XL 112 50 Years

[pedroalpha]

Remembering the very sad loss of Whirlwind HAR 10 with four crew on 20 November 1970 RIP

[Cornish Jack]

pedroalpha - Amen to that!
Yet another tragic reminder, if one were needed, that Cb and aviation don't mix well. Memory says Capt Balser (sp?) Canadian exchange, plus w/op, w/m and a WRAF. 202 out of Leconfield.

[Archimedes]

CJ, the crew (copied from the RAF Commands website):

Capt. John Balser Canadian Armed Forces (Pilot)

Master Navigator Brian Sterling (Winch operator)

F/Sgt Charles Peter Ford (Winchman)

P/O Helen Susan McLaren (Passenger)

[Cornish Jack]

Thank you, Archimedes - I didn't, personally, know any of them, but Capt Balser's name stuck from his, unfortunate, exchange deployment. I was on 1563 Flt in Akrotiri when it happened and, obviously, registered in some shock. I had been on W 10s for over 6 years and, although such losses were not unique, the circumstances were unusual.
R I P

[Green Flash]

Without wishing to stir up memories of a tragic event, could someone please post a brief description please? Ta.

[diginagain]

Without wishing to stir up memories of a tragic event, could someone please post a brief description please? Ta.
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/157258

[Green Flash]

Thanks digs. CJ above mentions Cb and the report says it blew up in mid air, was this a lightning strike?

[pedroalpha]

I was a member of B Flight but on leave at the time. I never saw the BOI report but understand the sortie was to include dry winch training. I knew them all very well.

[diginagain]

Thanks digs. CJ above mentions Cb and the report says it blew up in mid air, was this a lightning strike?
The effects in and around CB are now better-understood, which includes lightning, but also severe turbulence and up- and downdrafts. Enough to do catastrophic damage to aircraft both fixed-wing and rotary,

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/65109

[Cornish Jack]

diginagain - I had a look at that report and it is a bit 'bare-bones'. From memory - local flying possibly low-level search. Low cloud base and fog/mist. In a valley with options to hover-taxi out or climb above S Alt and RTB on instruments. Climbed and found themselves in a Cb . Unable to control climb and (as we understood it) suffered catastrophic damage at 12000'. The W10 was a lovely machine to fly visually but it had NO natural stability (indeed, just the opposite) and had no stabilising add-ons such as the Wessex SAS. It was operable IMC but I wouldn't suggest it was a 'favoured platform'!

[diginagain]

diginagain - I had a look at that report and it is a bit 'bare-bones'. From memory - local flying possibly low-level search. Low cloud base and fog/mist. In a valley with options to hover-taxi out or climb above S Alt and RTB on instruments. Climbed and found themselves in a Cb . Unable to control climb and (as we understood it) suffered catastrophic damage at 12000'. The W10 was a lovely machine to fly visually but it had NO natural stability (indeed, just the opposite) and had no stabilising add-ons such as the Wessex SAS. It was operable IMC but I wouldn't suggest it was a 'favoured platform'!
Not a place I would venture into knowingly, but the threat of inadvertent IMC with the possibility of entering an embedded CB cell does concentrate the mind.

[pedroalpha]

Let us not forget the impact of icing upon an aircraft with no clearance. November in Yorkshire.