Meteor Accidents - 1953
The repaired brickwork was an object of interest for many years, the RAF station closed and became Teesside Airport (beg its pardon, the "Durham and Tees Valley" Airport). The Mess became the "George Hotel": it is said his ghost still haunts the West Wing.
Fonsini,
The figures related to an engine failure after take-off for a Meteor variant that I have flown that has the big fin and rudder and Derwent 9 engines:
Unstick was 120 - 130 KIAS. If an engine failed below 130 KIAS the only option was to close both throttles and land straight ahead (or eject!). Following an engine failure between 130 and 165 KIAS, power had to be reduced on the good engine in order to maintain control using rudder and aileron, and once control had been regained full power was re-applied to accelerate to and then climb at 200 KIAS which was the best single engine climb speed. As much rudder as possible was applied (typically the forces were too high to achieve full deflection) and then 5 - 10 deg of bank towards the live engine was also used to help maintain straight flight. With the gear and flaps up a rate of climb could be achieved at 135 KIAS and above. 165 KIAS was defined as 'safety speed' and an engine failure at or above this speed could be controlled without reducing power.
Rgds
L
The figures related to an engine failure after take-off for a Meteor variant that I have flown that has the big fin and rudder and Derwent 9 engines:
Unstick was 120 - 130 KIAS. If an engine failed below 130 KIAS the only option was to close both throttles and land straight ahead (or eject!). Following an engine failure between 130 and 165 KIAS, power had to be reduced on the good engine in order to maintain control using rudder and aileron, and once control had been regained full power was re-applied to accelerate to and then climb at 200 KIAS which was the best single engine climb speed. As much rudder as possible was applied (typically the forces were too high to achieve full deflection) and then 5 - 10 deg of bank towards the live engine was also used to help maintain straight flight. With the gear and flaps up a rate of climb could be achieved at 135 KIAS and above. 165 KIAS was defined as 'safety speed' and an engine failure at or above this speed could be controlled without reducing power.
Rgds
L
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Ahh nuts. Very sorry to hear of your loss Nzhills.
Fonsini,
The figures related to an engine failure after take-off for a Meteor variant that I have flown that has the big fin and rudder and Derwent 9 engines:
Unstick was 120 - 130 KIAS. If an engine failed below 130 KIAS the only option was to close both throttles and land straight ahead (or eject!). Following an engine failure between 130 and 165 KIAS, power had to be reduced on the good engine in order to maintain control using rudder and aileron, and once control had been regained full power was re-applied to accelerate to and then climb at 200 KIAS which was the best single engine climb speed. As much rudder as possible was applied (typically the forces were too high to achieve full deflection) and then 5 - 10 deg of bank towards the live engine was also used to help maintain straight flight. With the gear and flaps up a rate of climb could be achieved at 135 KIAS and above. 165 KIAS was defined as 'safety speed' and an engine failure at or above this speed could be controlled without reducing power.
Rgds
L
The figures related to an engine failure after take-off for a Meteor variant that I have flown that has the big fin and rudder and Derwent 9 engines:
Unstick was 120 - 130 KIAS. If an engine failed below 130 KIAS the only option was to close both throttles and land straight ahead (or eject!). Following an engine failure between 130 and 165 KIAS, power had to be reduced on the good engine in order to maintain control using rudder and aileron, and once control had been regained full power was re-applied to accelerate to and then climb at 200 KIAS which was the best single engine climb speed. As much rudder as possible was applied (typically the forces were too high to achieve full deflection) and then 5 - 10 deg of bank towards the live engine was also used to help maintain straight flight. With the gear and flaps up a rate of climb could be achieved at 135 KIAS and above. 165 KIAS was defined as 'safety speed' and an engine failure at or above this speed could be controlled without reducing power.
Rgds
L
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Hi this is henry crun's son, I've finally got round to putting some of my Dad's audio memories onto a website, so if you want to hear a first hand account of the Conningsby Meteor F8 crash go to the website, below then click the play arrow in the top right of the screen. http://chirb.it/Pmd0EM
One day in 1953 when I was 12 years old the Leuchars Patch was shaken by the dull thump we knew only too well. My mother and I saw a vast pillar of black smoke and flame rising from the railway station about 400 yds away, in those days the Patch was only half its present size and we lived on the corner.
We ran down to the crash site to find two of my friends in hysterics, they had been trainspotting beside the up line when a Meteor crashed vertically across the road from them and no more than 60ft away. The lunchtime train to St. Andrews was at the station platform, loaded for departure. My friend Alan was blackened by soot from the burning aircraft. Another friend who had been walking to join the spotters said he had seen the Meteor pilot waving and had waved back as the aircraft turned steeply and dived into the ground.
The pilot, Group Captain Norman Bray, DFC, had just been checked out on the T7 and was on finals when the hood opened, upsetting the airflow around the tail and contributing to the Meteor spinning in. His 'wave' to my friend was probably an attempt to close the hood although it could have been jettisoned via a lever in the cockpit. Gp Capt Bray is buried in Leuchars cemetery. Two other Leuchars Meteors were lost that year but, as has been said, nobody seemed too worried about it.
We ran down to the crash site to find two of my friends in hysterics, they had been trainspotting beside the up line when a Meteor crashed vertically across the road from them and no more than 60ft away. The lunchtime train to St. Andrews was at the station platform, loaded for departure. My friend Alan was blackened by soot from the burning aircraft. Another friend who had been walking to join the spotters said he had seen the Meteor pilot waving and had waved back as the aircraft turned steeply and dived into the ground.
The pilot, Group Captain Norman Bray, DFC, had just been checked out on the T7 and was on finals when the hood opened, upsetting the airflow around the tail and contributing to the Meteor spinning in. His 'wave' to my friend was probably an attempt to close the hood although it could have been jettisoned via a lever in the cockpit. Gp Capt Bray is buried in Leuchars cemetery. Two other Leuchars Meteors were lost that year but, as has been said, nobody seemed too worried about it.
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Most of the posts on this thread seem to concern the early marks of Meteor with a lot of mention of the Marks 4, 7 and 8. However not much mention of the night fighter versions 11, 12, 13 & 14, none of which in their operational configuration had ejector seats. I appreciate there were far fewer of these in service and they were a very different design to the single seat types and the seven. However were they not a lot heavier and underpowered like the rest! So what percentage of these took the quick route to the scrap yard?
Danny did mention the NF variants either in one of his posts or in some of the material we reviewed for his book. I'm sorry I cannot find the reference but I do think the fatals were in similar proportion. Danny quoted the Meteor pilot losses and a much smaller number of navigators which he attributed to the NF versions. I think one NF was lost during our time at Leuchars 1953/54.
