ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 233759
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| Date: | Friday 4 August 1922 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a |
| Owner/operator: | Dr. Edward Douglas Whitehead Reid, BA MB BCh |
| Registration: | G-EAZT |
| MSN: | E6103 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bekesbourne, South East of Canterbury, Kent, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Taxi |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Bekesbourne, Canterbury, Kent |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5A: Ex-RAF E6103, declared "war surplus", as completed too late for service in WW1. Sold to Dr. Edward Whitehead Reid as "scrap and parts" for £30 (at the time an airworthy - but disarmed - S.E.5A could be bought direct from the War Office for £700). He bought his first SE5a for £30 from an enterprising mechanic who had been given 5 war-surplus ones to destroy, but instead carefully took them apart, piled them up to look "like firewood", bought the lot for a fiver at auction and then carefully re-assembled them. Despite the "scrap and parts" designation, restored to airworthiness with an air-cooled RAF 1A V-8 engine. This engine was "down on power" compared with a full "military specification" S.E.5A, (with a maximum speed of 65 mph) but the lower-powered engine was more economical on fuel, and simpler to maintain. Dr. Whitehead Reid claimed, to the taxman, that the S.E.5A was equivalent to a "company car" and allowed him to visit his distant patients(!)
E6103 was first civil registered (C of R 749, later 906) as G-EAZT on 30-11-21. The date of the aircraft's ultimate demise is not known; however, it is known that it was written off (damaged beyond repair) when it "nosed over" while taxiing at Bekesbourne Airfield, Canterbury, Kent at an unknown date "early in 1923". Other sources (see links #6 & #7) give a more definite date of 4-8-22
Since the aircraft was apparently only worth £30, it was not economical to repair, and it was cheaper to acquire another aircraft as a replacement. Which is exactly what Dr. Whitehead Reid did, purchasing another S.E.5A, the former RAF serial E5956, and registering it as G-EBCA. He acquired the replacement aircraft on 20-10-22, which makes the date of the demise of G-EAZT as "4-8-22" more likely
Sources:
1. Mount of Aces: The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a By Paul R. Hare
2. Viner, John; Riding, Richard (December 1984). "Doctor in the Sky". Aeroplane Monthly.
3. http://en.wikibedia.ru/wiki/Edward_Whitehead_Reid
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-EAZT.pdf
5. https://www.geni.com/people/Edward-Reid-Dr-BA-MB-BCh/6000000032940004703
6. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/81-register-gb-g-ea
7. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aviators/w
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15810.0
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E2.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Mar-2020 20:33 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 08-Mar-2020 20:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 13-Jun-2023 20:52 | Nepa | Updated [[Narrative]] |
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