Date:	Wednesday 30 June 1926
Time:	day
Type:	Vickers Wibault Type 121 Scout
Owner/operator:	Vickers
Registration:	None
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The first Vickers built Type 121 flew at the end of June 1926, but crashed following an inverted spin on its first flight. This was found to be due to problems with the aircraft's centre of gravity, which were resolved by modifying the tailplane.

Flt. Lt. Edward Rodolph Clement "Tiny" Scholefield DCM AFC on June 30th 1926 (not July 1st 1926 as reported in some sources) bailed out by parachute from Vickers Type 121 Wibault Scout (no serial) at Brooklands Surrey. According to the following excerpt from his biography on Wikipedia:

"Following his retirement from the Royal Air Force Scholefield became Chief Test Pilot for Vickers at Brooklands and became well known as an air racer and demonstration pilot. It was not usual in the 1920s for pilots to wear parachutes but he was given one in June 1926 with the instruction that it was to be used on all test flights. The following day he found himself in trouble when he had inverted an aircraft (a Vickers Wibault) and it would not right itself; he then used his newly acquired parachute and landed without injury."

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Wibault#Design_and_development
2. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?21513-quot-Brooklands-quot-Caterpillar-List
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Scholefield
4. "Flight-Lieut. E.R.C. Scholefield". Obituaries. The Times (45206). London. 18 May 1929. col B, p. 14.
5. Mason, Francis K. The British Fighter since 1912. pp 179-180 Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-082-7

Vickers 171 Wibault at Joyce Green, Dartford, Kent in 1926

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Aug-2019 08:23	TB	Added
16-Dec-2019 16:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
16-Dec-2019 16:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Location]