ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 205398
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| Date: | Sunday 6 June 1937 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Broughton-Blayney Brawney |
| Owner/operator: | Broughton-Blayney Aircraft Co. Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AERF |
| MSN: | BB/51 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bromley Hill Cemetery, Bromley Hill, Bromley, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex |
| Ramsgate Airport, Ramsgate, Kent (X2RT) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Second of the three Broughton-Blayney Brawney aircraft to be built. First registered [C of R 7493] on 2.12.36 as G-AERF to the Broughton-Blayney Aircraft Co. Ltd., London Air Park, Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex.
Written off (destroyed) 6.6.37: While in flight from Hanworth Aerodrome in Middlesex to Ramsgate Airport in Kent, the oil pipe burst and the engine seized. Engine was a 31 hp Carden-Ford 4-cylinder (A much modified Ford 10 car engine). Aircraft stalled and crashed into the Cemetery at Bromley Hill, Bromley, Kent, resulting the death of the pilot, Alfred Bacon (aged 37). According to a contemporary newspaper report, which covers the inquest into the pilots death ("Dover Express" - Friday 11 June 1937)
"TEMPLE EWELL AIRMAN KILLED.
THE INQUEST.
Flying a monoplane, which he was thinking of buying, from Hanworth to Ramsgate Airport, on Sunday evening, Alfred Stanley Bacon, aged 37, of Mill House, Temple Ewell, crashed into Bromley Hill Cemetery, Catford, and was killed instantly. Mr. Bacon was a member of the Thanet Aero Club, Ramsgate, and with another member journeyed to Hanworth by car on Sunday afternoon to inspect and test the monoplane. Mr. A. S. Bacon leaves a wife and two children. He was a son of Mr. W. M. Bacon and the late Mrs. Bacon of Canterbury, and was educated at Simon Langton School, after which he entered a garage for mechanical training. Later he owned a garage at Littlebourne. During the Great War he was in the Royal Naval Air Service and served until the Armistice, when he returned home and assisted his father until the latter retired.
In 1927 he set up as a tobacconist at 41, St. Peter's St., Canterbury, almost opposite to where his father had had a similar business since 1899. He was known for his skill with racing motor cycles on various grass speedway tracks the County. He held the Silver Wings at Ashford Speedway for several seasons. He learnt to fly at the Bekesbourne Aerodrome, had some 100 hours' solo flying to his credit, and was a former member of the Kent Flying Club. Last year he built a Flying Flea in a room behind his shop, but was not satisfied with it. Mr. Bacon performed many spectacular feats on motor cycles, such as jumping the River Stour at Canterbury, riding through a sheet of plate glass, and riding through flames.
The South-East London Coroner (Dr. W. H. Whitehouse) held an inquest at Lewisham on Wednesday. Capt. George Robert Mack, a commercial air pilot, of Coniston Road, Bromley, said he saw Bacon flying at less than 200 feet. The regulations provided that aeroplanes should not be flown as low as that over a populous area. The engine was working normally. Suddenly the machine went into a flat turn. As a result it lost flying speed after skidding. The left wing dropped and the machine went into a spin and crashed into the cemetery. Loss of flying speed caused the tragedy. Instead of taking a flat turn Bacon should have banked.
Dr. Nockolds said that Bacon died instantly from multiple injuries. A post mortem examination revealed nothing which might have indicated that the pilot was seized with illness or giddiness. Other witnesses said that the monoplane missed the cemetery chapel by twenty feet and they ran for safety. The Coroner was told that Bacon "revved up" his engine just before the crash. A cemetery employee said he had to run, as others did, to save his life.
Henry Alfred Cave, of Manchester Road, Cubitt Town, said he was of the opinion that Bacon found himself in difficulties and had to choose between crashing in the open ground of the cemetery and hitting some houses. "I think he sacrificed himself by 'revving up' at the last moment, turning sideways and crashing down into the cemetery," said Cave.
Frank William Broughton, of the London Air Park, Hanworth, the owner of the monoplane, said it was a single seater, weighing 460 lbs. It was in good condition and before Bacon set off he (Broughton), Bacon and another member of the Thanet Aero Club had flights round the aerodrome. It had been flown previously for about twenty hours. He designed that particular type of aircraft and only once before had there been a fatality, due to an error of judgment on the part of the pilot. Mr. Broughton said that single seater machines, weighing less than 600 lbs. did not require a certificate of airworthiness.
Capt. Wilkins, an expert from the Air Ministry, said that the accident was not due to any structural or mechanical defect in the machine. He opined that "air bumps," caused by the heat, may have embarrassed Bacon.
The Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death," due to an error of judgment on Bacon's part. They added a rider that the regulations should be altered so that all aircraft should have certificates of airworthiness. The Coroner observed that the rider was beside the point in this case, as the airworthiness of the machine was not in question.
The foreman: It has nothing to do with what happened on this occasion, but it makes one rather apprehensive if people are allowed to buy these aeroplanes with no sort of guarantee at the back.
The Coroner: I think we can safely say that must have been considered by the Air Ministry."
Registration G-AERF cancelled by the Air Ministry 7.12.37 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. Dover Express - Friday 11 June 1937
2. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/79-register-gb-g-ae
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AERF.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A9.html
5. http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/broughton_brawny.php
6. http://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Ashingdon
7. http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft34684.htm#en
8. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carden_Aero_Engines
10. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4560.0
11. https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/2024904/photography_ProvidedCHO_TopFoto_co_uk_EU027878.html
12. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=4560.0
13. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001165043.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jan-2018 23:12 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 27-Feb-2020 18:42 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Feb-2020 18:49 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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