Date:	Thursday 9 June 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Sea Fury FB.11
Owner/operator:	Hawker Aircraft Co Ltd
Registration:	VX618
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Iver Heath, Iver, Buckinghamshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Langley Airfield, Langley, near Slough, Berkshire
Destination airport:	Langley Airfield, Langley, near Slough, Berkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 VX618, Hawker Aircraft Co. Ltd: Written off (destroyed) 9 June 1949. The pilot was on secondment to Hawker Aircraft and was tasked with carrying out endurance flying tests with Sea Fury aircraft. This particular sortie was to fly a Sea Fury for two hours to and from Langley Airfield, Langley, near Slough, Berkshire

Shortly after take-off, the engine was heard to be running irregularly, and black smoke was seen to be coming from the exhaust system. The pilot was advised by ATC (Air Traffic Control) to return to Langley Airfield, and he made a turn at 500 feet, but at low airspeed, onto the downwind leg of the final approach to Langley.

During the final approach to Langley, the Sea Fury stalled, and dived into the ground, and the pilot was killed.

Upon post-crash investigation, the cause of the engine failure and smoke was traced to a faulty fuel metering system, which gave the engine an exceptionally 'rich' fuel mixture, and led to a complete engine failure on final approach.

Pilot - Lieutenant Richard Gordon Shove, Royal Marines (aged 26, on secondment from 768 Squadron FAA RN, HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent) - killed on active service 9/6/49, Buried at Clayhall Naval Cemetery, Gosport, Hampshire, England

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.503
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2450: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578296
4. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=192
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VX
6. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1949.htm
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177951155/richard-gordon-shove
8. Service history of Pilot: https://www.flyingmarines.co.uk/biography1941-195/SHOVE
9. https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Langley

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Dec-2019 16:58	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-Apr-2020 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]