Date:	Sunday 5 September 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F.4
Owner/operator:	66 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VW787
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Bentwaters, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF West Raynham, Fakenham, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Suffolk

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.4 VW787: Delivered to 38 MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan 5.1.48. To 66 Squadron, RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire 18.5.48 coded 'HI-A'. However, with the CFE (Central Fighter Establishment) at RAF West Raynham, Fakenham, Norfolk (on loan) at the time of the incident listed below.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 5.9.48 when stalled on final approach, undershot runway and undercarriage collapsed, RAF Bentwaters, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. The aircraft stalled from an altitude of just 20 feet agl (above ground level) when the pilot allowed the airspeed to drop to below the stalling speed. The reason was stated as being due to the pilot not being used to flying a Meteor F.4 'fully laden' with a full ventral tank, and not making allowance for the difference that this configuration caused to the aircraft's handling. The aircraft struck the ground in a 'heavy landing' just outside the airfield boundary, causing severe damage to the undercarriage

Damage initially assessed as Cat B; however, re-cat E and struck off charge later in September 1948

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.79. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 83)
3. Final Landings A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 - 1949 p 428 by Colin Cummings
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. CFE RAF ORB for the period 1946-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1349: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101059
6. Aeromilitaria (Air Britain) Spring 2010 p.37: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2010.pdf
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=vw
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Fighter_Establishment
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_West_Raynham#Postwar

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Apr-2023 14:14	Dr. John Smith	Added