Thunder & Lightnings

Test Flying Memorial

"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge



Date19/10/1959
CasualtiesSqn Ldr N.G. Emslie, TP; Flt Lt V.A. Sawkins, flight engineer ETPS
AircraftVickers Varsity T Mk 1 WF381
Took off fromBoscombe Down, Wiltshire
Purpose of flightPreview handling test, asymmetric safety speed assessment
Incident locationHavant, Hampshire
Incident detailsPilot lost control after applying full power to one engine at 10,000ft in take-off configuration; aircraft stalled and entered spin from which it did not recover


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