Re :Crashing sounds. I did as a kid (c.1954) witness a Mk2 that had been droning around for hours locally make a spectacular arrival at St.Eval. Something like this .U/c failed to retract due to a cocked tailwheel.After several non-successful cycling efforts, decision then made to burn off fuel down to landing weight.
Nice landing. I didn't know at the time but Haraka Snr. was following down the runway in a land rover,( a.k.a a Trabant PPruNe ?
).
Shackleton hands will well know what happened next.........
Since u/c was still selected "up" ( Oh Dear!)as the cocked tailwheel touched "terra firma" it kicked straight-Shackleton still doing a fair clip. So up come the main wheels and down goes the aeroplane on to its bellly. I do remember well the noise and the sparks!
I gather a later solution involved a crew member and a long pole............