Post by andypspotter on Feb 1, 2016 14:57:33 GMT
The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) Museum has been using its extensive archive to piece together the story of a plane crash in Cove, which happened 70 years ago last month.
During the Second World War, captured German aircraft were transported to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in Farnborough for evaluation.
One of these was a twin-seat Dornier 335A-12, which arrived on September 8 1945 and formed part of an exhibition of captured enemy aircraft from November 1945 until early 1946.
The twin seat Dornier 335A-12 which crashed in to Cove Junior School on January 18, 1946
On January 18 1946, the commanding officer of experimental flying at the RAE, Group Captain A F Hards, was flying the Dornier, which departed RAE at 11.30am and crashed around noon.
In his report detailing what happened in the incident, which can be read at the FAST Museum, legendary test pilot Captain Eric Winkle Brown, wrote: “On my return to Farnborough, the commanding officer, Group Captain AF Hards, asked me to check him out for a solo trip in our two-seat Dornier 335 and on January 18 1946 he went off solo.
“As he returned to the airfield we could see that the rear engine was on fire and we hoped that he would land on the nearest runway.
“Whether he was unaware of the fire or felt it safer to attempt his first landing in this strange German bird into wind will never be known, but he continued around the circuit as if no emergency existed, heading for the duty runway.
“He had covered roughly two-thirds of the circuit when the Dornier suddenly plunged vertically into a school house in Cove village. The elevator control cables had obviously burnt through and Grp Capt Hards had no chance to eject.”
The aircraft lost control and dived towards the ground, coming down initially in a field at the back of the headmaster’s house.
It then bounced, hit a garage roof and went into the top of the house, large parts flying off into the school and across the road. Grp Capt Hards was found dead in the headmaster’s bedroom.
Farnborough Air Sciences Trust volunteer Malcolm Warren was six-and-a-half years old and a pupil at the school at the time. He recalls being in the dining hall when the crash happened.
He said: “Most of us were just sitting in the hall waiting for our dinner, people going home must have just got out of school in time otherwise I think they would have been hurt as it crashed right in to the school gate.
“I heard a massive great big bang and all I could see were great big flames.”
The school was closed for some time afterwards, but when the children returned the wreckage was still in the playground and for a number of years the school retained an aircraft in its crest as a reminder of the accident.
Anyone interested in learning more about this story or others can access the FAST archives at the museum, which includes books as far back as 1897, technical reports and more than 100,000 photos.
For more information about the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum, visit www.airsciences.org.uk or call 01252 375050.
During the Second World War, captured German aircraft were transported to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in Farnborough for evaluation.
One of these was a twin-seat Dornier 335A-12, which arrived on September 8 1945 and formed part of an exhibition of captured enemy aircraft from November 1945 until early 1946.
The twin seat Dornier 335A-12 which crashed in to Cove Junior School on January 18, 1946
On January 18 1946, the commanding officer of experimental flying at the RAE, Group Captain A F Hards, was flying the Dornier, which departed RAE at 11.30am and crashed around noon.
In his report detailing what happened in the incident, which can be read at the FAST Museum, legendary test pilot Captain Eric Winkle Brown, wrote: “On my return to Farnborough, the commanding officer, Group Captain AF Hards, asked me to check him out for a solo trip in our two-seat Dornier 335 and on January 18 1946 he went off solo.
“As he returned to the airfield we could see that the rear engine was on fire and we hoped that he would land on the nearest runway.
“Whether he was unaware of the fire or felt it safer to attempt his first landing in this strange German bird into wind will never be known, but he continued around the circuit as if no emergency existed, heading for the duty runway.
“He had covered roughly two-thirds of the circuit when the Dornier suddenly plunged vertically into a school house in Cove village. The elevator control cables had obviously burnt through and Grp Capt Hards had no chance to eject.”
The aircraft lost control and dived towards the ground, coming down initially in a field at the back of the headmaster’s house.
It then bounced, hit a garage roof and went into the top of the house, large parts flying off into the school and across the road. Grp Capt Hards was found dead in the headmaster’s bedroom.
Farnborough Air Sciences Trust volunteer Malcolm Warren was six-and-a-half years old and a pupil at the school at the time. He recalls being in the dining hall when the crash happened.
He said: “Most of us were just sitting in the hall waiting for our dinner, people going home must have just got out of school in time otherwise I think they would have been hurt as it crashed right in to the school gate.
“I heard a massive great big bang and all I could see were great big flames.”
The school was closed for some time afterwards, but when the children returned the wreckage was still in the playground and for a number of years the school retained an aircraft in its crest as a reminder of the accident.
Anyone interested in learning more about this story or others can access the FAST archives at the museum, which includes books as far back as 1897, technical reports and more than 100,000 photos.
For more information about the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum, visit www.airsciences.org.uk or call 01252 375050.