Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 13/10/1945 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Flt Lt J.G. Seth-Smith, Fairey Aviation TP |
| Aircraft | Fairey Firefly Mk I PP417 |
| Took off from | Heston, Middlesex |
| Purpose of flight | Checks on aileron trim settings at various speed and easy functioning of cockpit hood at 220 m.p.h. |
| Incident location | Barnes, Middlesex |
| Incident details | The hood apparently distorted and detached, hitting the fin and rudder which broke away, and the tailplane also failed. The aircraft broke up before hitting the ground and the pilot lost his life while attempting to bale out |