Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 24/08/1921 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Air Cdre E.M. Maitland CMG DSO AFC; Flt Lt G.M. Thomas DFC; Flt Lt I.C. Little AFC; Flt Lt R.S. Montagu DSC; Flt Lt J.F.M. Pritchard OBE AFC; Fg Off T.F. Mathewson AFC; Fg Off V.H. Wicks; Flt Sgt S.J. Heath; Flt Sgt W.H. Greene; Flt Sgt H. Thompson; Flt Sgt F. Smith; Flt Sgt J. Rye; Flt Sgt A.T. Martin; Sgt J.W. Mason; Sgt F.E. Burton; LAC G.S. Anger; LAC W. Oliver; LAC J.N. Wilson; AC1 J.C. Drew; AC1 C.W. Donald; AC1 E.E. Steere AM; AC1 C.W. Penson; AC2 R. Parker; AC2 R. Withington; Mr J.R. Pannnell, National Physical Laboratory; Mr C.W. Duffield, , National Physical Laboratory; Mr C.J.R. Campbell, Royal Airship Works; Mr F. Warren, Royal Airship Works |
| Aircraft | Airship R.38 |
| Took off from | Howden, Yorkshire |
| Purpose of flight | Prolonged, cruising test flight with the future American crew on board (not listed) to gain experience |
| Incident location | River Humber Estuary, Near Hull, Yorkshire |
| Incident details | During flight near full rudder was applied and this was almost immediately reversed. The airship was flying at about 45 or 50 m.p.h. and the structure began to fail between frames 9 and 10, finally breaking in two. The forward section caught fire and both parts fell into the river amidst an intense petrol fire |