ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 156039
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| Date: | Saturday 14 July 1990 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Hawker Sea Fury T.20 |
| Owner/operator: | FAA Historic Flight |
| Registration: | WG655 |
| MSN: | 41H/636070 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Castle Cary, near Bruton, Somerset -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | RNAS Yeovilton (YEO/EGDY) |
| Silverstone Racing Circuit, Towcester, Northants | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Written off 14/7/1990: Force-landed into a field at Castle Cary, near Bruton, Somerset shortly after take off from Yeovilton due to engine failure. Unfortunately however, the field had a slight slope and the aircraft began to turn. Naturally, in the middle of 150 acres of open countryside, there were two large oak trees, and the aircraft and crew found themselves heading straight towards them.
The port wing of the aircraft struck the first tree, which resulted in the fuselage swinging between the two trees. Consequently the starboard wing and cockpit side struck the second tree, severed the port wing and split the fuselage in two. Pilot John Beattie was virtually unhurt, but his air-crewman, Chief-Engineer Eric Young was not so lucky. He suffered broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder.
The two crew escaped with minor injuries. Caused by fatigue failure of the No 2 connecting rod eye end causing total destruction of the front bank of cylinders. The accident investigation proved that it was engine failure, and it was thought to be unlikely that WG655 would ever fly again.
The remains went initially to New Zealand where the wing folding mechanism wound up in Fury ZK-SFR. Chuck Greenhill, who houses his fine collection of aircraft at Kenosha, Wisconsin, has always had an interest in aircraft with Naval connections. He purchased the remains and had them shipped to Kenosha where Tim McCarter and his crew went to work. After thousands of man-hours, the project began to look like a Sea Fury, but with the other aircraft projects in the hangar it was decided to ship the plane to Sanders Aeronautics, the "Sea Fury Kings", for completion.
On May 24, 2005 Brian Sanders took N20MD (still in FAA markings as 'GN/910') up for a successful first post-restoration flight - the first time the aircraft had flown in 15 years.
Sources:
http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1990.htm
http://www.axtd59.dsl.pipex.com/wg655.pdf
http://www.stringbag.flyer.co.uk/rnhf/wg655.htm
http://www.sandersaeronautics.com/restoration_seafury-wg655.asp
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?72316-Sea-Fury-WG655
Images:
Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK - 15th September 2010
Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK - 15th September 2010
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-May-2013 01:08 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 23-May-2013 01:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 22-Aug-2020 20:02 | Peter Clarke | Updated [Photo] |
| 23-Aug-2020 08:02 | Peter Clarke | Updated [Photo] |
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