rickshaw Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 (edited) The Sea Vixen FAW.3 In 1961, the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm was very interested in acquiring the US Navy's latest carrier borne fighter, the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom. It seemed the answer to all their problems of a successor to the Sea Vixen, twin-boomed fighter, which would fly from the planned CV-01 carrier. However, a monetary crisis intervened and the British Government firmly put it's foot down and declared that the successor to the Sea Vixen would, it seems be, well, another Sea Vixen! De Havillands had worked out how to fix some of the worse problems of the Sea Vixen. It improved the size and the shape of the Sea Vixen's radar scanner and brought the radar operator out of his "Coal Hole" and placed him in a tandem cockpit, behind the pilot, where his eyes would be useful in a dog fight. They improved the missiles carried by the aircraft, adding some Blue Jay radar homing missiles, based on the Red Top IR guided missile. They retained the Red Tops the previous versions had been armed with as well and kept the 30mm Aden cannons, much to the delight of the pilots. The Model The model is based on an illustration of an F-14 nose which was added to a Sea Vixen fuselage, which I have unfortunately lost track of. It fitted surprisingly well, actually, coming from a Hobby Craft kit. The Missiles were converted from standard Red Tops. The fuselage and wings are from a Frog kit. Edited July 7, 2017 by rickshaw 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Looks good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head in the clouds. Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Ooh, not bad at all,nice idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 I like a whif that looks as though it could have been & maybe should have been, I like this one. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_c67 Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Looks a great development! What sort of seeker head did you use for the Bluejays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 I agree with Steve. Definitely a Could Have Should Have. I certainly looks very purposeful and aggressive. Maybe this should be an If Only class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickshaw Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 Thank'ee one and all. Comments are most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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