Account of emergency in Wellington
Title
Account of emergency in Wellington
Description
Draft and final versions. Written by an instructor 20 AFS at RAF Swinderby with account of engine fire after take of in Wellington and successful emergency landing. Draft version had drawing of map of Swinderby on last page.
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Format
One, two page handwritten document and one three page handwritten document
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
BCuthillCRCuthillCRv1
Transcription
1) I am a pilot instructor of 201 AFS Swinderby . On the night of 8/9/47 I was detailed to carry out a dual check with Pilot II Bell, the aircraft (a Wellington X) had a total of 576 galls. of fuel & newly re-rated engines.
At 0025 of the 9/9/47, after one circuit of the aerodrome had been completed, a practice overshoot was started at 300 feet & the engines were opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost, 2400 revs & the undercarriage selected up. The starboard engine cylinder head temperature guage [sic] rose to 280°C & smoke was seen to be coming out of the cowling & passing over the exhaust ring which was red hot.
Flaps were selected up & the engines throttled back to + 6 lbs. boost & flames were seen covering the top of the engine cowling. I then took over control. Feathering action was carried out & the graviner operated, ATC was informed that an emergency landing was being carried out. This was acknowledged & permission given. The crew were ordered to take up crash positions.
The port engine was opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost. Owing to the flaps being fitted with a restrictor valve the flaps were slow in coming up & consequently height was lost to 150 feet before they were fully up. We were now in
[page break]
a position halfway down the downwind leg & close in to the aerodrome. It was decided not to jettison owing to the fire & the speed was 100 knots. The port engine revs were put up to 2800 & speed increased to 115 knots & height was gained to 200 feet, as we lined up with the funnels. The undercarriage we selected down & the emergency air bottle operated which lowered the undercarriage quickly. Then 20° of flap was lowered & a normal single-engined approach & landing were carried out. The aircraft was turned to starboard to clear the runway.
[page break]
I am a pilot instructor of 201 AFS Swinderby. On the night of 8/9/47 I was detailed to carry out a dual check with Pilot II Bell. The aircraft had a total of 57 galls of fuel & newly re-rated engines.
At [deleted] approximately [/deleted] 00.24 hrs of the 9/9/47, after one circuit of the aerodrome had been completed, a practice overshoot was started at 300' & the engines were opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost, 2400 revs & the u/c selected up. The starboard engine cylinder head temperature guage [sic] rose to 280°C & smoke was seen to be coming out of the cowling & passing over the exhaust ring which was red hot.
[deleted] The [/deleted] [inserted] Flaps were selected up & the [/inserted] engines were throttled back to + 6 lbs boost & flames were seen covering the top of the engine cowling. [inserted] I then took over control [/inserted] feathering action was carried out & the graviner operated. A.T.C. was informed that an emergency landing was being carried out, this was acknowledged & permission given. The crew were ordered to take up crash positions.
[inserted] The port engine was opened up to + 8 1/4 boost.
Owing to a [sic] the flaps being fitted with a restrictor valve, they were slow in coming up & consequently height was lost to 150' before they were fully up. We were now in a position halfway down the downward leg & close in to the aerodrome. It was decided not to jettison owing to the fire & the speed was 100 KTS. The Pt engine revs were put up to 2800 & speed increased to 115 KTS & height was gained to 200 ft as we lined up with the funnels. The u/c was [missing words]
[page break]
air bottle operated to lowered u/c quickly [inserted] then [/inserted] 20° of flap was lowered & a normal S.E. approach & landing carried out. At the end of the run the aircraft was swung off to starboard to clear the runway.
[page break]
[underlined] SWINDERBY [/underlined]
ELEV. 69.
[diagram]
At 0025 of the 9/9/47, after one circuit of the aerodrome had been completed, a practice overshoot was started at 300 feet & the engines were opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost, 2400 revs & the undercarriage selected up. The starboard engine cylinder head temperature guage [sic] rose to 280°C & smoke was seen to be coming out of the cowling & passing over the exhaust ring which was red hot.
Flaps were selected up & the engines throttled back to + 6 lbs. boost & flames were seen covering the top of the engine cowling. I then took over control. Feathering action was carried out & the graviner operated, ATC was informed that an emergency landing was being carried out. This was acknowledged & permission given. The crew were ordered to take up crash positions.
The port engine was opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost. Owing to the flaps being fitted with a restrictor valve the flaps were slow in coming up & consequently height was lost to 150 feet before they were fully up. We were now in
[page break]
a position halfway down the downwind leg & close in to the aerodrome. It was decided not to jettison owing to the fire & the speed was 100 knots. The port engine revs were put up to 2800 & speed increased to 115 knots & height was gained to 200 feet, as we lined up with the funnels. The undercarriage we selected down & the emergency air bottle operated which lowered the undercarriage quickly. Then 20° of flap was lowered & a normal single-engined approach & landing were carried out. The aircraft was turned to starboard to clear the runway.
[page break]
I am a pilot instructor of 201 AFS Swinderby. On the night of 8/9/47 I was detailed to carry out a dual check with Pilot II Bell. The aircraft had a total of 57 galls of fuel & newly re-rated engines.
At [deleted] approximately [/deleted] 00.24 hrs of the 9/9/47, after one circuit of the aerodrome had been completed, a practice overshoot was started at 300' & the engines were opened up to + 8 1/4 lbs boost, 2400 revs & the u/c selected up. The starboard engine cylinder head temperature guage [sic] rose to 280°C & smoke was seen to be coming out of the cowling & passing over the exhaust ring which was red hot.
[deleted] The [/deleted] [inserted] Flaps were selected up & the [/inserted] engines were throttled back to + 6 lbs boost & flames were seen covering the top of the engine cowling. [inserted] I then took over control [/inserted] feathering action was carried out & the graviner operated. A.T.C. was informed that an emergency landing was being carried out, this was acknowledged & permission given. The crew were ordered to take up crash positions.
[inserted] The port engine was opened up to + 8 1/4 boost.
Owing to a [sic] the flaps being fitted with a restrictor valve, they were slow in coming up & consequently height was lost to 150' before they were fully up. We were now in a position halfway down the downward leg & close in to the aerodrome. It was decided not to jettison owing to the fire & the speed was 100 KTS. The Pt engine revs were put up to 2800 & speed increased to 115 KTS & height was gained to 200 ft as we lined up with the funnels. The u/c was [missing words]
[page break]
air bottle operated to lowered u/c quickly [inserted] then [/inserted] 20° of flap was lowered & a normal S.E. approach & landing carried out. At the end of the run the aircraft was swung off to starboard to clear the runway.
[page break]
[underlined] SWINDERBY [/underlined]
ELEV. 69.
[diagram]
Collection
Citation
“Account of emergency in Wellington,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/38378.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.