Date:	Thursday 27 September 1945
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spiteful FR. XIV
Owner/operator:	RAE Farnborough
Registration:	RB515
MSN:	HPA.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire
Destination airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire

Narrative:
RB515 was the first production Supermarine Spiteful FR.Mk.14, which made its maiden flight on 2 April 1945. According to the aircraft record card for RB515: "Vickers-Supermarine High Post Airfield, awaiting collection 31-3-45. Originally fitted with standard Spitfire F.21 tail and fin. To Controller (Research & Development) Air Ministry for manufacturers trials 31-3-45. First Flown at High Post, piloted by Vickers-Supermarine Chief Test Pilot Jeffrey Quill 2-4-45 (flight duration 15 minutes). To RAE Farnborough 6-4-45 for stall tests. Damaged in emergency wheels up landing at Boscombe Down 9-4-45. While under repair, large root spoilers and larger tail unit installed. Resumed trials 21-5-45. To RAE Farnborough 23-5-45. Vickers-Supemarine High Post Airfield 23-5-45. NACA 16 paddle propeller installed 11-7-45 To Boscombe Down 23-7-45 for trials of this propeller"

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 27-9-45: While flying at 30,000 ft (9,144 m) a near catastrophic failure of the supercharger impeller rendered the engine, constant speed propeller and hydraulics unserviceable. The pilot, Lt. Patrick Shea-Simonds, somehow managed to get the craft back onto the grass beside the runway with minimal additional damage.

Supermarine's Chief Designer, Joe Smith, sent a copy of a letter to Shea-Simonds a few days after the incident. It had been written by Sir Arthur Sidgreaves, the managing Director of Rolls-Royce in which he wrote: 'The failure resulted in pieces of the engine being forced through the cowlings, and due to the inertia forces I understand the engine was nearly torn from the airframe. There was also the possibility of fire, so that the pilot would have had every reason to abandon the aeroplane and descend by parachute. The fact that he held on and successfully landed the machine is of great value because it enabled the evidence to be retained and an examination made as to the cause of the trouble, whereas in so many of these instances of failure the evidence is lost.'

At first Supermarine received contracts for 650 Spitefuls. As time went on the numbers were reduced – first to 390, then to 80 and then to 22. On 16 December 1946 this was reduced once again, to only seventeen, plus two prototypes (which were either already built or in an advanced stage of construction)

Only 19 Spitefuls were completed (RB515-525, RB527-531 and RB533-535), and they didn’t enter squadron service. Instead they were used for further work on the laminar flow wing, in preparation for the upcoming jet aircraft. During these trials the Spiteful reached 494 mph.

As for Spiteful F.14 RB515, it was only lightly damaged in respect of the airframe, although a complete engine replacement was required. However, with the end of the war having already taken place, and the Spitfire offering no military advantage of the "first generation" jet fighter aircraft (the Gloster Meteor and De Havilland Vampire) the type was effectively redundant. As a result it was struck off charge on 13-11-45 and sold for scrap (probably to J. Dale & Co, who scrapped 14 of the 19 Spitefuls built).

In late 1943/early 1944 Joe Smith suggested a simple design jet fighter based around the Spiteful, utilising a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. The proposal was accepted and the prototype 'Jet Spiteful' (TS409) flew on 27th July 1946 although it found itself in direct competition with the new Gloster Meteor and De Havilland Vampire, both of which exhibited far better performance.

However, the Admiralty expressed an interest in the aircraft for use as a naval fighter and issued a specification for what was eventually to become the Vickers Supermarine Attacker, the Navy's first carrier borne jet fighter aircraft.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.9. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/supermarine-s6a-and-s6b
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_supermarine_spiteful.html
4. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/2918.htm
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spiteful
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p095.html

Supermarine Spiteful FR.14 in 1945:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Oct-2019 00:32	Dr. John Smith	Added
31-Oct-2019 00:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
31-Oct-2019 20:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Source, Narrative]
31-Oct-2019 20:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
31-Oct-2019 20:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
31-Oct-2019 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]