Date:	Wednesday 1 January 1964
Time:	day
Type:	Beagle-Auster 6A Tugmaster
Owner/operator:	Lasham Gliding Club
Registration:	G-ARDX
MSN:	1905
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lasham, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Lasham, Hampshire (QLA/EGHL)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Beagle-Auster 6A Tugmaster: Ex-RAF Auster AOP.6 TW524. Known military service was with Auster Aircraft (from June 1946, then 1900 Flight RAF, before being returned to the manufacturers for tests and trials, including fitment with skis for work in arctic conditions, and trials with Lycoming engine installation.

First civil registered (C of R R6947/1) on 2.8.60 to Auster Aircraft Ltd., Rearsby, Leicestershire. Registration cancelled 21.10.60 upon sale. Re-registered (C of R R6947/2) on 24.10.60 to Frank Horridge, Hampshire.

Written off (destroyed) 1.1.64 when crashed while glider towing at Lasham, Hampshire. Aircraft dived into the ground and burst into flame on impact. Pilot (sole person on board) killed. According to a report in "Flight" magazine 9.2.64:

"We regret to record the death, in a flying accident at Lasham Aerodrome on January 1, of Mr Jeremy Brock, a well-known glider pilot who had taken up an appointment as manager and resident instructor at London Gliding Club, Dunstable, only the previous month.

Mr Brock was piloting an Auster 6A (G-ARDX) and was taking off from Lasham with a Skylark 2 sailplane on tow, the direction of take-off being almost directly into-sun. The Auster dived into the ground from a height of 200-300ft after the tow-rope had broken (reportedly after the sailplane had risen to an unusually high position on tow). The pilot of the sailplane made a safe landing."

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Birmingham Daily Post" - Thursday 2 January 1964)

"Crash kills gliding instructor
A gliding instructor, Mr. Jeremy Brock, of Farnham, Surrey, was killed at Lasham Airfield, Hampshire, yesterday, when his Auster light plane crashed while towing a glider. When the Auster hit the ground it burst into flames.

An eye witness said the two planes were climbing directly into the sun at about 400 feet. "This blinded the glider pilot, and he was unable to see the towing Auster."

The Auster's tail became pulled up and Mr. Brock went into a dive to rectify the position, but he could not recover from the dive, and the tow rope broke. Mr. Brock, aged about 32, recently left Lasham to manage and instruct at the London Gliding Club at Dunstable."

Registration G-ARDX cancelled 20.4.64 as "destroyed"

1. Birmingham Daily Post - Thursday 02 January 1964
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 52)
3. Flight magazine 9 February 1964: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARDX-1.pdf
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARDX-2.pdf
6. http://austerhg.org/gallery3/Auster-1243594292/Model_A61/G-ARDX-ex-Mk-6A-Tugmaster
7. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=1800
8. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1537669
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14187.0
10. http://austerhg.org/p2000/transcript/ron_neal.php
11. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
12. https://www.key.aero/comment/1455668#comment-1455668
13. http://www.ukserials.com/losses_civil.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
22-Jul-2009 01:10	VHKDK	Updated
25-Feb-2012 20:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
21-Jul-2012 16:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
25-Feb-2020 14:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
25-Feb-2020 14:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative]
25-Feb-2020 14:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]