Another extract from my late father's memoirs. He was awarded a Green Endorsement following an engine flame-out and forced landing at Gatwick in 1950:-
November started with a bit of excitement. On the 2nd I was airborne in the Gloster E1/44 having been detailed to observe the experimental high speed trailing static being towed by a Meteor. The idea of a trailing static source was to obtain true static pressure away from the influence of the disturbed air around an aircraft. This had been done successfully at low speeds for years by attaching a streamlined shape (rather like a small bomb) to a strong flexible tube which could be winched out of the aircraft when desired, and the readings obtained used to calibrate the aircraft’s own static source readings. However, at the higher speeds, the “bomb” became unstable and frequently broke away. Thus the Farnborough “boffins” were trying to develop a modified system which could be used a higher speeds and Mach Nos. On this occasion we had climbed through several layers of cloud in formation and were passing 26,000ft. when I experienced the symptoms of mild engine surge which was not uncommon with the Nene engine at that time. I took the usual remedial action of reducing the throttle setting and watched the jet pipe temperature which could rise alarmingly following a surge, but it was falling quite rapidly as also was the rpm. I then tentatively advanced the throttle and getting no response realised I had a “flame-out” and tried an immediate re-light to no avail. By this time the Meteor I had been in formation with was well ahead and above me and I radioed to both it and Farnborough radar to let them know my plight. Two problems were bothering me. The first was that with no engine running, there would be little or no output from the generator and thus I would have to rely on the batteries to provide electric power for further attempts to re-light the engine and secondly, this aircraft had electrically powered flight instruments (in those days most were suction driven) and I would have to rely on these instruments to descend safely through cloud. I therefore decided not to attempt any further relights until below cloud and in any case a re-light was much more likely to succeed at lower altitude. Farnborough Radar were quietly reassuring and were vectoring me to break cloud over the top of Gatwick which was then a relief airfield. I remembered the cloud base had been about 4,000ft when we took off and as I broke cloud with Gatwick in sight under the nose I mentally thanked the radar operator as I made one more attempt to start the engine. This also failed so I decided to concentrate on positioning for a forced landing. Everything worked out well and I was able to drop the landing gear on the emergency system and also lower partial flap. I made a rather fast touch-down on the mesh covered grass runway and had to brake quite heavily which resulted in a burst tyre as we came to a standstill. Feeling distinctly shaky, I climbed down and waited for some sign of life from the airfield but nothing happened. I walked some several hundred yards to a small building where I found a somewhat bored chap sitting at a rudimentary control desk who told me I had landed without permission but he’d had a call from Farnboro’ asking if I was down OK!
He also suggested that he’d have to close the airfield as my a/c was blocking the runway! I telephoned Aero Flight to report in although they already knew the score and was told that I would be picked up shortly and sure enough, Bob Smythe brought the Balliol two seat trainer in and flew me back to base.
Two subsequent events are worth noting. Because the E1/44 was not really needed any more and had been only used as a “hack” aircraft for some time, and it was not practical to fly it out of the relatively short runway at Gatwick, it was dismantled and taken away to be scrapped. I felt rather miffed at having pulled off a successful forced landing, the a/c should then suffer such an ignominious fate! However, my feathers were smoothed when a month later I was awarded a Green Endorsement in my log book for “displaying resource and exceptional flying skill” in the successful forced landing though I felt that this should have been shared with the radar controller who positioned me so well.