Date:	Sunday 19 May 1918
Time:	day
Type:	Sopwith Salamander
Owner/operator:	65 Sqn RAF
Registration:	E5429
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Brooklands, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
First prototype of the Sopwith Salamander, E5429, which first flew 27/4/1918. The first prototype E5429 was flown to France for testing on 9/5/1918 and arrived with 3 Squadron on 17/5/1918. It then went to 65 Squadron on 19/8/1918 but was damaged beyond economic repair when it crashed while its pilot was trying to avoid a vehicle crossing the aerodrome to reach the scene of another crash.

The 65 Squadron report on the Salamander stated: “The machine gets up a tremendous speed with the nose slightly down, and for this reason I do not think that it will ever be well suited for trench strafing owing to the fact that it will be impossible to dive anything approaching vertically as the speed obtained would be too great.” The Air Ministry ignored this report and ordered 500 Salamanders at the end of May.

1. Bruce, J.M. (April 1979). "The First British Armoured Brigade: Part 3". Air International. Vol. 16 no. 4. pp. 182–190, 199–200
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_before_1925
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopwith_Salamander
4. http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28941
5. https://www.mediastorehouse.com/mary-evans-prints-online/royal-aeronautical-society/photographic/first-sopwith-tf2-salamander-e5429-prepares-9889007.html
6. https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2018/05/22/sopwith-salamander/
7. http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/SmithGaryL/9385.htm

Prototype Sopwith Salamander ground-attack fighter E5429 at Brooklands airfield 1918

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jan-2018 13:38	harro	Added
16-Jul-2018 22:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
08-Nov-2018 06:23	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]