Date:	Saturday 4 December 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk X
Owner/operator:	201 AFS RAF
Registration:	RP432
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Blackmore Farm, near Aubourn, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk. X RP4323 of 201 AFS, RAF Swinderby: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 4 December 1948 when crashed at Blackmore Farm, near Aubourn, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire.

During the take-off run, the pilot selected 'undercarriage up' too soon, and the wheels touched the ground as they were retracting, causing damage to the undercarriage jack stays. Later in the flight, the starboard engine failed; faced with an engine failure, and a damaged undercarriage which would not lock down, the pilot opted to make a wheels-up forced landing in a field at Blackmore Farm, near Aubourn, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire.

The Wellington was written off as FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E); As far as is known, all of the crew survived uninjured.

Aubourn is a small village just east of the A46, in between Lincoln and Newark, England, in the county of Lincolnshire, in the district of North Kesteven and the civil parish of Aubourn and Haddington.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings - A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat losses 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p 490
3. 201 AFS ORB for the period 1-4-47 to 31-12-50: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/1989/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162797
4. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-49-incident-logs#1948
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubourn

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Apr-2023 10:56	Dr. John Smith	Added