Aircraft by type - still being constructed

EJECTIONS and LOSSES

Gloster Javelin Mk.1 - Mk.9

Air Force

based

no ejection
 Sqn Ldr William Arthur Waterton AFC (Chief Test Pilot) escaped on ground, returned to burning aircraft to  rescue the  automatic records

Typical publicity of the period

Moreton Valance  / RAF Boscombe Down

Prototype and early versions of the Javelin were fitted with the Martin-Baker Mk 2 fully automatic ejection seat.

LINK

Another advert for the  Martin-Baker Mk 2 fully automatic ejection seat

[see also 1st September 1959]

[see also 1st September 1959]

87 Sqn  RAF Bruggen

gentle spiral descent, fuel starvation to both engines caused by separate mechanical failures - the starboard engine failed at 6000 feet followed by the port engine during the final stages of the final approach  11 miles south east ofBruggan

41 Sqn RAF Wattisham

Javelin at Wattisham on 11th July 1958.  I witnessed this ejection. The pilot, as I remember, was Capt Earl Taylor USAF on exchange with the RAF. At the end of his exchange he decided to wire the airfield. During a loop the aircraft entered cloud and the aircraft, which had all sorts of angle of attack limitations due to the high-set tailplane, emerged in a flat spin. I saw one seat come out of the aircraft at about 200 feet but with the high rate of descent it didn't look survivable. However the explosion of the aircraft seemed to lift the developing parachute and Brian Bedford survived unhurt. The pilot's seat had, in fact, separated but was outside the parameters. 

“Oscar “ Wild
in email 2007

 recovering from a dive, the aircraft stalled and could not be controlled, crashed 3 miles west south west of Fakenham

May I please correct an entry for Javelin 7 XH789 of 64 Squadron on detachment to Cyprus:
This occurred at RAF Akrotiri at 08:30 on 30 July 1959.

At about 35,000ft, we lost 1 and 2 hydraulic pumps and declared an emergency. Loss of these meant that we had no hydraulic control of the undercarriage, flaps and airbrakes, and half speed use of the major controls. We chose to stay with the aircraft, used the emergency air bottle to lower the undercarriage and cut both engines at touch down. We left the runway at Akrotiri at about 90kts and after a rather bumpy ride, eventually finished up in the under-growth.
The aircraft was cat5 but there was no injury to either of us.
I hope this sets the record straight and I enclose a photo of the outcome of the adventure.
Thanks
Steve Sanders
in email 14th December 2008
[entry corrected 14th December 2008]

                                                                                                                                                                           photo via Steve Sanders

RAF

Performance trial, Partial engine failure in flight   safe single‑engine landing made

1st September 1959 

no ejection
Pilot Flight Lieutenant Christopher Stamp Tulloch Constable BROOKSBANK - killed

no ejection Navigator Sergeant Graham Anthony John SPRIGGS  killed

Slight mistake in the 228 OCU crash in 1959.  Captain Bob Neitz USAF was the navigator and Fg Off Cowper was the (student) pilot.
I think I was the authorising/briefing officer for this flight.  Bob was  almost at the end of his tour as NRL No.3 squadron of the OCU and I took over this post from him.
Wilf Hodgkinson
amended following email 20th March 2008

41 Sqdn

29 Sqdn

29 Sqdn

29 Sqn

I just found your website whilst searching for articles regarding a Gloster  Javelin crash in November 1960  in the Moorfoot Hills in which the two crew  were killed. I thought you might be interested in a recent post on PPRUNE  which suggests that the accident was the result of an engine malfunction and  that the crew ejected at high speed and low altitude once the a/c had been  directed away from populated areas. The post states that the crew did not  survive the ejection, presumably because the a/c was too low, too fast, or  both, at the time of ejection.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=242974

I wonder if the official accident report is publicly available and if so,  where it could be found? Perhaps that would have the correct story?

Best regards,

Colin Dawson
in email 26th January 2007.

72 Sqn  RAF Leeming

46 Sqn  RAF Waterbeach

3 Jul 61

XH839

Cat 3

IIRC, the Nav in XH 791 (the Indian crash) was Tony MELTON, not Mehon. We were called into the Embassy on, I believe, a Sunday, to cover the incident. Some time later, in Northern Burma, we met the Pakistani pilot (and his Grumman Goose) who had alighted on the river (no mean feat!!) to pick him up.
reply to PPRuNe from Cornish Jack 11th November 2006

a small extract from a manuscript I am putting together that one day will hopefully be the basis of my autobiography.
.......There were unfortunately many accidents and incidents at Akrotiri during the period I lived there but being only a schoolboy I was not involved in any apart from the odd one I witnessed. So many times I would go to school to hear that a Hunter had gone missing or my father would return from work with a similar tale. Cyprus is only about 40 miles from the Turkish coast. Earthquakes are almost common in central Turkey. We would often experience earth tremors at Akrotiri as we on the periphery of the epicentre of a quake in Turkey. The night of 26th October 1961 I was almost thrown out of bed by a rumbling and shaking of the ground. No need to worry shouted my parents from their bedroom just an earth tremor. Next day we found out that a Javelin and a Canberra  had collided. Canberra B2 WD995 of 32 Sqd. and Javelin XH906 of 25 Sqd had been undertaking practice night interceptions. They collided 2.5 miles north of Akrotiri. All three crew of the Canberra were killed, F/L Norman Youd aged 26 the pilot, F/O John Geldhart aged 24 and F/O Michael Harris aged 22. The Javelin was flown by F/L R Lloyd, he ejected safely. His navigator, F/L J Morris, 31 was not so fortunate, he sadly perished.

from Clint.
in email 10th November 2006
 

Hydraulics failureovershot landing and undercarriage collapsed

41Sqn   RAF Gutersloh

64 Sqn  RAF Waterbeach

85 Sqn  RAF West Raynham

RAF West Raynham 

 RAF West Raynham

1 Sqn  RAF Geilenkirchen

29 Sqn  RAF Nicosia Cyprus

41 Sqn  RAF Marham

41 Sqn  RAF Watflsham

Engine failure on take off and aircraft swung off runway and caught fire

64 Sqn  Kalaikunda India

29 sqn  RAF Nicosia Cyprus     

[1] I wish to point out an error in your accident description. It was not the tail plane trim tab that fell off, it was the complete fin rudder and tail plane which became detatched. Also,it was not 400 knots. I know this because I was flying 300 yards behind when it happened. Both Gordon Sykes and Paul Burns were my friends Paul still is, though Gordon died some years ago.

[2] I was to lead a formation of 4 Javelins, but one went u/s .We did our practice interceptions and then the usual tail chase to finish up. Normally as leader, I would have lead the chase, but I wanted some practice at following so became no.3. It was a beautiful  morning and all was going well, smooth and gentle. We were about 17000 ft. in a dive just starting to pull up. I was about 300yds.behind no.2 when I saw some glittering pieces of metal coming from the base of the fin. I started to tell my nav. Paul Rundle but before I could get it out, the whole of the fin and tail plane broke away and disappeared under my nose (too close for comfort). There was no TX. from Gordon and Paul so I flew alongside whilst making the Mayday call. We saw them both eject and were relieved to see the chutes open. I circled them down to sea level and saw the dinghies. It was only later that I found out that Paul was virtually unscathed but Gordon had broken his back on ejection, and would remain paralysed for the rest of his life. Paul would eject again later at Akrotiri on 29Sqn. He was so close to the ground that his chute did not open and he hit the ground still in his seat. It was a miracle he survived, and even more so that he is still gong strong. I will be seeing him at our 60Sqn.RU., 30th.May RAF Shawbury.

Regards
Fred Butcher
in emails 14th & 15th May 2008

226OCU

60 Sqn  RAF Labuan

60 Sqn  RAF Tengah Singapore

29 Sqn  RAF Akrotiri Cyprus

64sq

23 sqn  RAF Leuchars       

23sqn  RAF Leuchars  

60 Sqn  RAF Butterworth Malaya

Navigator's canopy shattered, Aircraft landed OK

RAF

5sqn    Geilenkirchen West Germany

60 Sqn  RAF Butterworth

60 Sqn  RAF Butterworth

Fire whilst starting

29sq29 Sqn  N'dola Zambia

RAF

29sq  RAF Khormaksar

RAF

64sq  Sqn  RAF Tengah

Swung off the runway and severely damaged after falling into a drain.

RAF

228OCU RAF Leuchars 

RAF

228 OCU RAF Leuchars

RAF

64sq

RAF

RAF

60 Sqn RAF Tengah Singapore

FEEDBACK, COMMENT & NOSTALGIA

photo - Nick Parker
[visit Nick's Ejection Seat Collection site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickkparker/]

I flew Javelins from November 1960 to March 1966 at 228 OCU (Leeming) & on 23 (Coltishall & Leuchars) & 60 (Tengah) Sqns. My fading memory and checking the airframe numbers in my log-books enables me to supply a few incidental details for items listed in your ejection seat/ Javelin data; I hope they are of some interest.  (these have been included in the above listings)

  
While I was on 60 Sqn, from November 1963 to March 1966, the only ejections I remember involving our aircraft were those of Gordon Sykes on 10 Feb 64 and Horse Rawcliffe on 04 Apr 66.

I am pretty sure that the accidents listed for 29 Mar 64 (XH 955/T), 03 Apr 64 (XH 724/F), 03 Mar 65 (XH 833/I), 17 Nov 65 (XH 749) & 26 Apr 66 (XH 717) should not be attributed to 60 Sqn.; I certainly never flew any pf these aircraft and I do know that “tail number” T was allocated to XH 766 and we didn’t have a F, instead our XH 846 was marked JF for our boss, Jock Fraser.
  
  During 1965/66 there was a good deal of exchanging aircraft between ourselves and 64 Sqn, in order to give them all the Mk 9R aircraft when they took over the tasking for the Labuan and Kuching detachments, where the preferred fit was 2 underwing tanks as well as the ventrals so as to extend the range/ endurance for the border combat air patrols.
  
 

Hello, Unusually for me, I have just had an attack of nostalgia, so Googled  Javelin and discovered your website - very nice. One of your contributors says, "I am pretty sure that the accidents  listed for .....&  26 Apr 66 (XH 717) should not be attributed to 60  Sqn." I assure you that XH 717 did indeed belong to 60 Squadron and I flew  it on April 12 a few days before that particular incident. The  aircraft belonged to the 60 Sqn detachment at RAAF Butterworth.  Although we frequently went to Tengah, the Tengah crews only met us  during their occasional visits to Kuching and Labuan, so knew little  if anything about us. You list XH 717 as having a "fire whilst starting". This was such a  common occurrence that on one occasion an Australian voice on the  Tannoy announced that, "there is a fire at 60 Sqn dispersal - again". I have forgotten the date, but shortly after pressing the second  starter button I remember saying, "That's funny, we're on fire". Two  seconds later, while I was shutting down the engines and before I had  a chance to suggest what to do, an aircrew boot landed on my head and  Paul Woodward, my navigator, ran off the nose of the aircraft, landed  in a running position and disappeared across the airfield. I was  laughing so much that I almost forgot the shutdown procedure! Another fire and another navigator; this one was not so lucky and  broke his ankle jumping off the wing. My flying during that period in Malaysia was certainly the most  interesting, most dangerous and most rewarding I have ever done. So  many unbelievable stories and so many more incidents than in your  website. Thank you for bringing back the memories. Best wishes Doug in email 27th Septemeber 2007   You record a fire on starting at  Butterworth on 26 April 1966, to Javelin XH717/C. From my logbook, I see that I flew this aircraft with Flt Lt Paul  Woodward, on April 12. Then on April 26 I again flew with Paul in XH910. I can't remember when it was, but with Paul in the back, I started one  engine and then the other. I remember saying, "That's odd," and  hearing Paul reply, "What?" I said, "We're on fire." With some jobs, things happen fast and certainly quicker than you can  think as the body goes into auto. This is what probably happened to  both of us at that moment. As I said the word 'fire', a big flying  boot trod on my head and Paul ran over my cockpit, along the nose,  jumped some 10 plus feet to the ground and continued running. I don't  remember shutting down the engines and doing the fire procedure, but  evidently I did all that was required. I just remember standing near  the aircraft, doubled up with laughter. Paul was quite unhurt, but after another starting fire, navigator Dave  Reed jumped off the wing and chipped a bone in his ankle. Best wishes Doug

I was finishing my service with a ground post as Fying Wing Adjutant at Middleton St George in 1961/1962 and I remember the two 33 Squadron losses. Perhaps the most amazing one was at Wildenrath. The squadron was on a detachment to, I think, Geilenkirchen, and on the way out one Javelin suffered hydraulic difficulties and landed at a Netherlands Air Force base, where an RAF team fitted a new actuator. On the way to Geilers the pilot decided to fly a radar approach at Wildenrath and on the go-around had indication of hydraulic pressure loss. An immediate decision was taken to land at Wildenrath and while turning final lost all hydraulic power. The aircraft hit the ground with its wing and started to cartwheel. As the nose crumpled the pilot's ejection seat fired itself and he was found sitting in it a short distance from the wreckage.
As the aircraft continued its roll the navigator's seat fired, but by this time the aircraft was totally inverted and the seat only travelled a short distance before the soft sandy ground stopped it. It took several hours to get the navigator out, but he was present on crutches at my dining-out night the following December. The other loss (18th May 1962 Javelin FAW9 XH755/Y) was very sad as the navigator, as you say, ejected and there were plenty of witnesses in circling aircraft who saw him descend into a cumulus cloud, but that was the last anyone saw of him.
***************
16th November 2006 in PPRuNe Forum reply Malcolm G O Payne18th May 1962 Javelin FAW9 XH755/Y

Incident Aug 1965  64 Sqdn  XH876 throttles jammed on approach, thought to be due to control locks becoming engaged ( control handle on throttle console )

This was Flt Lt Hart`s second ejection in a year ¨!

Incident 8 Nov 1965  64 Sqdn  XH887 had a undercarriage malfunction ( uplock control rod bellcrank had gone over centre, so uplock could not release one of the main legs )    Crew ordered to eject off the coast as it was at night . SAR helicopter scrambled and picked up crew. Shortly afterwards a second Sarbe signal was picked up, and it was realized that another a/c XH959 was overdue . Navigator Flt Lt Unsted was found, but the pilot Flt Lt Poppe ( ? ) was not recovered for a couple of days. Sadly he had not survived. XH959 had hit the sea during a low pass to show the crew of XH887 that rescue was on its way. Flt Lt Unsted only remembered a big bang , then he ejected. It was thought at the time that he may have ejected underwater. XH959 was found by the Royal Navy, pictures showed the radome twisted up and to one side. Recovery was not possible .   

Incident 30 may 1967 64 Sqdn  XH708 collision with XH896 . This incident occurred shortly after takeoff, Ground Crew being given flights shortly before Squadron disbandment . Pilot and passenger of one aircraft ejected , but no attempt to escape from second a/c.( it had impacted with the underside of the first a/c ).

Passenger of the second a/c was a person I knew very well, having served with 64 Squadron from 1958 to 1966, but in 1967 I was at Changi.

I seem to remember that the surviving passenger was a locally enlisted airfield fireman, but 40 years on the memory may not be what it once was.

Best Regards

Graham Fidler

Luxembourg

Wg. Cmdr. Derek Collier Webb RAF (retd) +
Flt. Lt Roy Rimington RAF (retd)
Tony Russell (former RAF Gloster Javelin Nav/Rad 1957 - 62 ) for additional information)
Henry de Courcier
Graham Fidler
Malcolm G O Payne
PPRuNe members


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(if I inadvertently omit your name from this listing PLEASE let me know to amend the listing)

BOOKS

Sir James Martin by Sarah Sharman
UK Flight Testing Accidents 1940 - 1971 by Derek Collier-Webb
Eject! Eject! by Bryan Philpott
To Fly No More - RAF Aircraft Accidents and Write-Offs 1954-1956 by Colin Cummings
Lost to Service - A summary of R.A.F. Accidents and losses of Personnel 1959 -  1998 by Colin Cummings
South West Wings - a diary of aviation incidents and accidents in West Somerset and North Devon by Martin R. Sutton
Broken Wings - Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents - by James J. Halley M.B.E.

ARTICLES

Testing the Flat Iron by Alan Baxter - Flypast  - February

Aeroplane Monthly
Flight
Flypast
The Aeroplane

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/javelin/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Javelin

http://www.vflintham.demon.co.uk/aircraft/javelin/javelin.htm