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Date: | Friday 20 March 1953 |
Time: | |
Type: | Bristol Beaufighter TT Mk 10 |
Owner/operator: | 3 CAACU RAF |
Registration: | RD862 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | RAF Exeter, Exeter, Devon, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Landing |
Nature: | Banner and glider towing |
Departure airport: | RAF Exeter, Devon |
Destination airport: | RAF Exeter |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Beaufighter RD862: (3 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit RAF) Written off (damaged beyond repair) 20/3/1953 in a landing accident at RAF Exeter, Exeter, Devon.
During the landing run at RAF Exeter, the Beaufighter began to swing off the runway. The aircraft then ground-looped through 90 degrees, and the undercarriage collapsed.
Both crew (pilot and target winch operator) Ok.
Note: According to records at the RAF Museum, Hendon Beaufighter RD862 served with the Portugese Air Force between March 1945 and 1949, quote:
"A further Beaufighter (TF.X 'BF 17', ex RD862) was delivered 26 April 1946 after overhaul by Bristol, to replace one of the original batch, BF-7, that crashed due to engine failure on 22 October 1945. Esquadrilha B was disbanded in 1949 due to the poor condition of the remaining aircraft and its aircraft mostly scrapped, BF-17 being its last serviceable aircraft , making a final unofficial sortie in 1949", Beaufighter RD862/Portugese Air Force BF 17 was unique, in that it was equipped with radar, having a characteristic ‘thimble’ nose.
If this is the case, then it is not clear how or where RD862 was taken back on RAF charge and issued to 3 CAACU. Alternatively, the aircraft involved in the above incident was NOT Beaufighter RD862, but a completely different aircraft...one published Portugese source (see link #7) states that BF 17 (ex-RD862) was scrapped in Portugal in 1950.
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953
3. Beaufighter By Simon W. Parry
4.
https://www.key.aero/article/bullfighters 5.
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/74-A-13-Beaufighter-X-RD253.pdf 6.
http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/b/296/11/0 7.
https://aeronavesportuguesas.blogspot.com/2018/03/aviacao-naval-matriculas.html Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
19-Apr-2021 23:21 |
Dr.John Smith |
Added |
20-Apr-2021 09:13 |
sicak |
Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
11-Jun-2022 09:57 |
Nepa |
Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Operator] |