Date:	Wednesday 14 September 1949
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F.4
Owner/operator:	CBE RAF
Registration:	VT221
MSN:	DF-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Lindholme, Hatfield Woodhouse, South Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Lindholme, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Lindholme, South Yorkshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor VT221: Delivered to 6 MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 13.7.48. To CBE (Central Bomber Establishment) RAF Lindholme, Hatfield Woodhouse, South Yorkshire 14.9.48 coded 'DF-V'.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when overshot landing at RAF Lindholme, 14.9.49. The pilot had taken off from RAF Lindholme for an air test, followed by some practice display flying for the forthcoming Battle of Britain Air Display. On completion of this sortie, the aircraft landed apparently normally, but the brakes failed to work properly due to carbon deposits on the brake shoes, which acted as a lubricant, counteracting the brake shoe friction. The aircraft thus failed to stop or slow down, ran off the end of the runway, through the boundary fence, and across a road. Pilot Flt/Lt R Gailes was slightly injured.

Damage initially assessed as Cat 4(R); to 29 MU RAF High Ercoll, Shropshire 30.12.49 for repairs. To 32 MU RAF St. Athan, South Glamorgan 10.3.50; repairs not proceeded with, airframe re-cat 5(c) 27.3.50. Struck off charge and broken up at St. Athan for components and scrap in April 1950.

The Central Bomber Establishment (CBE) was formed at RAF Marham on 25-9-45 to meet the requirements of bomber training and tactics of the Royal Air Force. On 14-4-49 it moved to Lindholme, where it was disbanded on 5-12-49.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 95 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p 557
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 84)
4. Central Bomber Establishment Complete ORB 1945-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 63 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2118
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.174
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VT
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_Northern_England.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lindholme#1946_%E2%80%93_1980

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-May-2023 21:14	Nepa	Updated