Date:	Wednesday 12 May 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	EFS RAF
Registration:	EE493
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire
Destination airport:	RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.4 EE493: Taken on charge at Gloster Aircraft, Hucclecote, Gloucestershire 6.4.46. To 2 FP (Ferry Pool) RAF. Damaged 9.4.46 when both engines cut due to fuel blockage, and aircraft bellylanded at Stoke Orchard, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Pilot Flt/Lt A P S Cloke OK. Returned to Gloster Aircraft at Hucclecote for repairs. Upon completion of repairs, delivered to EFS (Empire Flying School), RAF Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire 28.10.46 coded 'FCW-J'.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 12.5.48 when stalled on approach and hit ground, at RAF Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire; the pilot was making his first solo flight in a Gloster Meteor and he allowed the aircraft to stall shortly after takeoff from an altitiude of just 20 feet agl. The Meteor impacted the runway at RAF Hullavington very heavily, 140 yards from the end of the runway, and skidded along the ground for 500 feet before coming to a halt. The force of the impact forced the undercarriage legs through the mainplanes, and the nosewheel through the aircraft's nose.

Pilot Flt/Lt W.W.L. Selkirk OK; Damage initially assessed as Cat B (Repairable). To Gloster Aircraft at Hucclecote 12.8.48 for repairs. Damage re-cat E; then Cat. E(G/I) and became a ground instructional airframe 6604M 2.10.48 at 5 SoTT (School of Technical Training) RAF Locking, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset. Presumed scrapped in 1950 when 5 SoTT closed.

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.401
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. EFS RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1942 to 31-5-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/628: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100337
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_2009.pdf p.77
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Locking#No_5_School_of_Technical_Training
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_College_of_Air_Warfare#History
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Hullavington#Royal_Air_Force

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-Apr-2023 19:02	Dr. John Smith	Added