Date:	Sunday 14 May 1939
Time:	day
Type:	Short Stirling Mk I
Owner/operator:	Short Brothers Ltd.
Registration:	L7600
MSN:	S.900
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Rochester Airport, Rochester, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Rochester Airport, Rochester, Kent
Destination airport:	Rochester Airport, Rochester, Kent
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
On 14 May 1939, the first Short S.29, which had by this point received the service name "Stirling" after the Scottish city, performed its first flight from Shorts Flight Test Base at Rochester Airport, Rochester, Kent. The first prototype was outfitted with four Bristol Hercules II radial engines, and was reported as having satisfactory handling. At the controls was a crew of four: Shorts Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker, 2nd Pilot Esmond J. Moreton and two flight engineers.

However, the entire programme suffered a setback when the first prototype suffered severe damage and was written off as a result of a landing accident at Rochester at the end of its first test flight, in which one of the brakes locked, causing the aircraft to slew off the runway and the landing gear to collapse. The resulting damage was so severe that the aircraft was scrapped, and all components salvaged were used to speed up the building of the second prototype, L7605, which first flew on 3 December 1939. The failure was traced to the light alloy undercarriage back arch braces which were replaced on succeeding aircraft by stronger tubular steel units.

As reported in a contemporary local newspaper report ("Chatham News - Friday 19 May 1939):

"POLICE TRACE MISSING MOTORIST
Man Who Took Pictures of Secret Bomber Crash.
OTHER FILMS CONFISCATED
Following enquiries made in the Battersea district of London on Tuesday, Chief Inspector K. A. Horwood, of the Rochester Police, took possession of a camera and films, belonging to a man who had taken pictures of England’s newest and biggest bomber, when it crashed on landing, after its maiden flight, at Rochester aerodrome, on Sunday.

Police had been trying to get into touch with the amateur photographer for three days, following reports that a mysterious motorist had been seen taking pictures with a “camera fitted with a telescopic lens.” When the police interviewed the man, he readily gave his camera and plates to Chief Inspector Horwood, who had them developed in his presence at Scotland Yard. It is not known whether the police are taking any action against the man.

The secret bomber was taxi-ing to a standstill after making a good landing, when its retractable under-carriage collapsed. The machine sank to the ground, bounced in the air and then settled down with her propellers tearing great holes in the earth. The force of the crash caused one the engines to be wrenched from its socket and her air-screws twisted and bent.

EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED.
It is feared that the bomber is too extensively damaged to be repaired. Hundreds of people, who had heard it mentioned that the bomber would be making its maiden flight on Sunday morning, lined the aerodrome field, and saw Captain J. Lankester Parker, chief test pilot at Messrs. Short’s, the builders of the bomber, and Mr. E. Moreton, another test pilot, get the machine off the ground after a long run down the field. The machine flew over the Medway Towns, and was up for about fifteen minutes.

As it collapsed on landing, several onlookers took snaps of the machine, and police commandeered a car to chase two cyclists who rode away after taking pictures. Immediately after the crash, a strong guard of police was placed on the machine. Photographers have been refused permission to take pictures, and the gates of the aerodrome have been locked.

POLICE APPEAL TO PHOTOGRAPHERS.
Following a police appeal, many members of the public who took pictures, have given their films to the police, who have also taken possession of cameras. The films are being developed and, after removing photographs of the ’plane, the remainder of the films will be returned to the owners.

Apart from a severe shaking, Captain Parker and his co-pilot were uninjured. No official explanation has been given for the mishap, but it is believed to be due to a brake seizing and throwing too great a strain on the under-carriage. Other types of aircraft have experienced the same difficulties with retractable under-carriages.

SEEN BY KING AND QUEEN.
The ’plane, which has been described as “the Flying Fortress,” was built for the R.A.F. The construction of the bomber has taken nearly two years, and the King and Queen saw it being built when they paid a visit to the factory two months ago. They also saw a test flight being made by the half-scale model of the machine, which underwent its tests successfully".

1. Chatham News - Friday 19 May 1939
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
3. Norris, Geoffrey. The Short Stirling, Aircraft in Profile Number 142. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
4. The Stirling File (Bryce Gomersall, Air Britain, 1979 p.7 & p.31
5. Short Stirling: The First of the RAF Heavy Bombers By Pino Lombardi
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Stirling#Prototypes
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Lipscomb#Short_Stirling
8. http://www.pegelsoft.nl/proto.htm
9. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19293.0
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Airport_(Kent)#1933-1945

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-May-2019 16:15	Dr. John Smith	Added
19-May-2019 16:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]