ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 345338
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| Date: | Thursday 9 September 1943 |
| Time: | nightime |
| Type: | Airspeed Oxford Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 6 PAFU |
| Registration: | LW743 |
| MSN: | PAC 1047 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Glasbury, Radnorshire. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Little Rissington |
| unknown |
Details:
During the build-up to the Second World War, the Air Ministry began constructing major airfields across the country under what was known as the Expansion Period. RAF Little Rissington was one of these airfields.
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft which saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the war. Developed during the 1930s with its basic design derived from the company's earlier AS.6 Envoy, a commercial passenger aircraft. It was quickly put into production as part of a rapid expansion of the RAF in anticipation of a large-scale conflict.
With the outbreak of war, many thousands of Oxfords were ordered by Britain and its allies, including Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Poland, and the United States. It was considered to be a capable trainer aircraft throughout the conflict, as well as being used as a general-purpose type. A number of Oxfords are preserved today on static display worldwide including V3388 seen at IWM Duxford.
LW743 was one of 240 aircraft built by Percival Aircraft Ltd at Luton. She was within the first batch of 33 units from LW727 – LW759. She carried the CsN or PAC (Percival Aircraft Construction No.) 1047. She was delivered to the RAF as AS.10 MkI between April & November 1943. She went on to fly with No.6 PAFU (Pilots Advances Flying Unit).
Not much is known about this event, but what is known is that LW743 was on a night-time flight and was attempting to land at ‘a local airfield’. The closest being at RAF Madley, located about five miles West of Hereford and RAF Shobden approximately ten miles to the North. They encountered bad weather above the area around Hay-On-Wye. Soon they became lost with the high ground of the Black Mountains less than five miles due South. The order to bale out was given, leaving the abandoned ‘Ox-Box’ to her fate. She came down soon after near the town of Glasbury on the River Wye. All the crew landed safely.
Crew:
Not known.
Wreckage:
Unknown.
Additional Information:
In 1941, the aviator Amy Johnson went missing in an Airspeed Oxford, presumably crashing into the Thames Estuary.
Most Oxfords in the UK were equipped with a knotted rope from the pilot's seat to the rear door to assist evacuation should the plane inadvertently be put into a spin, which it was almost impossible to recover from. When the pilot(s) released their seat belts centripetal force would hurl them to the rear of the plane, beyond the exit door, from which it was impossible to crawl forward to the door. The rope was installed as a response to a test by four "boffins" who tried to recover from a spin from 18,000 ft. When no recovery happened no matter what was tried the four released their harness and were hurled to the rear of their plane and there remained helpless as the spiral descent continued. However, all was not lost. The plane was in such a flat spin when it reached the ground that it skidded sideways over the surface of a field until the tail section hit a haystack and broke off. The four "boffins" walked away relatively unharmed, the knotted rope being their only positive remedy for an Oxford in a spin.
On the 21st of October 1952, in the afternoon, F/Lt Swiney & Lt Crofts, a Royal Navy pilot, took off from RAF Little Rissington in a Gloster Meteor VII (T.7), on a training flight. At 12,000ft, they came through a layer of cloud to witness three white saucer-shaped objects, which they reported to be at 35,000ft. Initially the pilots had believed the saucer-shaped objects to be three parachutes. The pilots noted that the shape of the saucer shape was 'perfectly circular', and their Meteor aircraft climbed to 35,000ft. F/Lt Swiney reported the sighting of the three saucer objects to his Ground Control at RAF Sopley, and abruptly cancelled the training flight. Lt Crofts asked whether to pursue the three objects, but F/Lt Swiney declined. The three objects crossed over the Meteor's path, from left to right (starboard). The objects remained on their starboard side. In a fraction of a second, the objects disappeared.
ATCC Gloucester at RAF Staverton, confirmed the three objects that the pilots had seen. Two Meteor F.8 aircraft of RAF Fighter Command were scrambled to intercept the objects. The objects were heading east at 600 knots. The fighter aircraft did not make contact with the objects.
The RAF Southern Sector, based in Wiltshire, had detected three objects entering their airspace at 3,000mph.
During the period between 1964 – 1976, RAF Little Rissington was home to the famous Red Arrows. The ‘Reds’ at the time were known as the ‘Yellowjacks’.
Sources:
www.iwm.
www.britishaviation-ptp.com
https://forum.thenorthpacific.org
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Sep-2023 06:38 | Davies 62 | Added |
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