This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can
submit corrected information.
Date: | Sunday 26 March 1944 |
Time: | |
Type: | de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI |
Owner/operator: | Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) |
Registration: | LR359 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
Aircraft damage: | Minor |
Location: | RNAS Machrihanish /HMS Landrail, Kintyre, Argyll and Bute. Scotland -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Landing |
Nature: | Test |
Departure airport: | HMS Indefatigable (R10) |
Destination airport: | RNAS Machrihanish /HMS Landrail |
Narrative:Mosquito LR359: Took off for test flight /assess the suitability of the Mossie for carrier operation. 26/03/1944
The first deck landing trials were conducted on HMS Indefatigable (R10) on March 25th and 26th, 1944. Brown and his engineer completed seven landings and take-offs on Indefatigable’s 766.5 foot (233.6 metre) deck without incident, flying their specially modified Mosquito. It was the first time a twin-engined aircraft had ever been brought onto a carrier.
On the eighth landing the pilot showed his remarkable skill when bolts holding the arrester hook sheared. Recognising, in a split second and from feel alone, that it was a hook failure and not a cable break, he fire-walled the throttles and dragged the Mosquito back into the air – falling over the port side thanks to the the engine torque, and dipping dangerously close to the water as they recovered airspeed
On 26/3/44, during the third landing of the day, the aircrafts hook failed after taking the wire and only Lt Browns quick reactions prevented a ditching, the aircraft making it back to RNAS Machrihanish /HMS Landrail afterwards.
Crew:
Lt.Cdr (A) Eric Melrose 'Winkle' BROWN DSC AFC (test pilot RN) RAE - Ok
???? (test engineer) RAE - Ok
Sources:
1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2.https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1003-Intro.htm#WW2
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
06-Aug-2023 08:14 |
Nepa |
Updated |