Most military jets I have flown have a facility where if you twist the up button, then press it in, the gear will retract on the ground.

Wouldn't the weight on the wheels physically stop them though?

IIRC, the Bucc also had a button which could be pressed in for take-off, which would retract the landing gear as soon as weight came off the circuit protection relays?

Intended for use when being fired off the end of one of HM's grey war canoes.

msbbarratt - not sure which bit of Abingdon the Tornado would have flown over - I understood it flew in pretty much a straight line from the runway to the outskirts of Drayton where it crashed.

Incidentally Drayton must hold some sort of record for the number of mil aircraft which have crashed on or v near it: a Beverley, a Puma, the aforementioned Tornado, and a Tutor

In theory and in practice; yes. But if the aircraft is still moving (the only time perhaps that you would want to raise the gear), the movement invariably causes the undercarriage to collapse.

I recall it being pretty close to Masefield Crescent, going across the B4017 not very far south of the housing round there. At least, had they ejected earlier there'd been a good chance that that's where the aircraft may have ended up.

I'd always understood that they'd taken off, run into birds, tried to do a circuit then opted for the field instead when it became clear they weren't going to get back to the aerodrome. I was in Marcham at the time, and it sounded (nb I didn't clap eyes on it) like it came more or less overhead. But it's a long time ago now, so I'm quite prepared to go along with a more reliable source of information such as yourself.

Pretty sure a Mossie had come down near Drayton too. Think I've got the loss log somewhere, will have to check.

A Varsity crashed into the roof of a house in Gloucester in 1963 following an engine failure after a single engine overshoot at Staverton. The aircraft flew very low over the playing fields at Ribston Hall High School for girls before attempting to reach the playing fields at the Crypt School a few hundred yards further on. It is conjecture that the pilot's original intention was to crash land on the Ribston Hall playing fields, but at the last moment saw girls playing hockey. Unfortunately the pilots were both killed in the crash.

https://gloshistory.org.uk/reprints/gh200702.pdf

As the thread has drifted slightly, as a 6th former I shall always remember the Nimrod crash at Kinloss in 1980. That description at the time of the pilots actions left a deep impression on me.

Didn't this just come down in a straight line in Roseisle Forrest?

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I appreciate everyone posting openly on a troubling subject. I'm more enlightened as a result.

The single greatest amount of wartime damage to Chichester occurred on 11th May 1944 when a B-24 Liberator crashed onto the city laundry. The pilot pointed it out to sea, however after he baled out it returned:
B-24 Liberator Crash - Chichester

Steve Belcher, the co-pilot, was a friend of mine. We joined the RAF on the same day. He once told me of a premonition he had about that accident. RIP, Steve.

The late RFK, that well-known northern Irish WIWOL, aimed his Lightning out to sea when he had to part company with it off Valley...

...after first dialling up Dublin ILS and aiming the autopilot towards it!

I remember that incident. I read at time the Lightning ditched just 30 miles short of Dublin. That's pretty close.

As for avoiding people on the ground. If the pilot is staying with the aeroplane he'll always want to land in the nice field next to the school rather than the school itself. So yes he avoided the school and anything else designed to make a bad day even worse.

I never understood how the posthumous awards given to the pilots were not the same.

I remember being told of a Harrier pilot who banged out on exercise in Norway and his fellow squadron members were surprised when he turned up on the ground, as the Harrier was still flying above them in circles. Of course, I could have been having my leg pulled.

Maybe, just maybe, BEagle was indulging in a bit of banter.

Which post?