paulmcmillan
18th July 2013, 10:22
From a news report in 1937.. Can anyone ID this incident which happened 9 years earlier from the clues? It says 1928 but the scope is as follows
G. W. P. Irwin, to No. 20 Sqdn., India, 22.7.26
G. W. P. Irwin, to R.A.F. Depot, Uxbridge, 5.11.28
Flying-Officer Gwyther William Powell Irwin, of No. 20 Squadron, R.A.F., was serving in India on the North-West Frontier, in 1928. and on one occasion a flight of four machines of the squadron was ordered to give a demonstration of close formation flying for-the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond during his tour of inspection.
Flying Officer Irwin was No. 2 on the right of the leader. At a height of about 1000 ft they wheeled to the right. When about half-way through the turn Flying-Officer Irwin felt a bump, and his machine, a Bristol Fighter, immediately went into a right-hand spin, and dropped out of the formation. He writes:
"My-machine spun frantically for about 800 ft, whilst I thought of various things to do. My joy-stick was flapping about in my hands, useless.
"When about 150 ft from the ground the machine, without any warning, began to answer very slightly to' my efforts to centralise the controls— i.e., hold them in the normal position for straight flying—and the nose lifted slightly, and the circles of the spin became, a little wider and less steep. But the final 50 feet were at a steep angle, although the result was not a complete wreck."
A photograph shows that the rudder had been broken in the collision, and bent to the right, and that the elevator on the left side was broken and hanging down. In the circumstances, the fact that the machine did not spin violently all the way to the ground was very remarkable.
It was found that No. 4 in the formation had struck Flying-Officer Irwin's rudder with his propeller, and that the only damage his own machine had sustained was a fracture in the leading edge of the right, wing. He returned to the aerodrome wondering what had happened.
Flying-Officer Irwin's only personal injury was a bruised jawbone. His observer had a slightly damaged shin.
Thanks
Paul
G. W. P. Irwin, to No. 20 Sqdn., India, 22.7.26
G. W. P. Irwin, to R.A.F. Depot, Uxbridge, 5.11.28
Flying-Officer Gwyther William Powell Irwin, of No. 20 Squadron, R.A.F., was serving in India on the North-West Frontier, in 1928. and on one occasion a flight of four machines of the squadron was ordered to give a demonstration of close formation flying for-the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond during his tour of inspection.
Flying Officer Irwin was No. 2 on the right of the leader. At a height of about 1000 ft they wheeled to the right. When about half-way through the turn Flying-Officer Irwin felt a bump, and his machine, a Bristol Fighter, immediately went into a right-hand spin, and dropped out of the formation. He writes:
"My-machine spun frantically for about 800 ft, whilst I thought of various things to do. My joy-stick was flapping about in my hands, useless.
"When about 150 ft from the ground the machine, without any warning, began to answer very slightly to' my efforts to centralise the controls— i.e., hold them in the normal position for straight flying—and the nose lifted slightly, and the circles of the spin became, a little wider and less steep. But the final 50 feet were at a steep angle, although the result was not a complete wreck."
A photograph shows that the rudder had been broken in the collision, and bent to the right, and that the elevator on the left side was broken and hanging down. In the circumstances, the fact that the machine did not spin violently all the way to the ground was very remarkable.
It was found that No. 4 in the formation had struck Flying-Officer Irwin's rudder with his propeller, and that the only damage his own machine had sustained was a fracture in the leading edge of the right, wing. He returned to the aerodrome wondering what had happened.
Flying-Officer Irwin's only personal injury was a bruised jawbone. His observer had a slightly damaged shin.
Thanks
Paul