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Date: | Wednesday 29 March 1950 |
Time: | |
Type: | Gloster Meteor F Mk 4 |
Owner/operator: | 56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF |
Registration: | VW277 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Mud flats near RAF Thorney Island, Emsworth, Hampshire, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
Nature: | Training |
Departure airport: | RAF Thorney Island, Hampshire |
Destination airport: | RAF Thorney Island |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Meteor VW277/M: The accident pilot was a member of the 56 Squadron formation aerobatic team and was taking part in a practice session in preparation for the coming No. 11 Group formation aerobatic competition. This Meteor was No. 3 in a formation of 4 aircraft performing a roll at about 1500 feet. The pilot of this aircraft pulled away downwards from the formation and in rolling out, struck the ground.
The No. 3 had found himself out of position and chose to pull away downwards rather than break to the side, and the aircraft crashed onto mud flats near RAF Thorney Island and was destroyed. The pilot was killed. With little time to train a replacement to the required standard, the team reluctantly withdrew from the competition.
Pilot:
F/Lt (58142) William Michael CONSTABLE - MAXWELL RAF - killed.
An article in The Aeroplane (June 2013 p.106) was written by a pilot who survived a crash in a similar Meteor F.4 in September 1951. Significantly, he stated “We had been briefed that if losing sight of the leader during a turn, the correct action was to throttle back while breaking away and down”.
Sources:
1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.90 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.45
4. The History of RAF Aerobatic Teams From 1920: Smoke On...Go! By David Watkins
5.
http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW 6.
http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html 7.
http://www.alresfordhistandlit.co.uk/NOT%20JUST%20A%20NAME%2017%20Website.pdf (p.225)
8.
http://thepeerage.com/p6068.htm 9.
http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2867.0;wap2 10.
http://www.ukserials.com/prodlists.php?type=730 Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
29-Apr-2013 20:16 |
angels one five |
Added |
27-May-2013 05:24 |
Nepa |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative] |
04-Aug-2013 21:23 |
JINX |
Updated [Operator, Location] |
29-Nov-2013 21:30 |
angels one five |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
17-Apr-2015 08:23 |
angels one five |
Updated [Aircraft type] |
10-May-2015 16:56 |
Angel dot comma |
Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
16-Jul-2019 06:36 |
angels one five |
Updated [Time, Narrative] |
28-Nov-2019 20:47 |
Nepa |
Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
16-Dec-2020 20:33 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
19-Nov-2021 22:41 |
Nepa |
Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator] |
03-Feb-2022 11:02 |
angels one five |
Updated [Location, Narrative] |