ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 202364
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| Date: | Friday 1 December 1933 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Breda 15 |
| Owner/operator: | Gloster Aircraft Co Ltd & Ugo Antoni Safety Aircraft |
| Registration: | G-ABCC |
| MSN: | 1641 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Chosen Hill, Churchdown, Gloucestershire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Brockworth Aerodrome, Gloucestershire |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First registered (C of R 2703) as G-ABCC on 17.7.30 to International Aircraft Ltd. Registration G-ABCC cancelled as "lapsed" 31.12.32. Registration restored (C of R 4562) on 26.6.33 to Gloster Aircraft Co Ltd & Ugo Antoni Safety Aircraft Ltd., Hucclecote, Gloucestershire and London EC1 (aircraft based at Hucclecote). According to published sources (see link #4):
"In May 1929 Gloster Aircraft received a most unusual contract to build a unique form of aircraft wing. The project, which was financed by some Italian residents in London, involved the construction of a special variable-camber wing and its fitment to a Breda Ba 15 two-seat high-wing monoplane powered by a 100 hp de Havilland Gipsy 1 engine.
The wing's designer was Ugo Antoni, an Italian aircraft engineer and keen ornithologist who, in seeking to obtain high lift plus the advantages of controlled gliding flight, turned to birds' wings for inspiration. The trailing edge of the Breda's wing was built in three sections; normal ailerons at the tips with a variable-camber section inboard of them and cable-operated from a hand wheel in the cockpit. In this section every fourth rib was 'operated' and the three in between were of light construction and flexed to follow the curvature of the main ribs. The third section at the root end was of light metal and multi-ply wooden construction which was free to move up and down through a limited travel similar to the feathers on a bird's wing.
The last of a batch of six sold in Great Britain, the Ba 15 was registered G-ABCC on June 26, 1933, co-owners were Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd. and Ugo Antoni Safety Aircraft Ltd. Work was completed by the end of August 1933 and the first flight was on September 8, 1933. The Italian pilot reported that with the wing at full camber he could hover when the wind speed exceeded the aircraft's minimum speed. Rex Stocken, a Gloster pilot, took over the Breda, which had now been fitted with a larger rudder, for a 10 hour flight test program and flew it for the first time on November 14.
He found the lateral stability was affected by the unusual wing design and control response was different from a conventional aircraft: nevertheless the program was completed satisfactorily.
On December 1, 1933, the whole project came to an untimely end when flown by Howard J. Saint, Gloster's chief test pilot, the Breda encountered heavy turbulence which induced excessive wing flutter and part of the port aileron broke away. The aircraft crashed into trees on Chosen Hill, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, near the factory at Brockworth Aerodrome and was a complete write-off. Saint was unhurt and reported that the root end stabilizer sections of the wing prevented a change of attitude which could have stopped the flutter."
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Churchdown, Gloucestershire 1.12.33 as per the above; registration G-ABCC cancelled by the Air Ministry 2.12.33 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/76-register-gb-g-ab
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ABCC.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A2.htmll
4. http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/13091.htm
5. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1933/1933%20-%200166.PDF
6. http://www.aviation-links.co.uk/Gloucestershire%20Aircraft%20Accidents.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Nov-2017 19:03 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 30-Nov-2017 19:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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