Date:	Friday 16 May 1947
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.103 Hornet NF Mk 21
Owner/operator:	Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE
Registration:	PX230
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Kentsborough, 4 miles south west of Andover, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Boscombe Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Destination airport:	Boscombe Down, Wiltshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DH Hornet PX230: First flown at Hatfield 9/7/45. Initially referred to as a DH Hornet F.1 (Hooked). Accepted for service use 6/8/45; to RNAS Ayr 8/8/45 (spare a/c for initial shipborne trials by PX212); To 778 Squadron RN FAA at RNAS Arbroath. To A Flight RAE Farnborough 11/8/45, to HMS Ocean 4/9/45 (arrester hook trials); to DH Hatfield 26/10/45 (converted to NF.21, First Flown as such 9/7/46; Accepted for service 6/8/46).

Returned to DH Hatfield 18/10/46 (for mods); To A&AEE Boscombe Down. To DH 18/12/46 (for further mods); To C Squadron A&AEE Boscombe Down 24/4/47 (handling trials)

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16/5/47. Lt Commander K.R. Hickson RN (Graduate No 4 Course), C (Naval Test) Squadron, A&AEE. Mission: tests of stick forces in dives to the limiting speed. Following a dive from 12,000 ft to 5000 ft at 480 mph, during the recovery using a 2g pull out, the port engine detached from the airframe. The controls became ineffective, the cockpit hood detached and the a/c entered an inverted spin. The pilot abandoned the a/c by parachute. The cause of the engine detaching was established as a crack in the light alloy forging for the port engine superstructure which had been precipitated by the pre-loading of the bracket due to an incorrect assembly technique. Crashed near Kentsborough, 4 miles South West of Andover, Hampshire, pilot (Lt Commander K.R. Hickson) slightly injured.

Declared Cat ZZ 16/5/47 at 49 MU RAF Colerne. From 49 MU to Lasham dump 12/8/47; SOC 16/10/47 (Total Flying Hours 35.20).

1. The Hornet File (Lewis G. Cooper, Tonbridge: Air Britain(Historians),1992. pages.32 & 131)
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.302
3. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2382: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578228
5. A&AEE Boscombe Down 1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1215: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100925
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103%20prodn%20list.txt
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?5194-Sea-Hornet-PX230-NF21-Prototype

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2018 06:17	Nepa	Added
25-Nov-2019 00:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
25-Nov-2019 00:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
25-Nov-2019 00:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
16-May-2023 18:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Narrative]]
21-May-2023 07:51	Nepa	Updated [[[Narrative]]]