A fabulous air-to-air shot of Sea Vixen XP 924 (G-CVIX)

taken on October 2nd 2015. The aircraft first flew on 23 September 1963 and was delivered to 899 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton on 18 December 1963. Retirement from active service sent her to Royal Naval Aircraft Yard at Belfast in August 1971. The Royal Aircraft Establishments (RAE) at Farnborough and Llanbedr were in possession from 4 June 1973 until August 1977. Flight Refuelling took over on 11 October 1977 at Tarrant Rushton and converted her to a Drone (D3) with a Red and Yellow paint scheme to improve visual acuity. In February 1996 she was taken on by de Havilland Aviation and was re-registered as G-CVIX. In May 2003 she was painted in “Red Bull” colours as a sponsorship arrangement and was subsequently purchased on 18 April 2006 by Drilling Systems Ltd (Mr Julian Jones) and operated from Bournemouth. March 2007 saw a return to Naval colours as XP 924 with the 899 Squadron mailed fist logo. The aircraft was gifted to Naval Aviation Ltd in September 2014 and now operates from the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. The aircraft suffered a hydraulic failure in May 2017 resulting in a highly controlled wheels up landing. The Sea Vixen is being preserved in the hope that the Trust can find a way to restore her to flight.