Date:	Saturday 3 April 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 21
Owner/operator:	602 (City of Glasgow) Sqn RAF
Registration:	LA268
MSN:	SMAF.4401
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bishopton, 2 miles west of Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Abbotsinch, Renfrewshire
Destination airport:	RAF Abbotsinch, Renfrewshire

Narrative:
LA268: Spitfire F.21, MSN SMAF.4401. Built at Vickers Armstrong South Marston, Swindon, Wiltshire with Griffon G61 engine. Test flown by Flt/Lt Loweth (Vickers Armstrong South Marston) for 20 minutes 27-4-45 (possibly first flight?). Delivered to 33MU RAF Lyneham by Flying Officer Rogers ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) 4-5-45. To 1 Squadron, RAF Tangmere, Chicheser, West Sussex. Cat B flying accident 4-9-45. To ASTH (Airwork Service Training Hamble) Hamble, Hampshire for repairs and refurbishment. Then to 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, RAF Abbotsinch, Renfrewshire 15-4-47

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 3-4-48 when control lost during aerobatics and spun into the ground at Bishopton, 2 miles West of Erskine, Renfrewshire; the pilot, who was relatively inexperienced on flying the Spitfire F.21, carried out an upward roll of two-and-a-half turns. However, the aircraft then entered an inverted spin, and flew into the ground before recovery from the spin was initiated. The pilot was killed

Crew of Spitfire LA268:
F/O (163749) Hamish McWilliam (Pilot) RAFVR- killed on active service 3-4-48; buried at Kilkivan Graveyard, Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Airframe declared as FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) and struck off charge 22-4-48.

The crash location of Bishopton is a village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Erskine.

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.383
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 602 Squadron ORB from 1-6-1946 to 28-2-1957: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2505: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2505143
5. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p054.html
7. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/LA268
8. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/79468-la268
9. https://rauxaf.org/features-roll-of-honour-names-m-to-r/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114250460/hamish-mcwilliam
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._1_Squadron_RAF#Post-War
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._602_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishopton,_Renfrewshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Apr-2023 16:25	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Aug-2023 20:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated