Sea Vixen XJ494

hey robmac .

many thanks please do show me the picture it would be most interesting !, is the aircraft in teh picture deffinatly 685? beacuse if it is the same picture it looks remaracbly like xj494 ? could you magnify and clarify to me that it is 685 please .

thanks,
Steven

wow !! she looks amazing !!! i take my hat of to you. is this the aircraft that took part in the Martel Trails ??

ragards
steven.

She did take part in the Martel Missile trials. I have a picture of her flying above Hatfield in 1970. I’ll post it on here when I get chance.

Hi Steven;
They are Both XJ494 and are very clearly marked and “XJ494” marking is visible in the photos. The higher resolution ones I can sen you can be “zoomed in” and enlarged several times and you can see fine details, that way, including the numbers.
I am very happy to help you. 🙂

Hi Barnstormer

:O wow!!!! Is the first image XJ494 or both of them , or nither ! they are amzing pictures

Many Thanks,
Steven

Steven;
I should probably clarify-Just in case you are skeptical of Internet “offers.” The higher res scans I can send you are free of charge, of course. 🙂

This one marked on back: D3 1980.
Have higher res scans to mail you, same as above: 600dpi/392Kb or 1200dpi/1.05Mb

Hi Steven;
Sorry not to have answered sooner. Been across the Atlantic AND the Pacific in past few weeks. Just got in last night and dug out these two photos for you. Just email me at the email address from my website (in the signature, below) and let me know if you want me to email you large digital image of each of the photos here. Have this one scanned to email you at 600dpi/718Kb, or 1200dpi/1.05Mb size WITHOUT the “Raceway Collection” overlay printing…This one is 899 Sqdn, 12, Biggin Hill, 1965.

Hi all, here’s one of my snaps of her,

As Steven says she needs alot of indepth work and more importantly money spending on her, she is far from taxiable.

All the best Steven, just keep her looking respectable

Hi Peter,

There was a taxi run a long time ago , at the time i was not working on the aircraft so im not 100% sure what happend, this is one of the things the team are working on. we are always on the look out for ex-royal navy personal who are able to come and take a look at the vixen or even become part of the team, if you no anyone who is intreseted or anyone who is reading the forum at the moment please dont hestitate to contact me via this thread.

many thanks ,
Steven

Hello Steven.
Thanks for the reply. I had heard that you did do a taxi run awhile back but due to the things you mentioned it became a hairy do of sorts! Hopefully you gain some ex Sea vix chaps t help with the work required!

Hey Peter.

As we Stand the Vixen needs a lot of work to get her to a running standard’s. on top of maintaining the airframe, because the Vixen is constantly outside we need to keep on top of rot and corrosion, also we need to be sure on the state of the fuel lines and hydraulic lines, electrics need to be re-wired as well , the vixen really needs cover and practically total rebuild but we can not go to that extent. No engine runs are planned for along time due to the things mentioned above top of that we need experience . i am still at school so have not sufficient skills , but luckily two new people have arrived on the vixen team to help :).the aim is to get the vixen taxi able but its along way off.

Many thanks
Steven Perriss

What happened to the engine runs is there no chance of her being a runnable aircraft in the future?

this is XJ494 the vixen i work on , please note the aircraft has all the martel test program mods present .

wow !! she looks amazing !!! i take my hat of to you. is this the aircraft that took part in the Martel Trails ??

ragards
steven.

Here you go mate. This is XN685 at the MAM that I restored.

hello to all,
i am currently looking after the vixen myself with two other people, we are currently working inside the cockpit trying to make it look cleaner , we are also trying to keep on top of corrosion,. no engines runs will be takin place.
please keep the images coming through they are very helpful , i am particularly lookin out for images of 494 in flight/servise.

kind regards,
steven.

Does anyone if work is still taking place XJ494, as at one time they had stopped doing ground runs as the engines were becoming unsafe to run up ?

All I have is a Bruntingthorpe picture taken 4th May 2003. I suspect you are probably looking for some older shots but hope this helps. I have had to send a link to the picture as I keep getting a message saying over quota even though I have just deleted a large number of the older posts.

http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=101509