Date:	Wednesday 5 January 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	245 (Northern Rhodesia) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VT123
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Horsham St Faith, Norwich, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, Spilsby, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor VT123: To 257 Squadron, RAF Church Fenton, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire 10.3.48. To 245 Squadron 2.6.48. Damaged on ground, 27.7.48; Repaired on site, and returned to 245 Squadron 2.9.48.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 5-1-49. At 31,000 feet while on a Wing Tactical Flying Exercise, both engines on Meteor VT123 flamed out, and the pilot reported that he was unable to restart them. The aircraft descended rapidly, and the pilot attempted a forced landing at the disused RAF Spilsby, Great Steeping, Spilsby, Lincolnshire. However, to compound his problems, the pilot them found that he had he could only lower one of the mainwheels; the other mainwheel remained retracted, causing the Meteor to swing violently on touchdown. The pilot was thrown from the cockpit on touchdown, and sustained fatal injuries

Crew of Meteor VT123
Pilot II (1566356) Robert "Bert" Penny RAF (pilot, aged 25) - killed on active service 5-1-49; buried at Inverkeithing Cemetery, Inverkeithing, Fife, Scotland. R.I.P.

1. Halley, James J (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.451
3. Dundee Courier 08-01-1949
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2435: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578281
5. 245 Sqn RAF ORB 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2481: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505119
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT
7. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-49-incident-logs#1949
8. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 83)
9. Aeromilitaria Winter 2009 p.171: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf
10. Pilot logbook (final entry): https://rafpilotlogbook.co.uk/WebPages/RobertPenny210.html
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138285488/robert-penny
12. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1940-1949_28.html
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._257_Squadron_RAF#Post_War
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._245_Squadron_RAF#Postwar
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Spilsby#The_Cold_War_period_and_closure

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Dec-2019 19:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Dec-2019 19:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
02-Dec-2019 19:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
02-Dec-2019 21:18	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Operator]
28-May-2021 21:26	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
03-Feb-2022 04:56	angels one five	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]