Meteor Accident stats
A sudden wave of nostalgia with the resurection of this thread from 3 years ago! Absolutely correct Beagle, in fact all the NF variants were designed and built by AW as well as a few batches of the day fighter Marks and the "prone pilot" experimental Meteor. Incidentally, I think our NF 12s and 14s were the only Meteors with Derwent 9s all though you would hardly notice the difference. I think Flatus remarked that he never heard of an engine failure. I guess there must have been some, but I do not recall any at Malling on my tour. Accidents were from many other reasons. We had a big pairs stream take off for a "Balbo" one very hot summer day in '55 (?). the idea of course was alternate pairs high and low to keep out of slipstream, but we were vey heavy with full underwing and ventral tanks and one aircraft caught the combined slipstream of the previous 6 aircraft and went into a strawberry field just off the end of the runway.
Killed several "pickers" as well as the crew.
I would echo Flatus. If you kept you speed above 125Kts with plenty of air below you if you were on one, you could do anything with the old lady. If ever things went pear shaped - let go of everything and she came out pointing down with full cntrol returned. We did learn to respect those airbrakes though. They were above and below the wings but inboard of the engines and deployment completely destroyed lift from the inboard wing sections. Hence the yaw problem with asymmetric main wheel extension and brakes out.
As an aside, we lost our boss two or three weeks ago. Wg Cdr
AF "Binkie" Binks. He reached his late 80s and collapsed and died in his local pub in Warborough. A very much larger than life ex war-time boss, a walking image of David Niven and who was as mad as a hatter yet loved by all of us. A pyromaniac with a penchant for setting fire to the mess bar!! He was finally posted as the titular Stn Cdr of Alconbury.
One wet cloudy day he persuaded one of the USAF pilots to take him to Church Fenton in a two seat F100 where 85 were newly ensconced and beat the s**t out of the place. Needless to say he had the advantages of the golden bowler scheme explained to him by the Air Board and he retired to Oxfordshire.!!!
Where have all the characters gone. When did anyone last fly under one of the London bridges, or take off the top of somone's car! I know, I know, rules, safety and responsibility, but sometimes I think we have lost a lot of the spirit that existed two or three decades ago. Ah well!