Hello, it is very interesting to read your comments. I have been trying to find out about the events on 7th Feb 1980 for a while and of course the more I find out the more questions arise one of which being: Where does this ‘violent manoeuvre’ quote originate from? It does not appear in any of the official reports I have read but seems to crop up in magazines and on the internet all the time. The phrase was used again in Kev Darlings 2006 book ‘Blackburn Buccaneer’ and is rebutted by Air Cdre Graham Pitchfork in his review of Kev Darlings book. In ‘The Royal air force historical society journal no. 39 2007 (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/document...Journal-39.pdf)
“XV345 was not carrying out ‘a violent manoeuvre’ when it crashed killing the crew; it was making a turn whilst flying in battle formation en-route to the weapons training area”.
I have spoken to several air crew who were there and they whole heartedly back this up. Also the often repeated idea that rolling pullouts were involved during the final flight of XV345 is not mentioned at all in any report. One report states that they were recorded in earlier flights that did not involve Ken and Rusty, and did not result in an accident, but makes no mention of any 6g during XV345’s last flight until the final wing break which occurred with no control input and could only be attributed to a gust with lateral component. Surely the report would have mentioned this considering that XV345 was fitted with an Airframe Data Recorder. If anyone can set me right on this I would appreciate their help.
Last edited by sonofabucc; 9th Feb 2015 at 23:04.
Reason: wrong word