Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 30/05/1945 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Flt Lt W.G. Eagle DFC, de Havilland Propellers TP |
| Aircraft | Hawker Typhoon Mk IB SW519 |
| Took off from | Hatfield, Hertfordshire |
| Purpose of flight | Continuation of 50hr endurance test |
| Incident location | Stubby Copse, Brockenhurst, Hampshire |
| Incident details | Aircraft seen performing a series of climbs and dives at low altitude, at the end of which the tail unit detached followed by starboard extension wing. Investigation established port mainwheel fairing was not properly shut and had torn away striking tailplane and initiating break-up sequence |