Date:	Monday 8 April 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX
Owner/operator:	ETPS RAF
Registration:	SL663
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Destination airport:	RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
SL663; Spitfire LF. IX. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin 66 engine. Delivered to the RAF at 33 MU Lyneham 31 July 1945. Issued to the A&AEE Boscombe Down 23 October 1945. Thence to ETPS (Empire Test Pilots School) Cranfield. (Due to the rapid growth of the A&AEE at Boscombe Down, the ETPS moved to RAF Cranfield in October 1945. On 12 July 1947, it was attached to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, where it remained for almost 21 years, flying a wide variety of aircraft types, before returning to Boscombe Down on 29 January 1968)

Sustained FACB (Flying accident Cat. B) when undercarriage jammed and aircraft made a wheels-up landing at RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire 8-4-46. The undercarriage would not 'lock down' on approach to RAF Cranfield. Therefore, the pilot - a Student on the No.4 Test Pilots Course at the ETPS - operated the emergency back-up Co2 bottle to lower the undercarriage.

However, before operating the emergency Co2 bottle, he had not checked to ensure that the undercarriage lever was in the 'fully down' position. As a result, the undercarriage 'locked up' in the raised position. The subsequent Board of Inquiry noted that "the pilot has received an explanation on the operation of the emergency undercarriage system from his Commanding Officer!"

Despite this mishap, the pilot of Spitfire SL663 - Flying Officer Edward Lewis Heath (Service Number 52614), General Duties Branch, RAF, survived uninjured, and graduated from No.4 Course, ETPS. He had been commissioned as a Sergeant Pilot on 3rd July 1943, and saw active service as a pilot with 23 Squadron during 1944/45. He (along with his Nav/Rad, F/Sgt Jack Thompson), claimed a FW 190 near Stendal, on the night of 7/8 March, 1945. On 1 July 1951, he was promoted to be a Squadron Leader. He retired with the rank of Squadron leader on 30 April 1969 (his 47th birthday)

Spitfire SL663 was sent to Vickers Armstrongs 6-5-46 for damage assessment and possible repairs, Not repaired re-cat FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) 24-6-46 and Struck Off Charge

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.37. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.120
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James j Halley, Air Britain)
4. ETPS RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1949: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1805: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101515
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?11822-52614-F-O-Edward-Lewis-Heath-GD-branch-RAF&p=69314#post69314
6. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.98: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
7. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101515
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SL663
9. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/87852-sl663
10. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SL663
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranfield_Airport#Active_RAF_units
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Test_Pilots%27_School#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jul-2021 20:27	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Jul-2021 22:40	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]
03-Jul-2023 18:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]]
16-Sep-2023 13:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Operator]]]