Date:	Saturday 8 July 1950
Time:
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VW265
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Destination airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VW265, 263 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 8/7/1950. The aircraft flew through the slipstream of another aircraft while approaching to land at RAF Tangmere. Despite maintaining the correct separation from the aircraft ahead, Meteor VW265 was affected by the slipstream turbulence. The Meteor landed heavily at Tangmere and the undercarriage collapsed. The pilot - Squadron Leader John R H Merifield DSO, DFC (Service Number 74337) - escaped without injury.

According to a brief biography of the pilot (see link #4):

"Group Captain John Merifield joined the RAF in 1939, having cut short his studies at Oxford University.

By spring 1940 he had completed his pilot training and was posted to the School of Army Cooperation at Old Sarum. During his time here he flew Lysanders, best known for their exceptional short-field performance, which allowed missions transporting Special Operations Executives (SOEs) to and from occupied Europe.

Merifield was then posted to the Photo Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) at RAF Benson. Having completed 160 missions in the Mosquito and taken the first photograph of a V1 rocket on a launch ramp, he was regarded as one of the best PR pilots of WWII.

Later in his career, Merifield flew F-86 Sabre combat missions in Korea with the USAF, and served as Station Commander at RAF Khormaksar in Aden, Yemen.

He died on 1 June 1961 (at the age of 46) while on a Whirlwind helicopter conversion course at RAF Upavon. His aircraft" (Whirlwind XJ765 "B" of 225 Squadron) "suffered catastrophic failure and crashed, killing both Merifield and his instructor."

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.89 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.67
4. https://www.oldsarumairfield.co.uk/john-merifield/
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW
6. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1961.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Dec-2020 20:52	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Dec-2020 11:40	Rata	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]
07-Aug-2021 22:00	Anon.	Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Operator]