ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 205698
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| Date: | Friday 7 July 1939 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.87B Hornet Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Clifton Penn-Hughes |
| Registration: | G-AFAT |
| MSN: | 8137 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent (EGMK) |
| Brooklands, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First registered [C of R 8020] on 11.8.37 as G-AFAT to William Walter Hughes, Hersham, Surrey (aircraft based at Brooklands Aerodrome, Brooklands, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey). C of A 6013 issued August 1937. Sold on and re-registered [C of R 8020/2] on 22.4.39 to Clifton Penn-Hughes, Hersham, Surrey (aircraft remained based at Brooklands). Clifton Penn-Hughes was a racing driver from 1931, whose most notable success was finishing 5th in the 1933 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, driving for Aston Martin.
Written off (damaged beyond repair 7.7.39 when crashed shortly after take-off, Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent. Pilot/owner Clifton Penn Hughes (aged 34) was killed, and passenger Edward Tobin was injured. Most published sources give the place of death as "Folkestone, Kent" as that is where the inquest into Clifton Penn-Hughes' death was held.
According to a local newspaper report into the incident (" Surrey Advertiser" - Saturday 15 July 1939):
"HERSHAM AIRMAN DIES AFTER CRASH.
CLAYGATE PASSENGER HURT
Mr. Clifton Penn Hughes, of Rabbit-lane Farmhouse, Hersham, was fatally injured on Friday evening last week when the light aeroplane he was piloting crashed at Lympne. With him as a passenger was Mr. Edward Tobin, of Meadow-road, Claygate, who was seriously hurt.
Mr. Penn Hughes and his passenger had landed at Lympne to clear the Customs, and took off for Brooklands. Because of low cloud they turned back, and the machine nose dived. Both were taken to Folkestone Hospital, and Mr. Hughes died soon after admission.
Mr. Penn Hughes was 34 years of age and the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hughes, of Cartref, Weybridge. Mr. W. Hughes is the managing director of the Hackbridge Electric Construction Co., Ltd., of Hersham, and his son was also a director. Mr. Penn Hughes was a well-known racing motorist, and a few years ago figured prominently in many of the big races. Apart from many successes at the Brooklands track, his outstanding performance was when he gained second place in the Mille Miglia race in Italy in 1934. Two years before that he fractured a leg in a car crash at Monaco, when practising for the Grand Prlx there.
Mr. Penn Hughes was a keen Rugby football player, and at one time played for Esher. He joined the Weybridge Rugby Club on its formation, and was captain of it for a season. He was married, and his wife was formerly Miss Heather Seymour Guinness, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. Guinness, of Hayes. Kent. She is a former holder of the British women's fencing championship.
Mr. Penn Hughes was educated at Oundle School, and he later served a period of apprenticeship at Metropolitan Vickers' Works at Trafford. He afterwards travelled, and gained added experience at various Westinghouse works in the United States. He eventually went on a world tour in the interest of the companies with which he later became associated. In addition to the Hackbridge Electric Construction Company, Mr. Penn Hughes was also a director of the Hewittic Electric Company, and of the New Switchgear Construction Company.
He leaves a widow and daughter. At the inquest at Folkestone on Tuesday a verdict of "Death by misadventure" was recorded".
Registration G-AFAT belatedly cancelled by the Air Ministry post war, on 1.12.46, due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". A note on the aircraft's record card states "(Census 1946)"; which indicates that the Air Ministry were only made aware of the demise of G-AFAT after a return from the last registered owners, in response to the Air Ministry's 1946 census into the existence (or not) of all UK-registered pre-war civil aircraft
Sources:
1. Surrey Advertiser - Saturday 15 July 1939
2. Ballymena Weekly Telegraph - Saturday 03 February 1940
3. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/80-register-gb-g-af
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFAT.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A10.html
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p081.html
8. https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/clifton-penn-hughes
9. http://www.family-forest.co.uk/familytree/groups/grpf02407.shtml
10. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=12329.0
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lympne_Airport#Accidents_and_incidents
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans#Finishers
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Feb-2018 02:00 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 03-Mar-2020 23:06 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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