ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220423
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| Date: | Friday 20 October 1916 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Sopwith Triplane |
| Owner/operator: | Design Flt RNAS Eastchurch |
| Registration: | N510 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near RNAS Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | RNAS Eastchurch, Kent |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
20.10.16: Sopwith Triplane N510, RNAS Eastchurch. Written off (destroyed) when Tail broke off at speed, near RNAS Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Pilot - Flt Lt Leslie Hewitt Hardstaff (aged 24) - was killed. Note that the aircraft record card form Sopwith Triplane N510 described the aircraft as being operated by "Felixstowe Naval Air Station attached Design Flight, Admiralty Testing Staff, Eastchurch". This may be connected to the fact that aircraft N510 was the second prototype Sopwith Triplane, powered by a 200hp direct-drive Hispano-Suiza engine
The aircraft record card also notes the following: "Accidentally Killed while flying at Eastchurch 28 October 1916, Tail twisted up and down about four times before one side of it buckled and broke away from Sopwith Triplane during a high speed test and machine crashed nose first from a height of 100 feet"
The part of the pilot biography that deals with the fatal flying accident reads as follows:
"On 20 October 1916, he was detailed to speed test a new design of Sopwith Triplane. After taking off from the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastchurch in Kent, he was flying a measured mile, at a height of less than 100 feet at an estimated speed of 130mph, when the tailplane was seen to twist up and down and to buckle. The plane came down nose first and Flight Lieutenant Hardstaff was killed instantly in the crash. Following the enquiry into the accident, a special letter of recognition, paying tribute to his valuable services, was sent to his wife. It was also recommended that, should posthumous honours be introduced, his case should receive consideration.
Flight Lieutenant Hardstaff was buried in the graveyard of All Saints Parish Church in Eastchurch, Kent. He was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, the Victory Medal and the British Medal"
Details of the fatal accident are from Leslie Hewitt's Service Record, held in the National Archives. There is another description of the accident in "I Chose the Sky", by Leonard H Rochford (William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1977) which also provides a good description of operational life at Eastchurch at the time. Several sources, including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Leslie's gravestone wrongly record the date of his death as 28 October. It was, in fact, 20 October 1916.
Sources:
1. Nottingham Evening Post 24th, 26th and 27th October 1916
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3057494/hardstaff,-leslie-hewitt/
4. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/hardstaff-l.h.-leslie-hewitt
5. http://www.beeston-notts.co.uk/ww1_hardstaff.shtml
6. https://www.facebook.com/117600881609310/posts/flight-lieutenant-leslie-hewitt-hardstaff-pictured-second-left-rnas-felixstowe-a/1109363505766371/
7. https://secure.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/RollOfHonour/People/Details/5007
8. http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=613.0
9. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/the-sopwith-menagerie-1915-1916/
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Jan-2019 01:55 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 04-Apr-2020 19:39 | Investig | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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