Date:	Wednesday 12 June 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Napier-Heston Racer
Owner/operator:	D. Napier & Son Ltd
Registration:	G-AFOK
MSN:	1
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Heston aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex
Destination airport:

Narrative:
The Napier-Heston Racer, also referred to as the Heston Type 5 Racer or Heston High Speed Aircraft J.5, was a 1940s British single-seat racing monoplane first conceived by D. Napier and Son Ltd., and built by the Heston Aircraft Company Ltd, for an attempt on the World Air Speed Record. The private venture was financed by William Morris, Lord Nuffield.

By the time war broke out on September 3, 1939, one aircraft, G-AFOK, was nearing completion while the second airframe, G-AFOL, was approximately 60% completed. The start of war effectively put an end to work on the second airframe, G-AFOL. However, work on G-AFOK was ordered to be completed and the engine was run-up, the first for a Napier Sabre engine in an aircraft, on December 6th, 1939 approximately one year after construction began.

Ground engine testing of the “Racer” prototype began on the 9th of February 1940, with Heston’s chief test pilot, Squadron Leader G.L.G. Richmond beginning successful vibration and taxiing tests on the 12 of March, 1940 and continuing them for several months. The “Racer” passed all phases of the ground taxiing tests and prolonged engine run-up, the newly designed aircraft seemed to have no faults.

The first aircraft (of two planned for the record attempt) was registered G-AFOK [C of R 8997] on 23 January 1939. G-AFOK had its maiden flight at Heston Aerodrome on 12 June 1940, piloted by Squadron Leader G.L.G. Richmond, Chief Test Pilot of Heston Aircraft. The takeoff was not without drama and a heavy bump during the high speed run in takeoff configuration (with the constricted canopy removed for the test flight), launched the Racer prematurely into the air.

Recovering from the abrupt takeoff, Richmond carried out a preliminary test flight with gear extended throughout but after only five minutes airborne, while encountering inadequate elevator control, the engine overheated. According to some accounts, Richmond was being scalded by steam from the radiator mounted below the cockpit, and in haste to carry out a forced landing, inadvertently stalled the aircraft at approximately 30 feet above the airfield.

Other sources state that the coolant leak only occurred after impact. The aircraft impacted heavily, with the undercarriage driven through the wings, and the tail broken off. Richmond survived with minor injuries, chiefly burns. The Heston G-AFOK was a complete write-off

Napier had ordered two examples in 1938, but with the destruction of the first prototype, the Napier-Heston programme was discontinued despite 80% completion of the second aircraft, G-AFOL, the No. 2 (as it was commonly known).

Registration G-AFOK belatedly cancelled by the Air Ministry post war, on 10.11.45, due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". A note on the aircraft's record card states "(Census 1945)"; which indicates that the Air Ministry were only made aware of the demise of G-AFOK after a return from the last registered owners, in response to the Air Ministry's 1945 census into the existence (or not) of all UK-registered pre-war civil aircraft

1. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/80-register-gb-g-af
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFOK.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A11.html
4. Gunston, Bill. "The Napier-Heston Racer". Aeroplane Monthly, June 1976. IPC Media.
5. http://www.air-racing-history.com/aircraft/Napier-Heston%20Racer.htm
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier-Heston_Racer
7. https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/03/21/napier-heston-racer/
8. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?73288-Heston-Type-5-Racer

Napier-Heston Racer G-AFOK at Heston Aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex, circa April 1940

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Feb-2018 20:41	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-Feb-2018 20:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities]
17-Feb-2018 20:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code]
14-Jun-2023 17:33	Nepa	Updated [[Embed code]]