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Gloster Meteor ditching Dec. 1950


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Evening all

 

Haven't been modelling for a bit due to work, house renovations and some travel but have an itch for a future project.

 

I was fishing around under floorboards trying to find and fix a leak and pulled out a couple of pages of my local paper "The Shields Gazette" from Monday December 11th 1950. Along with urgent news from Korea, Singapore and Malay was a news items:

 

"Lifeboat crews at Whitby and Scarborough stood by today after a report that a jet aircraft from Middleton St. George, near Darlington, had crashed in the sea off the Yorkshire Coast. An Air Ministry official said later that the aircraft, a Gloster Meteor, had force landed near Whitby. The pilot was uninjured."

 

Anyone have any tips on how to find out what the registration and markings were?

Edited by LostCosmonauts
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1 hour ago, LostCosmonauts said:

Evening all

 

Haven't been modelling for a bit due to work, house renovations and some travel but have an itch for a future project.

 

I was fishing around under floorboards trying to find and fix a leak and pulled out a couple of pages of my local paper "The Shields Gazette" from Monday December 11th 1950. Along with urgent news from Korea, Singapore and Malay was a news items:

 

"Lifeboat crews at Whitby and Scarborough stood by today after a report that a jet aircraft from Middleton St. George, near Darlington, had crashed in the sea off the Yorkshire Coast. An Air Ministry official said later that the aircraft, a Gloster Meteor, had force landed off Whitby. The pilot was uninjured."

 

Anyone have any tips on how to find out what the registration and markings were?

This one? looks familiar

http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/46-50/vt120.html

 

Selwyn

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From the date, you can then go through the appropriate Air Britain serial book to get the serial.   It may be referenced in some of the Meteor books, perhaps Steve Bond's example from Midland Counties Publications.

 

On the other hand, you could try one of the websites that specialise in such things - I would recommend http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?1-General-Category or perhaps http://forum.keypublishing.com/forumdisplay.php?4-Historic-Aviation

 

Though it looks as though Selwyn has already found it.

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2 hours ago, LostCosmonauts said:

Thanks @Graham Boak & @Selwyn - I knew it'd be out there but googling myself had led me into umpteen dead ends

Just had a look and found out that 205 AFS did not have a unit code marking  on their jets in 1950 (none allocated at that time), so this aircraft would probably only had an individual code letter. What that code letter was I can't find so far.

the picture of VT120  in the link shows the aircraft as "C" of 257 Sqn  their code being "A6" at that time  and of course  the 257 lion badge on the nose.

Selwyn

Edited by Selwyn
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According to Steven Bond's book, VT120 served with 257 Sq, 263 Sq, Biggin Hill Station Flight, 226 OCU, 209 AFS, Scrap 6.5.54.  This is the same history as given for VT120 in Air Britain's RAF Aircraft SA100-VZ999.  Bond gives the code of A6.C to VT122.  It could be both are right, or was VT120 A6.G?

 

The aircraft that ran out of fuel and crashed Sleights, Yorkshire, 11.12.50 was VT170.  This has the history described in the link, but credited to VT120.

 

Codes are interesting: 205 AFS was formed at a time when the four-figure system was in use, up until 1951.  Combat Codes does not give a code for 205 AFS, but following the pattern of earlier Schools this would have been FMP.x.  Presumably the change in system was foreseen so no allocation was made.  It may not be an absolute rule, but I would expect all aircraft to carry an individual code, even if they lacked a unit one.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

According to Steven Bond's book, VT120 served with 257 Sq, 263 Sq, Biggin Hill Station Flight, 226 OCU, 209 AFS, Scrap 6.5.54.  This is the same history as given for VT120 in Air Britain's RAF Aircraft SA100-VZ999.  Bond gives the code of A6.C to VT122.  It could be both are right, or was VT120 A6.G?

 

The aircraft that ran out of fuel and crashed Sleights, Yorkshire, 11.12.50 was VT170.  This has the history described in the link, but credited to VT120.

 

Codes are interesting: 205 AFS was formed at a time when the four-figure system was in use, up until 1951.  Combat Codes does not give a code for 205 AFS, but following the pattern of earlier Schools this would have been FMP.x.  Presumably the change in system was foreseen so no allocation was made.  It may not be an absolute rule, but I would expect all aircraft to carry an individual code, even if they lacked a unit one.

 

 

 

 

Interesting, I was wondering why VT 120 was listed as wrtten off in 1954 not 1950.

Picture of VT170 can be found here, strangely no codes?

 

Scroll down to picture https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fgMkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32&lpg=PT32&dq=meteor+vt170&source=bl&ots=UjPkdl2Du6&sig=PK3SPSUK2eac6BORQztr22M-zy0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik-d7w1NnUAhXMCMAKHfqwAJAQ6AEIKzAB#v=onepage&q=meteor vt170&f=false

 

Selwyn

Edited by Selwyn
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