos.com/Air/PN48/Military%20Selection.doc
This is the only link to any kind of picture I could find during a quick search. It has a Black and White picture listed on the document.
Goodluck in your search for a colour photo and I hope you find one.
By: robmac - 20th March 2005 at 21:09
Ok, here’s whats happening!
At the moment 685 is in need of a lot of attention. As the aircraft is outside, I have been limited to the amount of work that has been done on her over the past few months. The main and nose wheel undercarriages have been completely stripped down an totally referbished. They do now look brand new! Over the winter, most of the ancillary parts, air intake covers, exhaust cover etc, have also been stripped and referbished. The condition of the main airframe is excellant due to the Navy paint scheme protecting it, however, this paint is now in dia need of recovering and as soon as the better weather arrives, that will be looked at. The plan is to eventually ignite the electrical systems (although ignite is what I don’t want then to do!) and to see if we can bring to life the cockpit area as is with the Canberra. Most of, if not all, the flying serfaces are hydraulically operated and although it is our intention to get the wings to be able to fold and spread as we know they can, it is later intended to look at the possibility of getting most, if not all, the controls working. This is a long term restoration program and it is a priority to first get 685 looking good. The rest will be dealt with as and when possible.
I will post some more info on her along with accompanying photographs within the next few days…..watch this space!!
By: Peter - 20th March 2005 at 20:48
Ime interested…!
By: robmac - 20th March 2005 at 20:45
If enough interest is generated about the Vixen then I will gladly do an ongoing update on her. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be a big following of this type of aircraft, unlike others, or maybe it’s just me!
By: Peter - 20th March 2005 at 20:39
Hello Robmac.
Any chance of an ongoing update on the sea vixen then?
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March 20, 2005 at 8:26 pm