ON THIS DAY: GLOSTER JAVELIN JET FIGHTER CRASHED NEAR BRADING 68 YEARS AGO

A Gloster Javelin jet fighter from the R.A.F. Armament and Experimental Research Station at Boscombe Down crashed at Rowborough Corner on 8th December 1955. The pilot – Squadron Leader David Dick – radioed that he was baling out over the island, and was picked up later by an R.A.F. helicopter. The plane – a research aircraft – crashed next to a small, unmanned electricity substation. David Dick had been engaged in spinning and manoeuvre boundary trials. During the manoeuvre boundary investigation, in a left-hand spiral turn at 180 knots at 39,000 feet and pulling 3 “G” into the pre-stall buffet, the aircraft entered a stable flat spin with an unusually high rotational speed and would not recover even with the anti-spin parachute streamed. The pilot successfully ejected over Rowborough Corner from 8,000ft and landed in marshland. Flt Lt J. M. Crowley intercepted the spinning Javelin and directed the recovery of the pilot by helicopter. The accident resulted in the development of an artificial stall warning device for the Javelin. In addition, Squadron Leader Dick’s ejection from Gloster Javelin was the first use of the Mk3 Martin Baker ejector seat.