Sea Vixen gear up landing

[TobyV]

The flying DH Sea Vixen apparently had some kind of problem today and made a wheels up landing at Yeovil on return from Duxford. No injuries.

Photos here (this should be a public FB link I hope):

https://www.facebook.com/scott.dabinett ... 2198850876

- Edit, one post suggests the problem was a loss of hydraulics.

[DaveG]

Ouch! Good job getting her down safely.

[DaveB]

- Edit, one post suggests the problem was a loss of hydraulics.

Hmm.. another one suggested he blew the canopy with a view to banging out! I think he blew the canopy with a view to getting out sharpish rather than banging out.

What a shame

Glad he walked away from it though and a darned fine landing by all accounts
ATB
DaveB

[TobyV]

Dave, I presume the canopy jettison is just some explosives? I read that this was normal in order to aid faster evacuation from the aircraft if necessary. One photo appears to show a lot of flames and he appeared to land on the drop tanks. Someone else pointed out the flaps were not down, which might also be consistent with loss of hydraulics.

[SkippyBing]

One photo appears to show a lot of flames and he appeared to land on the drop tanks.

I'm guessing the flames were due to whatever was left in the drop tanks, probably just fuel vapour, being ignited when they were burst open?

Hopefully it'll buff out but a shame for it to happen so early in the season.

[DaveB]

Yup.. it wouldn't take long for over 12t of aircraft to wear holes in the drop tanks. No real evidence of fire (as such) in those shots. In fact it looks remarkably unscathed after it's ordeal

ATB
DaveB

[Molyned]

Shame, she was slated to appear at Old Warden next Sunday 4th June (and me ) during the 'Fly Navy' day.
Still, hope any damage can be repaired.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

[DaveB]

Looking at the Sea Vixens Flight Manual in conjunction with those shots.. its possible that the aircraft lost 2 of its 4 hydraulic systems. The undercarriage for example is supplied by the Green system and should a Green system failure occur, it is still possible to lower the gear using the Red system emergency procedure. Unfortunately, in an aircraft of this age and design, there is a high probability of a cascade effect.. that is, should the Green system fail, you're to land as soon as possible as the Red system may follow. Likewise, should a Yellow system failure occur, you don't deploy the RAT until absolutely necessary to protect blowing the Blue system. Doesn't instil a huge amount of confidence does it I'm glad Brian never modelled this!

ATB
DaveB

[airboatr]

Looking at the Sea Vixens Flight Manual in conjunction with those shots.. its possible that the aircraft lost 2 of its 4 hydraulic systems. The undercarriage for example is supplied by the Green system and should a Green system failure occur, it is still possible to lower the gear using the Red system emergency procedure. Unfortunately, in an aircraft of this age and design, there is a high probability of a cascade effect.. that is, should the Green system fail, you're to land as soon as possible as the Red system may follow. Likewise, should a Yellow system failure occur, you don't deploy the RAT until absolutely necessary to protect blowing the Blue system. Doesn't instil a huge amount of confidence does it I'm glad Brian never modelled this!

ATB
DaveB

Whew.. . All those failures would have activated my brown system.

...

[Motormouse]

Hmm... I would suspect a failure in a part common to both systems if emergency gear failed to operate.
Most likely a hose on one of actuators maybe.

Whatever, that is just speculation on my part. Good job on the landing.

Ttfn

Pete