Date:	Saturday 12 July 1947
Time:	14:00 LT
Type:	R.F.D. Dagling
Owner/operator:	Southdown Gliding Club
Registration:	Unregistered
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Friston Aerodrome, Gayles Farm, Friston, Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Friston Aerodrome, Gayles Farm, Friston, Sussex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
On 12th July 1947 a Dagling Primary Glider (unregistered, so no serial) crashed shortly after launch at Friston Aerodrome, Gayles Farm, Friston, Sussex. At the controls was Dudley de Baulch who was making the flight for the purpose of qualifying for his "A" Gliding Certificate. The glider had been in regular use up until the Second World War, and had then been kept in a heated workshop and renovated by members of the Southdown Gliding Club Ltd. The wings and tail had been stripped, ribs repaired and then all lifting surfaces re-covered although they neglected to weigh it or check the centre of gravity position. However, since the renovation, the glider had taken part in some 170 flights without mishap.

At 14.00 hours the glider was winch launched at Friston, directly into the prevailing wind. The machine quickly reached a height of around 120 feet, at which point the pilot levelled out and released the cable. The glider was seen to descend in a normal gliding attitude, but after a few seconds the angle increased and continued to do so until it struck the ground at a relatively high speed in a vertical position, killing Dudley de Baulch instantly as the glider disintegrated and parts penetrated 14 inches into the hard ground.

Examination of the wreckage revealed little of use to the investigators, the winch was inspected and found to be operating properly, and the timber and fabric of the glider itself was considered to be satisfactory. The cause of the crash remained obscure.

According to a contemporary newspaper report (Eastbourne Gazette - Wednesday 16 July 1947):

GLIDER PILOT KILLED AT FRISTON.
Unsolved Mystery of Vertical Nose-dive.

A FATAL accident to the young pilot of a glider at Friston aerodrome on Saturday evening, when the machine nose-dived and crashed, remained unsolved at the inquest, held yesterday at Eastbourne Town Hall by the Coroner for East Sussex (Dr. E. F. Hoare).

The deceased was Mr Dudley Stuart John De Baulch, aged 23, son of Mr and Mrs Norman John De Baulch of 14 Hayes-close, Foredown-drive, Portslade.

Mr Laurence Legg (Brighton) appeared on behalf of the Southdown Gliding Club Ltd., of which the deceased was a member.

Evidence of identification was given by the father, who said his son enjoyed perfect health and was a non-smoker and nondrinker. During the war he served in the Royal Fusiliers and was demobilised in 1943. He was in no financial or any other trouble. All his faculties were perfect. He was of British nationality; his grandfather was French.

ACCIDENT DESCRIBED
Dr D. G. Churcher said the cause of death was an extensive fracture of the skull, and there were other injuries. Several members of the gliding club gave evidence, the first being Peter Rogers, 12c Walpole-terrace, Brighton, who said that on the evening in question he himself used the primary glider afterwards used by the deceased and it responded very well. About 8 p.m. the deceased was launched on high hop—between 100 and 200 feet. He had previously made a number of small flights. The joy-stick was restricted in the ordinary way so that it could not be moved more than a certain degree up and down.

Deceased climbed to 100 feet, levelled out and continued to climb for about five seconds before releasing the lowing cable. Witness saw the cable actually drop, there was definitely no hitch over that. When witness next saw the glider five seconds later it had begun to dive, and it continued vertically to the ground.
The coroner: Had you had any experience of this man's flying before?
Witness: I had seen him flying once or twice before.
At those times everything was normal? —Yes.
Was this the first time he had been so high? —No, he had been on similar flights before.

EASTBOURNE EYE-WITNESS
Frederick John Foord, 89, Ashford-road. Eastbourne, holder of an "A” certificate, said that at 7 p.m he was flying the primary gilder—the same one as deceased used and found it perfect order. About 8 pm. the deceased took off and the witness followed immediately behind in the retrieving car, watching the glider, which was about 100 feet above the ground. When he looked again the cable had been already released and the glider was commencing to dive in normal way. It failed to come out of the dive and crashed.
The coroner: You don't know any reason why he could not pull the machine out of the vertical movement?
Witness: None at all, unless he had been leaning forward.
The movements of the stick are limited and there is no suggestion that it was jammed in any way? —No.
Have you ever seen a similar accident? —No.
When, at first, the glider began to dive, that, you say, is quite normal? —Yes.
Then you expect to flatten out? —Yes.

POSITION OF JOY-STICK
Kenneth Bernard Newman, 178, Old Shoreham-road, Southwick, said that just before the glider hit the ground it seemed to heel over on its back as though trying to make an inverted loop. Everything that happened before the accident was of a perfectly normal character.

John William Blllenness, 2, Richmond-buildings, Brighton, who was operating the towing winch, was asked the coroner what his theory of the accident was. He replied; "It looked to me as though the stick had been moved forward."
The coroner: If that was done it would make a nose-dive straight away? I should Imagine so.
In reply to Mr Legg, witness said he assembled the glider that morning and carried out a routine daily inspection and found everything was normal.

William Frederick Jordan, 23, Arlington-road, a trainee, stated that the deceased said he was going to try to get his "A' certificate. After the accident he noticed that the joy-stick and stock pin were in their normal position. The joy-stick was bent back about five inches from the top, and this fact seemed to suggest that it was in the forward position when it hit the ground.

Peter Welham Orange, of 28, Boscobel-road. N., St Leonards, also gave evidence.

CORONER’S COMMENTS
The coroner recorded a verdict that the cause of death was a fracture of the skull and multiple injuries, due to the crashing of the glider "and so dying by accident.” I find it hard," the coroner added, "to explain or find out why this thing happened at all. The deceased look off and all the details seemed to be perfectly normal. For some reason, when he got left on his own, either the joy-stick was not working or something went wrong. At any rate, instead of levelling out, he came down vertically. As far as I am concerned it is only a question of accidental death. I cannot offer any explanation nor can anyone else, of what happened, but this unfortunate man might have lost his head or done something, though he seems have been quite an experienced glider in his way. Everything seems to have been conducted in a perfectly proper manner.”

The coroner offered his sympathy to the father, and so did Mr Legg on behalf of the committee and members of the club."

1. Report of accident: Western Daily Press - Monday 14 July 1947
2. Inquest into death of pilot: Eastbourne Gazette - Wednesday 16 July 1947
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 217/1862: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576016
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 217/1878: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576032
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=832.0
6. https://www.geni.com/people/Dudley-de-Baulch/6000000021540204459
7. https://www.blighty-at-war.net/raf-friston.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Dec-2019 21:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
03-Apr-2020 19:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
13-May-2023 21:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]