ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 1867
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 April 1942 |
| Time: | 12:10 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | K9891 |
| MSN: | 72 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
| Return. |
Pilot attempted to take off with prop. in coarse pitch.
Hit Spitfire P7840. Cat. E 1/4/42. SOC 13/4/42.
Pilot Sgt E.ARTUS survived, injured.
See also ASN Wikibase Occurrence #255250.
Details:
This aircraft was one of the oldest Spitfires to have crashed in Wales it was the 72nd airframe built at Eastliegh. She first flew on the 31st of January 1939, fitted out at 6 MU on the 7th of February, then allocated to 66 squadron who were stationed at RAF Duxford.
66 squadron was formed during the First World War before when the flying units were known as the RFC ‘Royal Flying Corps’. Along with many of the squadrons they were disbanded at the wars end.
66 squadron was re-formed on the 20th of July 1936 under the RAF expansion scheme from personnel of 19 squadron, they were equipped with the Gauntlet single seater bi-plane fighter. 66 squadron received their first Spitfire K9790 on the 12th of August 1938 for intensive flying, with the commencement of equipping with Spitfires on the 30th of October when two more arrived. K9891 arrived on the 24th of April 1939. The squadron flew training and familiarisation duties etc. The first ‘Active’ flight took place on the 17th of October 1939 comprising of three Spitfires but with no interception.
K9891 was an early Mark I which had a service ceiling of 31,900ft, and at 30,000ft could reach a speed of 315mph. Its maximum speed was 362mph at 18,500ft. Its maximum cruising speed, though, was 210mph at 20,000ft, and at economical speed its range was 575 miles. Its combat range was 395 miles, allowing for take-off and 15 minutes of fighting. K9891 went to the AST (Air Service Training) at Hamble on the 20th of November for an upgrade where several improvements would be made.
These improvements included: The elliptical wings and all-metal ‘monocoque’ body, where the skin is part of the plane’s structure rather than just a covering, had been added the bulged, or blister-shaped, cockpit, thereby completing the Spitfire’s classic profile. Windscreen plastic had been replaced by armoured glass, armour plate was fitted at the rear of the engine bulkhead, a power-operated pump was installed to operate the undercarriage, and the tail-skid had been replaced by a wheel. The Merlin Mark II engines were giving way to the Mark III with its improved airscrew shaft, and the two-blade wooden propeller had been replaced by the De Havilland three-blade metal, two-pitch propeller.
Once completed she didn’t return to 66 squadron but went to No’ 5 OTU on the 4th of June 1940, sixteen days later she had a flying accident on the 19th then sent to Westland Aviation for repair. A short stint with 58 OTU for a month then an upgrade with Scottish Aviation followed before she finally came to 53 OTU on the 9th of December 1941. On the 1st of March 1942 she suffered her second and final flying accident, when the trainee pilot tried taking off with the propeller set at ‘Coarse Pitch’.
The pitch of an aircraft’s propeller is its angle of attack. A layman’s way of thinking about it is as the size of the “bite” that it takes out of the air. Coarse pitch occurs when the angle of attack is increased; the propeller is pushing more air and generating more power at a lower RPM. Fine pitch occurs when angle of attack is decreased; the propeller is pushing less air and generating more power at a higher RPM. Fine pitch is used for take-off and high-power climb; coarse pitch is used during cruise and economy flight. Due to the pilots error in failing to spot the wrong setting on the ’Airscrew Control’ lever, situated just forward of the throttle control, caused the aircraft not to gain take off speed, in his attempts to find the problem the Spitfire veered off the take off line and ended up hitting a parked Spitfire (P7840) at the dispersal pan adjacent to the end of the runway without injuring the pilot or personnel on the ground. P7840 was repaired but K9891 was SOC on the 13th of April 1942.
Crew:
Sgt E. Artus 25yo 174779 RAFVR. Pilot. Injured. @
Wreckage:
Nothing remains, broken up as spares.
Additional Information:
Spitfire P7840 was a presentation aircraft named, “The Mountains of Mourne” funded by people of Northern Ireland, served throughout the Second World War, being struck off on 5th June 1945.
F/O Artus went on to continue to fly with the RAF during the war and eventually was posted to
No’ 8 squadron of the RIAF (Royal Indian Air Force) operating in Burma. He died on the 5th of April 1945 when flying Spitfire Mk VIII MV411, the aircraft dived into the ground from 10,000ft at Bagachi
Buried:
Calcutta (Bhowanipore) Cemetery Kolkata. Plot L. Grave 227.
Sources:
Spitfire production list.
militaryhistory.org
www.gaetanmarie.com
cwgc.com
nationalarchives.gov
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Feb-2008 22:10 | JINX | Added |
| 30-Nov-2010 04:52 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Jan-2011 03:23 | angels one five | Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Oct-2011 02:27 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 28-Dec-2011 06:57 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport] |
| 28-Dec-2011 06:57 | Nepa | Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport]] |
| 13-Jan-2012 18:12 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location] |
| 15-Jan-2012 14:01 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport] |
| 17-Jan-2012 01:58 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location] |
| 17-Jan-2012 04:57 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 23-Jan-2012 11:51 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 29-Nov-2012 09:40 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Nov-2012 18:13 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Narrative] |
| 29-Nov-2012 18:16 | angels one five | Updated [Cn] |
| 20-Jun-2015 09:12 | Angel dick one | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 01-May-2021 22:39 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Location] |
| 16-Aug-2021 08:07 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Mar-2022 19:27 | Davies 62 | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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