Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 95
prototypes. It was understandable, therefore,
for the station to be asked if it was possible to
convert some of the surplus Sea Venoms into the
likeness of a more modern type.
The engineers duly set about their task with
enthusiasm, turning four of the aircraft into
highly convincing miniature Sea Vixens, which
they christened “Vixettes”. The Sea Venoms
gained an extended pointed nose, apparently
formed from wood and canvas, a new rear
fuselage giving the impression of twin jets, much
more highly-swept wings, an offset cockpit
(complete with radar operator’s “coalhole”) and
deeper tailbooms with swept fins. The pocket
Vixens were capable of moving under their own
power, could accommodate two crew members
(presumably in somewhat confined conditions)
and had electrically-operated folding wings.
Two of the Vixettes appeared in the Rank
film, named Flight DeckFlight DeckFlight Deck, one painted with the , one painted with the
identity of a real Sea Vixen — XJ602/“247” —
and one marked as XJ601/“241”, both with the
fin code “H”. David Watkins’s book Venom: de
Havilland Venom and Sea Venom — The Complete
History (The History Press, 2003), from which
much of the above information was gleaned,
and a photograph in the author ’s collection,
reveal that a third aircraft was given the identity
XJ603/“246”, with the same fin code. The
fourth, as we can see courtesy of our leading
photograph, became XJ604/“245”.
A one-off occasion
For the Royal Tournament, the Navy asked
for volunteers to act as the deck crew for the
demonstration. Bill Gibson, a stoker who served
aboard carriers HMS Ark Royal, Victorious
and Hermes during a career which spanned
more than 20 years, broke the longstanding
Royal Navy tradition of never volunteering
for anything, in order to take part. He and his
fellow volunteers assembled at Lee-on-Solent for
rehearsals, where they encountered the Vixettes.
“There were all sorts of trades there”, Bill
recalls. “They gave us all new roles for the
Tournament. Captain J.D. Treacher was in charge
— he later became an Admiral. We had a practice
to get the timings right”. This was important as
the Vixettes did not move as conventional naval
aircraft did. “They put a big electric motor in
them,” Bill reveals, “so they could move about.
It worked on the concrete at Lee-on-Solent but
when they got to the tournament, the surface
was too soft and they couldn’t move.
“In the end, they fixed the aircraft to a big rope
and had a load of squaddies behind the scenes,
pulling them about. When it got to the catapult,
they pulled like mad and the aircraft shot
forward. The lights were lowered, and the rope
was dark, so you couldn’t see it that well, and it
all looked quite convincing.”
After the Royal Tournament the assembled
crew members went back to their regular roles,
and it appears that the Vixettes were never
used again in a live demonstration. At least two
became gate guardians at Royal Navy bases,
including “XJ601”, which was photographed
at Lee-on-Solent minus its outer wings, and
“XJ603” at an unknown location.
If any TA HTA HTA H readers can shed any more light on readers can shed any more light on
the creation of the Vixettes, the identity of the
Sea Venoms they were converted from and their
subsequent fates, do let the Editor know —
we’d love to discover more!Minus its outer wing panels, Vixette “XJ601/241” is seen here with at least one
Firestreak on its port inner wing section (but not on the starboard side) in its position
as a gate guardian at RNAS Lee-on-Solent. The station was designated HMS Ariel
during 1959–65, after which it reverted to HMS Daedalus again. Curiously, serial
XJ601 was never allocated to a real Sea Vixen, or indeed any aircraft.TAHAUTHOR’S COLLECTION