Originally Posted by
clunckdriver
Does anyone have information of a Biggin Hill Mark 8 which crashed in either 55 or 56? The pilot was F/O Coulston {spelling?} ejected but died from injuries in hospital, he had just been punished for low flying in a Vampire around the South coast of England, I belive this was his first jet flight since being given a rocket by the board, he was in charge of the RAF gliding club on the base, he was kind enough to bend the rules and let me fly with them although I was not in the RAF.The loss rate at the peak of the Cold War was pretty bad in Canada as well, one course I was on we lost eleven out of fourteen in two years, the combination of eighteen year old pilots, and the early jets {CF100s} and our climate made for some interesting times!
ROGER COULSTON'S crash is chronicled in the new up-dated edition of "Empire Of The Clouds", by James Hamilton-Paterson, just published in time for the RAF 100th anniversary. The author lived in Rectory Lane at the time and his mother was the duty anesthetist at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, that day. Quite a few pages are devoted to the subject and the rest of the book is worth reading as it overviews Britain's best years as an aircraft-producer; full of facts and humour. Wordery do a good price, post-free offer some of you may like to investigate! Please note it is the 2018 updated edition, not the earlier one.