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Date: | Friday 16 May 1947 |
Time: | day |
Type: | de Havilland DH.103 Hornet NF Mk 21 |
Owner/operator: | Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE |
Registration: | PX230 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | near Kentsborough, 4 miles south west of Andover, Hampshire, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Test |
Departure airport: | Boscombe Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire |
Destination airport: | Boscombe Down, Wiltshire |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:DH Hornet PX230: First flown at Hatfield 9/7/45. Initially referred to as a DH Hornet F.1 (Hooked). Accepted for service use 6/8/45; to RNAS Ayr 8/8/45 (spare a/c for initial shipborne trials by PX212); To 778 Squadron RN FAA at RNAS Arbroath. To A Flight RAE Farnborough 11/8/45, to HMS Ocean 4/9/45 (arrester hook trials); to DH Hatfield 26/10/45 (converted to NF.21, First Flown as such 9/7/46; Accepted for service 6/8/46).
Returned to DH Hatfield 18/10/46 (for mods); To A&AEE Boscombe Down. To DH 18/12/46 (for further mods); To C Squadron A&AEE Boscombe Down 24/4/47 (handling trials)
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16/5/47. Lt Commander K.R. Hickson RN (Graduate No 4 Course), C (Naval Test) Squadron, A&AEE. Mission: tests of stick forces in dives to the limiting speed. Following a dive from 12,000 ft to 5000 ft at 480 mph, during the recovery using a 2g pull out, the port engine detached from the airframe. The controls became ineffective, the cockpit hood detached and the a/c entered an inverted spin. The pilot abandoned the a/c by parachute. The cause of the engine detaching was established as a crack in the light alloy forging for the port engine superstructure which had been precipitated by the pre-loading of the bracket due to an incorrect assembly technique. Crashed near Kentsborough, 4 miles South West of Andover, Hampshire, pilot (Lt Commander K.R. Hickson) slightly injured.
Declared Cat ZZ 16/5/47 at 49 MU RAF Colerne. From 49 MU to Lasham dump 12/8/47; SOC 16/10/47 (Total Flying Hours 35.20).
Sources:
1. The Hornet File (Lewis G. Cooper, Tonbridge: Air Britain(Historians),1992. pages.32 & 131)
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.302
3. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2382:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578228 5. A&AEE Boscombe Down 1947: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1215:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4100925 6.
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103%20prodn%20list.txt 7.
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?5194-Sea-Hornet-PX230-NF21-Prototype Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
15-Jun-2018 06:17 |
Nepa |
Added |
25-Nov-2019 00:21 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
25-Nov-2019 00:23 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
25-Nov-2019 00:24 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
16-May-2023 18:03 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [[Narrative]] |
21-May-2023 07:51 |
Nepa |
Updated [[[Narrative]]] |