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Aviation History
1930
UNTITLED0 - 1301.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 7, 1930 Ministry, described his search for pieces of wreckage. Hesaid there was no ground at all for supposing that the ship broke in the air. Six French witnesses then described what they saw of thecrash. Rabouille, the poacher, declared that the ship dived only once. He was blown down by the force of the explosion. Tuesday, Nov. 4 On Tuesday, the principal witnesses were Major Cooper,Inspector of Accidents, Wing-Commander T. R. Cave-Browne Cave, who was responsible for the engine installation onR 101, and Dr. Hope Simpson, Director of the Meteorological Office. At a previous session the report of the microscopicexamination of the broken elevator cable had been presented, the report showing that the cable had probably broken afterthe outbreak of fire. Engineer Cook was recalled to speak on this point, and he said that after escaping from his carhe saw the port elevator in an upward position. Major Cooper was of opinion that the elevator was functioningat the time of the crash. Major Cooper said that very few saplings had been broken by the crash, which must havebeen gentle. Wing-Commander Cave-Browne-Cave said that on thetrial flight on June 26, the airship had to drop about two tons of oil fuel. At the time of the crash, if oil were releasedwhen the ship was less than 1,000 ft. up, the oil would have fallen under the wreckage. Sir John Simon remarkedthat there was no reason to believe that the captain did not take advantage of his emergency oil ballast. Dr. Simpson said that the weather conditions had beenvery carefully worked out. The ship had been warned that in North France she would probably meet a wind of from40 to 50 m.p.h. At the time of the crash the wind was about 30 m.p.h. over Beauvais. There was nothing about theweather experienced which would have given the navigators cause to worry. The ship would have met worse weatherabout four hours later. She did not run into an unexpected thunderstorm. He was sure the weather was no worse thanthe officers had visualised. A minute was handed to the Court written by the lateSir Sefton Brancker on the subject of the weather he en- countered when flying over Beauvais in February, 1928.Dr. Simpson thought that eddies on the ridge would only make the air bumpy. The Inquiry will be continued. THE MEOPHAM ACCIDENT THE Air Ministry has published the following interimreport on the accident to Aeroplane G-AAZK atMeopham on July 21 last, which they have received through the Chairman of the Aeronautical Research Com- mittee (Accidents Investigation Sub-Committee)* :— ••Membership.—Lieut.-Colonel M. O'Gorman, C.B. (Chairman), ProfessorL. Bairstow, C.B.E., F.R.S., Major J. S. Buchanan, O.B.E., Mr. G. B. Cock- burn, O.B.E., Sir R. T. Glazebrook, K.C.B., F.R.S., Professor B. M. Jones,M.A.. A.F.C., Sir J. E. Petavel, K.B.E., F.R.S., Professor A. J. Sutton Pippard, M.B.1S,, D.Sc., M.Iiist.C.E., Mr. H. E. Wimperis, C.B.E., andMr. J. L. Nayler (Secretary). Squadron-Leader H. W. McKenna, D.C.M., was in attendance throughout the enquiry. !. The enquiry was referred to the Aeronautical Research Committee onAugust 25, and the Sub-Committee for Accident Investigations began work on September 3. The first three meetings were held on consecutive daysand others since at such intervals that the progress with experiments, inves- tigations, and calculations has been continuous.2. The aeroplane flying from Berck to Croydon crashed at Meopham, Kent, at about 14.35 hours, on July 21, 1930 (there was a strong westerlywind, gusty with storms of rain). In the neighbourhood of Priestwood it had been seen to fly into a cloud and very shortly thereafter the personnel,pieces of tail-plane, a wing, the engine, the fuselage and various items fell from the cloud and were distributed along a belt one and a-half miles long(east to west). 3. In general, the procedure of the Sub-Committee is directed to thediscovery of the technical causes of accidents with a view to their prevention m the future, and for the above purpose in the present instance it becamenecessary to examine all the details of the accident. Among such are the position on the ground of each fallen object, and the probable path of itsfalling, having regard to the wind prevailing at the time, the nature of the fractures, the strength and condition of each element of the structure of themachine, the load each member was intended to bear and the maximum load which may have come on it during the accident, with much otherrelevant matter. 4. The procedure of the Sub-Committee is similar to that which has beensuccessfully followed in many investigations of a like nature. The evidence considered relates to the resports of eye-witnesses, to distribution of the THEROYA London Gazette, October 28, 1930.General Duties Branch Flying Officer E. D. Mills, R.A.F.O., is granted a short service commn. asPilot Officer (Oct. 20). The follg. Pilot Officers are promoted to rank of Flying Officer:—P.. C. A. Brooke-Beer (Aug. 22) ; G. J. Pawson (Sept. 15) ;G. F. Alexander (Oct. 2) ; R. Ellison (Oct. 13). Flying Officer R. R. Bennett takes rank and precedence as if his appointment as Flying Officer bore dateDec. 28, 1928, immediately following Flying Officer L. S. Tindall on the gradation list. Reduction takes effect from Oct. 6 ; Flight Lt. A. J. E.Broomfield, D.F.C., is placed on retired list at his own request (Oct. 29) ; Flying Officer H. C. Johnson is transferred to Reserve, Class C (Oct. 17) ;Lt. C. W. Phillips, R.N., flying Officer, R.A.F., ceases to be attached to R.A.F. on return to Naval duty (Oct. 7) ; Flying Officer J. C. Allan resignsIns short service commn. (Oct. 29) i the short service commn. of Pilot Officer on probation P. W. E. Ryland is terminated on cessation of duty (Oct. 14). Medical Branch Flying Officer P. J. McNally M.B., B.Ch., is granted a permanent commn. "> this rank (Oct. 29). Dental Branch S. C. Allen, L.D.S. is granted a non-permanent commn. as Flying Officer with effect from and with seny. of Oct. 13.Legal Branch Sqdn.-Ldr. D. L Ingpen is promoted to rank of Wing Commander (Aug. 11).'light Lt. (acting Sqdn -Ldr ) G. S. Marshall, O.B.E., is promoted to rank °f Squadron Leader (Aug. 11). - ; parts, to meteorological conditions, and to the histories of the pilots. Onthis evidence theories are advanced as to the probable first cause of the accident. The more plausible theories are subjected to criticism and testedwhere necessary, both by detail calculations and by experiments which may be lengthy.5. It frequently happens in an investigation of this kind that some one specific cause, such as defect in material or an abnormal meteorologicalcondition, is so clearly sufficient to account for the accident that it becomes unnecessary to investigate fully alternative explanations. In such circum-stances, the enquiry can be brought to an early conclusion. In the Meopham accident, no such obvious cause has come to light, and the enquiry has per-force to proceed by the exclusion one by one of all reasonably possible causes. Only when this has been done is it proper to attribute the accident to somecause, which cannot from its nature be indicated by direct evidence, such as unforeseen meteorological conditions, or the manoeuvres made by thepilot, or &c. Such a process, if carried out thoroughly, is essentially lengthy. 6. For the Meopham accident the available data have been collected andexamined, and details as to the breakage of the structure are clear. The Sub-Committee are now in a position to state that careful examination ofall main fractures has revealed no defect in structure or assembly. Further, there are no signs of faulty or inferior material in the fractures. The Sub-Committee are, therefore, looking for other possibilities. 7. As an example of the type of investigation still in progress, the Sub-Committee have to determine whether flutter can have been the cause of the accident. The experience of the Sub-Committee in the past showsthat breakages in the air arise from time to time from flutter of the tail or of the wing of the machine. No evidence has been brought to the Sub-Committee of nutter of existing Junkers aircraft of the F.I3 type, of which there are a large number in use; nevertheless, the possibility of flutteramong other causes cannot be dismissed until the conclusion of experiments now in hand. 8. The Sub-Committee are aware that a definite conclusion as to thecause of the accident should be made available at the earliest possible date, but they think it undesirable to express an opinion, which must be pro-visional. 9. They desire to recognise the willing help they are receiving from theJunkers Company, from the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fur Luftfahrt and from the staffs of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and at the NationalPhysical Laboratory. They.are also particularly indebted to Major J. P. C. Cooper, the Inspector of Accidents, for his detailed and accurate reports. IR FORCE Memorandum178034 Flight Cadet W. B. Young is granted an hon. commn. as Sec. Lt. with effect from date of his demobilisation. RESERVE OF AIR FORCE OFFICERS General Duties Branch C. Watson is granted commn. in Class A.A. (ii) as a Pilot Officer on proba-tion (Oct. 15). The follg. Officers are re-employed with Regular Air Force for further year (Oct. 24) :—Flight L;. F. Thomasson, D.F.C., M.M. FlyingOfficer L. A. Parker. The follg. Flying Officer on probation is confirmed in rank :—J. W. Rayner (Sept. 13). The follg. Flight-Lieutenants are trans-ferred from Class A to Class C:—E. R. Maddox, M.C. (Mar. 24) • G Ros- (Oct. 26).Flying Officer H. E. F. Saunders relinquishes his commn. on completion of service and is permitted to retain his rank (Sept.H2); Flight Lt. W. E. C. B. CForsyte relinquishes his commn. on completion of service (Oct. 23) ; Flying Officer E. D. Mills relinquishes his commn. on appointment to a short servicecommn. in R.A.F. (Oct. 20) ; the commn. of Pilot Officer on probation A. J. Hewetson is terminated on cessation of duty (Sept. 28). AUXILIARY AIR FORCE General Duties Branch No. 600 (CITY OF LONDON) (BOMBER) SQUADRON.—Pilot Officer H. O-Young relinquishes his commn. on account of ill-health (Oct. 29). 1229
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