The Ones That Didn't Make It Back - Lest We Forget

[Adam Poultney]

This GB proposal is inspired by a model I saw recently posted on Facebook of XV193, an RAF C130 that was lost in an accident on 27/05/1993, built in memory of the lost crew. It will entail a bit more than just a simple model build, the research of your chosen subject will be particularly important in this potential group build.

It is an unfortunate reality that some aircraft and their crews will not make it, both in war and in peacetime. I would therefore like to run this group build for a 2023 slot as a tribute to those crews that lost their lives in performing their duties. 

 

Additionally a request for a specific start date, if this makes it through the next Bunfight, I would like the start date to be on or around Rememberance Day, or alternatively a finish date around that time.

 

 

The criteria for a build to enter, and additional requirements and guidance for this group build are as follows:

 

You should build a model of a military aircraft which was lost, this can be a peacetime loss, wartime non-combat loss or a combat loss. 

 

You should aim to model the aircraft close to the configuration and scheme it would have been in at the time of its loss, but this is not necessary. 

 

When posted in the group build gallery, your model should be presented with information about the loss of the aircraft. Simply building without the research defeats the purpose of this group build. I will post an example of this shortly with my own model of XM601, a Vulcan that was lost with all hands only a year after entering service.

 

Normal GB rules apply (25% rule, etc)

 

Edited to add: tanks, ships etc are included following the same guidelines

Edited November 8, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[vppelt68]

I'll hop in as #2 then. Plenty of such aircraft I can model, that went MIA with 9 or 10 unfortunately KIA. V-P

[Adam Poultney]

I will probably build Vickers Wellington MF116 which crashed on 14 January 1945 in Burbage, a mile or two from where I live. 

Failing that, I may build a Vulcan such as XM645 (Malta crash).

 

Interested members:

1. Me 

2. @vppelt68 

3. @Corsairfoxfouruncle

4. @jackroadkill

5. @stevehnz

.

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Adam Poultney]

Example with XM601:

 

[General info about the build as per usual]

 

Avro Vulcan B2 XM601 was lost in a landing accident on 07/10/1964. This particular Vulcan was delivered in October 1964 to 9 Sqn, so it was around a year from delivery to when it crashed. It had been repainted in camouflage very shortly before the crash. 

The accident was a result of an overshoot from a practice asymmetric approach, with two engines on idle power. When the copilot began the overshoot, he pushed all throttles to full power. The engines on idle took longer to reach full power, and the turning moment from the asymmetric thrust exceeded rudder authority. The wingtip struck the ground and spun the aircraft. The pilot and copilot ejected but were killed due to the low angle at which they ejected, the rear crew did not stand a chance as was the case in so many V Bomber crashes. 

 

Five men lost their lives in the crash:

Wing Commander Kenneth John Lewis Baker (39) (Captain and Officer Commanding 9 Sqn)

Flying Officer Paul Elliot Busfield (23) (Co-Pilot)

Flight Lt Charles Vernon Burkard (23) Air Electronics Officer

Flight Lt Geoffrey Bingham (34) (Nav Plotter)

Flying Officer Alan Hubert Jones (21) Nav R

adar

 

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Ive done a few of these dedication type builds already. For those who don't have space for diorama’s. Maybe showing the aircraft or ship or tank just before its final mission would be ok ? Count me in please Im sure I can get something up and going. 

[jackroadkill]

Yes please, Adam.  I find that researching the fate of the aircraft and crew to be one of the primary drivers behind choosing a build.

[stevehnz]

Yes please, no trouble to find something fitting.

Steve.

[Rafwaffe]

Count me in please. 

[vppelt68]

This has been on my to-do-one-day list for a while:

 

An H2X and Gee-H equipped Boeing B-17G-50-VE pathfinder-aircraft from the 533rd Bomb Squadron, 381st Bomb Group. MIA on a mission to Feldhausen 22/3/45.

 

A sad fate in the end of the war for a very experienced lead crew: Pilot Capt Bob Fawcett (group lead), Co-pilot: Maj Bob Gotthardt, Navigator: Capt George Stone (only man in group with 50 missions), Flight engineer/top turret gunner: S/Sgt Joe Biglin, Radio Operator: T/Sgt Larry Russelino, Gee-H operator: 2nd Lt Charles Banotai (534th BS), H2X operator: 2nd Lt Elbert Hiller, Waist gunner: Sgt Stan Biskop,Tail gunner: 2nd Lt Walt Scott, Bombardier: 1st Lt Pete Kowalski.

 

All 10 Killed in Action. Flak hit engine #3, aircraft exploded, its tail broke off and it crashed continent.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Its an interesting topic. I find in some cases with WW2 aircraft in particular there are a lot of decal schemes based on crashed aircraft because there are more photos of crash sites than planes at airfields.

 

I've got an A6M2b Zero with the scheme of the plane that ended up inverted in a swamp in Alaska (IIRC) and was the first flown by the Americans which I am planning to model in its swampy resting place with the US recovery crew working on it.

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

I would suggest altering the opening text to allow subjects other than aircraft (ships, tanks, perhaps figurines of the crew too). I would also suggest clarifying whether-or-not civilian subjects are in or out, for example, if an ocean liner sinks in peacetime does that qualify?

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday, aircraft aren't really my thing so when I occasionally build one it's a generic of the type. As a result I wouldn't qualify for this.

     If, however, Steve's suggestion above is agreed to I might have a candidate. If I can scratch build a hull (and therefore most of the ship) I'd probably consider making a model of HMAS Yarra 1942. This small ship, classified as a sloop I think, was armed with three 4-inch guns, and was set upon by three Japanese cruisers mounting 8-inch guns, plus two destroyers armed with 5-inch weapons. Each Japanese ship had about twice the speed of the Yarra. Not much of a contest, and most of the crew didn't make it back home.

     Regards, Jeff.

[vppelt68]

I think that TODAY is the day to join in on this one - lest we forget. V-P

[Adam Poultney]

On 08/11/2021 at 10:31, Adam Poultney said:

Edited to add: tanks, ships etc are included following the same guidelines

@ArnoldAmbrose @Bandsaw Steve

[Bandsaw Steve]

10 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

I would suggest altering the opening text to allow subjects other than aircraft (ships, tanks, perhaps figurines of the crew too). I would also suggest clarifying whether-or-not civilian subjects are in or out, for example, if an ocean liner sinks in peacetime does that qualify?

Sorry- have just read the opening text more carefully. I see now that the intent is ‘military only’.  I hope it goes well.

[Adam Poultney]

1 minute ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Sorry- have just read the opening text more carefully. I see now that the intent is ‘military only’.  I hope it goes well! 

That is the intent for now, but as with most group builds it's subject to change if enough people want it. 

[bigfoot]

I’d be in for this one, got a couple of ideas for builds on this theme.

[drdjp11]

Count me in for this. Brian Weatherley, my best man in 1977, died in an accident at the end of a Harrier display at Chievres (Belgium) in 1986. I've always wanted to build a GR.3 as a tribute.

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/55538

[Stefan Buysse]

7 hours ago, drdjp11 said:

Count me in for this. Brian Weatherley, my best man in 1977, died in an accident at the end of a Harrier display at Chievres (Belgium) in 1986. I've always wanted to build a GR.3 as a tribute.

 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/55538

Hi,

 

Very sad. I remember that one.

We went to the show on sunday, totally unaware of the accident which had happened the day before.

We were chatting with the US ARMY UH-1 medevac crew in the static display. They said that their Huey was due to retire soon, but that the day before they had been scrambled for the fatal Harrier crash. We said: "Fatal Harrier crash?!?".

They told us about it and when we looked we could just see the sad sight of Harrier main wheels sticking up into the sky.

 

Best regards,

Stefan.

[drdjp11]

4 hours ago, Stefan Buysse said:

Hi,

 

Very sad. I remember that one.

We went to the show on sunday, totally unaware of the accident which had happened the day before.

We were chatting with the US ARMY UH-1 medevac crew in the static display. They said that their Huey was due to retire soon, but that the day before they had been scrambled for the fatal Harrier crash. We said: "Fatal Harrier crash?!?".

They told us about it and when we looked we could just see the sad sight of Harrier main wheels sticking up into the sky.

 

Best regards,

Stefan.

Thanks for sharing the memory, I really appreciate it.  

 

Brian was a university classmate at Manchester but we lost touch as I moved to Canada and then the US as he went into the RAF. I didn’t find out about the accident until 20 years after the fact.