Rich,

sent you a PM

Ewan

Dunno what you mean Darren:eek:

The only UK Owl Racer, G-AYMS crashed in Greenwich Reach, 31st May 1971. I always thought it was flying south from North Weald when a prop blade seperated and took the engine with it. I’ve got a copy of the AAIB accident report at work, I’ll confirm when I get back there after the Christmas break.

Back to the topic – there was a V2 rocket engine laying in mud off Osea Island in the River Blackwater (I know it’s not the Thames estuary but it’s near!)

In it, he makes the very relevant point, that there is no such thing as “Pilot error”.

and

I´ve not read the accident report for this accident, and I can´t be bothered to read the journo version.

Well, despite being ‘a literary legend’, Ernest K Gann is wrong. If you’d bothered to read the ‘full’ version of the AAIB report before making any comments, you’d know that your version regarding the aircraft going off the side of the runway is incorrect… Well, as it whistled past my ear, it was certainly going off the end!

‘Pilot error’ is a catch all statement, and accounts for a good proportion of all aircraft incidents and until aircraft are flown by machines, that incident rate will continue. I agree there are always other factors involved that ultimately lead to an aircraft incident but remove any one of those factors and this would prevent that incident happening.

In my ever so humble opinion, omitting to select flap ‘down’ cannot be attirbuted to anybody other than the driver….:rolleyes: Why that omission was made, why the aircraft ‘almost’ got airborne, why the take off wasn’t aborted, yet travelled the whole length of the runway until it impacted a parked F-100, will never be known.

Reading that press cutting, it mentions Neil’s wife and 2 kids. I understand his wife was killed with him in the 111, but what became of the 2 kids? I wonder if they followed him into aviation?

but does anyone know what Storch was used in “The Great Escape”?

There was a Storch used in a recent war film, I think it was “The Eagle has Landed” and apparently filmed at St Mawgan.

The Aircraft that fly’s over in the ” Beatle’s ” I am the Walrus Song’s film clip!!

If I recall, it was filmed at West Malling, and certainly on the spoof ‘All You Need is Cash’ by The Rutles, which also appears to be West Malling, the aircraft are gliders from the resident (at the time) VGS

The Hon. Patrick Lindsay’s fleet? We know the Spitfire 1a has just flown again at Booker. But what of the Hawker Fury (replica), the Fiat, the Morane etc…?

Neil Williams Jungmann G-BECX?

Jungmann G-BECX was converted to a Lycoming AEIO-360 engine version (YUK!) and last I heard was then sold to Germany.

The ex Patrick Lindsay Morane 230 G-AVEB is still around and is now back in the UK. Last seen at North Moreton.