Date:	Tuesday 25 September 1956
Time:	day
Type:	Avro 707B
Owner/operator:	Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)
Registration:	VX790
MSN:	707/2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire, Enland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Destination airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Hampshire (EGLF)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Avro 707B VX790: The first Type 707 aircraft (serial VX784) made its maiden flight on 4 September 1949 at Boscombe Down. Tragically, test pilot Eric Esler lost control of the aircraft at low speed on 30 September 1949 and fatally crashed near Blackbushe, Hampshire.

The loss of the first prototype resulted in work on the second Type 707 aircraft being suspended for a time, until a number of modifications were introduced to save time and simplify the construction. The long pointed nose section intended for the Type 707A was grafted onto the fuselage, resulting in the new aircraft being 12 ft (3.66 m) longer than the original. Redesignated Type 707B (serial VX790), the maiden flight took place at Boscombe Down on 5 September 1950.

Flight testing of the 707B from Dunsfold soon justified Avro’s faith in the delta wing and its relatively docile handling characteristics. In February 1951, the ‘inverted-w’ bifurcated dorsal air intake had been replaced by more efficient and more elegant single intake with a NACA venturi inlet, and by August 1951 an ejection seat had been installed and a revised cockpit canopy fitted. Primarily designed for flight testing in the 80-350 knots speed range, the aircraft nevertheless quickly ran into problems with canopy turbulence causing starvation of the dorsal engine intake and it was resolved to abandon this feature on the forthcoming Type 707A.

The Avro 707B joined the R.A.E. in September 1952 and was one of the aircraft used by the Empire Test Pilots School from January to September 1956, when it was written off (damaged beyond repair) on 25 September 1956. The aircraft was being used as a training vehicle by the ETPS, and the student pilot was carrying out a handling exercise

The pilot used the incorrect "flaring" technique for landing, and the Avro 707B "pitched up" nose-high, then bounced on the runway at RAE Farnborough several times, damaging the undercarriage and causing stress cracks in the airframe. The pilot escaped without injury.

The aircraft was judged to be not worth repairing and subsequently used for spares for the remaining 707A and 707C aircraft. The damaged airframe (by then gutted of all re-usable parts) was moved to the dump at RAE Thurleigh, Bedfordshire during 1960, and was destroyed in a fire-fighting training exercise.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.183 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 100)
3. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.212
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_707
5. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1956.htm
6. https://dunsfoldairfield.org/avro-707b/
7. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/VX790

Avro 707B VX790 in flight 1951:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Jul-2020 21:34	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-Jul-2020 09:14	MIG21	Updated [Operator, Operator]
14-Jul-2020 19:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
04-Aug-2021 20:18	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
27-Jun-2022 11:01	Nepa	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Operator]