Date:	Saturday 11 July 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor T Mk 7
Owner/operator:	209 AFS RAF
Registration:	WL344
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	RAF Dunkeswell RLG, 5 miles N of Honiton, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Dunkeswell RLG, Honiton, Devon
Destination airport:	RAF Dunkeswell RLG, Honiton, Devon
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor T.Mk.7, WG988, 209 AFS (Advanced Flying School) RAF: Delivered 27/3/1952. Substantially damaged 17/4/1953 when crashed on landing at RAF Dunkeswell RLG (Relief Landong Ground), Honiton, Devon

The aircraft was engaged in 'roller' landings at RAF Dunkeswell. (A 'roller' landing is one where the aircraft lands and takes off again without slowing down or stopping). To make the landings more challenging, they were also carried out with 'asymmetric' conditions, with one engine shut down. In this instance the port engine was throttled back, and Meteor WL344 was flying entirely on the power of the starboard engine.

As the aircraft touched down on the runway at Dunkeswell, the student pilot raised both the flaps and the undercarriage unexpectedly, at the point when the weight of the aircraft was just off the wheels. The undercarriage retracted, and the Meteor sank onto its belly, being severley damaged as it slid along the runway at high speed

However, the pilot was apparently uninjured, and it is possible the Meteor WL344 was repaired and returned to service. The aircraft's record card states: "To 33 MU RAF Lyneham 26/2/1962 for storage until declared a 'non-effective airframe' on 3/12/1962. Struck off charge as Cat.5(s) on 30/10/1963 and sold scrap"

Dunkeswell Aerodrome is an airfield in East Devon, England. It is located approximately 5 miles north of the town of Honiton and 14 nautical miles northeast of Exeter. From August 1945 to April 1946 it was used for ferrying aircraft to the Middle East by 16 Ferry Unit, RAF Transport Command. After September 1946 the station was put on care and maintenance status until the end of 1948, when it was sold by the Air Ministry. Despite this, Dunkeswell was still being used until the end of 1953 as an RLG (Relief Landing Ground) for the 209 AFS Gloster Meteors based as RAF Weston Zoyland.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4. p 146)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.387
4. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
5. 209 AFS ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/7/1952 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2148/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162862
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WL
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkeswell_Aerodrome

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-May-2021 01:07	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-May-2021 08:22	INV	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]