Tyne,
I think I can help here. There were 3 accidents at Barnack near Stamford . 16.8.54 Canberra WH873 of 76 Sqdn Hit trees bordering Burghley Park 500 yds from the approach path. 29.7.55 Valiant WP222 of 138 Sqdn crashed after take off Barnack.
"Apart from the aforementioned display flying, the main thrust of the early flying programme was engine trials of the Avon engines. Toward the end of July in particular, the ORB notes that flying was concentrated on WP222, with it being flown by all the crews. However, as is now well documented, on the morning of 29th July, WP 222 crashed at Barnock, shortly after take off in an easterly direction. The accident enquiry concluded that a runaway aileron trim tab actuator caused the accident. The aircraft banked to port at 60 degrees before it struck the ground and exploded. It has been said that on early Valiants the trim switch was very close to the ‘press to talk’ VHF button and it might have been inadvertently actuated by one of the pilots. However, the court of enquiry concluded that the runaway was caused by a short circuit in the electrical supply to the trim tab actuator. Subsequently, steps were taken to ensure that the trim tab travel was limited on all aircraft. S/Ldr Chalk and his crew were buried with due ceremony in the Wittering Village Church".
On 20.3.63 Victor XM714 of 100 Squadron stalled on take off. Came down 3.5 miles ENE of RAF Wittering. Barnack.
Last edited by T-21; 2nd Sep 2012 at 21:08.