Dehaviland accident

[Terance Jonathan Payne]

I am looking for info on a test pilot death that occured in
or soon after 1965,at the Dehaviland aircraft factory.
His name may have been Philip xxxxx, or some thing
like that, sorry to be os vague but definatly a test pilot
at Dehaviland could have been testing a vampire,or vixen.

[Arranroots]

Hi Terry

This site seems quite comprehensive, and I haven't been everywhere on it but I couldn't find a Philip anything in the context of a sixties crash.

http://www.vectorsite.net/avvamp.html

It strikes me that the aircraft you mention were reaching the end of their active lives in the period you mention.  There are some very knowledgeable people about, so hopefully someone will recall the incident you mention, but a few more clues might help!

kind regards, Arranroots 

[Arranroots]

Unfortunately, test pilots crashed all too frequently.  If you are completely unsure of the name, there is this account of a Venom1 crash (although in this case the pilot survived):

http://planenews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=3063

There is no year on the report, so it is hard to know how long ago it occurred.

A 

Edit: the full story is dated 2004 therefore the crash was 1954, so too early for your enquiry.

[Llwyd]

Hi there,

I started work as an apprentice at the Broughton factory in Sept 1967.I can't recollect any aircraft crashes, between 1965 and then, occurring at Broughton.But,having said that,maybe the memory, or lack of it is, not entirely correct.

The following may be of assistance to you as there is a contact us section on the site.

www.dehavillandaviation.com


Best of luck.
 

[Terance Jonathan Payne]

Llwyd thanks for your answer,My dad worked at Dehavilands as an air frame fitter approx 1958 ,John Payne, we lived in Sandycroft. How-ever my mother had my brother by a test pilot, according to my Grand-mother by brother's father was a test pilot at the afore said. God arnt families strange !!!.
When i first started research on my family tree i was warned about skeletons but not the whole graveyard.
Good job i have a sence of humour    

[erin21]

I am looking for info on a test pilot death that occured in
or soon after 1965,at the Dehaviland aircraft factory.
His name may have been Philip xxxxx, or some thing
like that, sorry to be os vague but definatly a test pilot
at Dehaviland could have been testing a vampire,or vixen.

Terry

What was the accident all about.

I had an uncle who worked there years ago who used to talk a lot about an aircraft that crashed he beleived it had something to do with ice on the wings. do you know any more detail?

Erin

[Terance Jonathan Payne]

Hi Erin
The test pilot was my brothers dad.
He was killed while piloting an aircraft. Thats what my mum told me anyway, so natural curiosity got the better of me.
I dont know much more than we lived at Harwarden at the time, i was born in 1963 my brother in 1965 so it must have happened around that time period. there must have also been newspaper reports at that time aswell but i cannot find anything else.
Hope some-one out there can shed some light on this ?

[Terance Jonathan Payne]

Any help please on the test pilot accident at Dehavilland
aero. The years around 1965. Thanks Terry.

Moderator comment: topics merged

[lenseman]

Terry

I might be able to help you?

My father was Chief Photographer and also Head of Public Relations from 1952 up until his untimely death in September 1959 and we lived at Hatfield from 1954.  My mother still lives in the same house (July 2008).

I used to go St Albans Grammar School and can clearly remember seeing an aircraft crash one afternoon.  I was on the school playing fields in Sandpit Lane Marshalswick, St Albans from which you could see the airfield.  We were doing a cross-country run and the aircraft (a small jet) crashed just off the end of the runway and came down in some greenhouses.  There was a huge fireball and loads of smoke and the Martin-Baker ejector seat was launched from about 50 feet.  I was told that the pilot 'lived' but broke his back, but this just might have been told to a school boy of 14 years old.

I cycled home via Smallford where the crash actually happened, past the crash site and the aircraft seat was still in the broken greenhouse and had broken the water pipe which served the greenhouse complex.  In those days the police didn't seem to seal the crash scene and anyone could just walk around and I remember nicking the pilots small oxygen cylinder of about 12" by 3" diameter! 

The accident happened in 1960, 1961 or possibly early 1962 and certainly no later than that as I left school and was in the Royal Navy in January 1963.

The name Trubshaw rings a bell as a test pilot from DeHavilland Aircraft Company around this time.

I hope this helps?  I cannot remember any other plane crashes on or near the airfield and I still visit Hatfield regularly.