June 20, 2012 at 8:30 pm
I’m trying to find out more about the crash of a Fulmar in the vicinity of Manchester Ringway in February 1941. The aircraft was N4043, which I believe was the last aircraft in the first batch of MkIIs. The pilot was Fairey test pilot Duncan Menzies.
The crash was apparently caused by elevator flutter in a high speed dive which caused the aircraft to break up. Menzies was apparently thrown out, according to an interview he later did, through his Sutton harness and the canopy. In any case, his parachute opened and he survived though he had no memory of the crash itself.
I’ve been trying to track down any accident report there might have been which might give a full, technical description of the incident. Unfortunately I can’t find one in the list of reports in the National Archives and am not sure where to look next. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?