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Old 24th Dec 2022, 13:57
  #844 (permalink)  
BEagle
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
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That accident was a consequence of the aircraft being pitched up too hard after a high speed (supersonic) dive, causing the aircraft to disintegrate in mid-air.
Not so! The accident was caused because the wing had only 64% of the ultimate strength required in the design due to an erroneous estimate of the allowable stress at that point. The intended manoeuvre would not have caused a catastrophic failure had the wing design not been faulty.

John Derry was subsequently absolved of any blame for the accident.

Nevertheless, pre-1952 Fanrborough was something of a free for all. However, by 1953 the Farnborough Airfield Commandant had wisely introduced a new set of rigidly enforced safety rules.
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