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Small brown dog:
6th September 1952
Seconds from disaster.
None of this will be new to you guys but ... what the hell.
I'm still having trouble coming up with Dieselpunk an alt universe stuff but I'm having fun with real history :)
The de Havilland DH110 was a prototype all weather interceptor intended for use by the Fleet Air Arm, a role it later fulfilled better known as the Sea Vixen. There was however a tragic episode in the development of the aircraft that took place on Saturday the 6th September 1952 at the Farnborough SBAC air show.
The first prototype, WG236, took to the air on 26th September 1951 and was followed by the second prototype, WG240 which was chosen for display at the Farnborough air show in September 1952.
WG240 was quite a head turner in her all black scheme and her daily routine of breaking the sound barrier from a shallow dive was much talked about. Sonic booms were a feature of those famous early 1950’s shows and no doubt looked forward to by the spectators that would attend the public days. WG240 did delight the crowds on Friday but unfortunately on Saturday she became unserviceable.
Test Pilot John Derry along with flight test observer Anthony Richards, flew to de Havilland’s Hatfield factory to collect WG236 and arrived back at Farnborough and started their display at around 3:45.pm.
WG236 arrived over Farnborough from a shallow dive from 40.000ft appearing overhead at an estimated 1000 – 1500ft complete with sonic boom. She flew out of site to turn and line up for a low pass over the main runway at high speed banking left and flying the circuit bringing her back over the boundary at around 400ft.
Again she banked left towards the spectators and in the same instant as she began to climb she disintegrated. The outer wing sections and the cockpit separated from the airframe. The cockpit section, still occupied by Derry and Richards, fell right in front of the spectators nearest the runway and injured several.
Both engines detached from the airframe, one of which fell harmlessly while the other ploughed into the spectators standing on observation hill. The main airframe fluttered down like a leaf on the opposite side of the runway.
In total there we 31 deaths including the crew and 63 injured.
The cause of the crash was structural failure and there are several places on the internet where you can find out more about it, the resulting crash and the aftermath.
John Derry was a seasoned test pilot and decorated ex RAF pilot having flown Typhoons during WW2. He, along with many of the test pilots of that time, were household names. Another one of which at Farnborough that day, Neville Duke, took up the prototype Hawker Hunter and broke the sound barrier once the runway had been cleared.
We live in different times.
GTX_Admin:
:smiley:
apophenia:
Very nicely rendered :smiley:
Small brown dog:
WG240
Second prototype DH110 WG240 in her all black Farnborough 1952 air show livery.
Somewhere over the Solent preparing to enter a shallow dive that would bring her over the Farnborough runway at the speed of sound.
She delighted the crowds with her looks and sonic booms but was grounded on Saturday 6th September owing to a critical fault. Her pilot, John Derry along with flight test observer Anthony Richards, lost their lives along with 29 spectators the same day after collecting the first Prototype, WG236, and flying her instead of WG240 at the show.
One visit to the to the DH Museum, a couple of books on G. de Haviland and John Derry and I think I have that out of my system now :)
apophenia:
Ooh-ah! :smiley:
I know that the early DH.110s proved a disaster but WG240 just looks so right!
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