Date:	Monday 9 September 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Tempest Mk V
Owner/operator:	C(A) MoS/Napier Engines Ltd
Registration:	EJ823
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Clophill Farm, The Causeway, Clophill, Luton, Bedfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Tempest Mk. V EJ823, C(A) MoS/Napier Engines Ltd: The aircraft was on loan from the Air Ministry (Controller (Aircraft) Ministry of Supply) to Napier Engines Ltd at Luton for test flying and development of the Napier Sabre VIII and Sabre E.122 engines. The Napier Sabre E.122 was a 1946, 3,500 horsepower engine development, intended for a prototype Napier 500mph tailless fighter

During a test flight on 9 September 1946, the engine failed, and the aircraft force landed into a field at Clophill Farm, The Causeway, Clophill, Luton, Bedfordshire, approx. 14 miles north of Luton Airport, from where it had taken off. The pilot survived uninjured

Crew of Tempest EJ823
Mr. G A Reston (Civilian Test Pilot, Napier Engines Ltd - survived uninjured

1. "RAF Write-Offs 1946". Air-Britain Aeromiltaria. Air-Britain. Vol. 2 (issue 4): pages 93–106. 1979.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p.212
3. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=EJ823
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Sabre
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clophill

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jun-2023 16:13	Dr. John Smith	Added