ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 18214
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| Date: | 05-SEP-1951 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Auster J/1 Autocrat |
| Owner/operator: | Westland Aircraft Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AJXS |
| MSN: | 2645 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Shoreham Airport, Shoreham, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Shoreham Airport, Shoreham, West Sussex (EGKA) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Auster J/1 Autocrat: First civil registered (C of R 11681/1; C of A 10318) on 13/10/48 to Auster Aircraft Ltd., Rearsby, Leicestershire. Registration cancelled/lapsed upon sale 11/11/48.
Sold on and re-registered (C of R 11681/2) on 20/12/48 to Westland Aircraft Ltd., Yeovil, Somerset.
Webb & Bird's history of Shoreham Airport mentions, in Chapter 7, that: "In September 1951 two aircraft were destroyed by fire at Shoreham in mysterious circumstances. Sadly one of them was the veteran Taylorcraft Plus D G-AHCI, the very first civil aircraft to land at Shoreham after the war."
It doesn't give the date of the fire but several sources give 18 September 1951 as the date of the destruction by fire of G-AHCI. Webb & Bird's book doesn't identify the second aircraft. However Peter Campbell's record of aircraft visiting Shoreham Airport between 1946 and 1970 states that on 5 September 1951 G-AJXS, a resident aircraft, was burnt out in a hangar fire (it also states that G-AHCI was burnt out in a hangar fire on 18 September 1951). Was this the same fire or were there two fires at Shoreham in less than two weeks? And if there were two fires, what was the identity of the second aircraft destroyed by fire on 18 September 1951? These are questions to which I haven't found answers. Neither volume elaborates on the cause of the fire(s).
The registration of G-AJXS was cancelled on 4/10/51. The given reason is 'destroyed by fire'. At the time its registered owner was Westland Aircraft of Yeovil. If this is correct it seems a little odd that it should have been a Shoreham resident. All rather mysterious!
Sources:
1. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJXS.pdf
2. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=2540
3. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16710.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 10-Jun-2012 16:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 16-Mar-2017 22:23 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Jun-2017 19:41 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 27-Mar-2020 17:53 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
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