ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 204718
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| Date: | Saturday 15 August 1936 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Aeronca C-3 |
| Owner/operator: | The Hon John W.M. 'Max' Aitken, |
| Registration: | G-ADZZ |
| MSN: | A-599 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near The Botolph’s Bridge Inn, St. Botolph's Bridge Road, Hythe, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Heston Aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex |
| Hythe, Kent | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Aeronca C.3 (Export C of A #E1736). Registered as G-ADZZ [C of R 6595] on 31.12.35 to Light Aircraft Ltd, Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex. C of A V.87 issued 22.1.36.
Sold on and re-registered [C of R 6994] 6.5.36 to The Hon John W.M. 'Max' Aitken, Heston Aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 15.8.36: Aeronca C.3 G-ADZZ was owned by Max Aitken (millionaire, politician, publisher and pilot) but was being flown by Flt. Lt. Roger Bushell (WW2 escapee extraordinaire, as a result of which he lost his life), a fellow member of No 601 Squadron RAFVR (the 'Millionaires' Squadron). One has to assume that Bushell was flying from Heston Aerodrome to the pub, for a pint, as he crashed the Aeronca on landing at the St. Botolph's Bridge Inn, St. Botolph's Bridge Road, Hythe. He overshot his landing and hit a lamp post! Bushell was uninjured and, no doubt, immediately repaired to the pub for a pint. The Aeronca was a write-off - but I doubt that to have been of any significance to the well heeled Aitken
A contemporary newspaper report adds further details (Western Morning News - Monday 17 August 1936)
"PILOT'S ESCAPE
Lamp Standard Knocked Down By 'Plane
HYTHE (Kent), Sunday.
A young officer of the 601 County of London Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, had a narrow escape when his light aeroplane collided with a lamp-post at Hythe last night. He was Flt.-Lieut. Arthur Reginald Bushell, and was piloting a monoplane owned by Flg.-Off. Max Aitken.
Officers of the squadron, who were in camp at Lympne until to-day, had been flying their private machines to a field about two miles away. A number of 'planes took off last night, including that flown by Flt.-Lieut. Bushell.
In landing the pilot overshot the field, and came down on the cross-roads nearby. A lamp standard was knocked down and the machine wrecked, but the pilot escaped without a scratch.
A repair gang was sent down from Lympne and the wreckage cleared within an hour."
Registration G-ADZZ cancelled 2.7.38 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". The 40 hp JAP-99 engine was salvaged, and re-installed in the prototype Currie Wot G-AFCG. The smashed propeller from the Aeronca was displayed in the pub at Botolph's Bridge well into the 1970's but subsequently disappeared. The owners do not know of the propellers whereabouts, it was missing in 2005 when the current owners bought the pub.
Sources:
1. Western Morning News - Monday 17 August 1936
2. The Millionaires' Squadron: The Remarkable Story of 601 Squadron and the Flying Sword By Tom Moulson
3. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/78-register-gb-g-ad
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ADZZ.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A8.html
6. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/aeronca.pdf
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16672.0
8. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accb1939.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bushell
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jan-2018 21:33 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-Jan-2018 21:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 26-Mar-2020 01:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Mar-2020 01:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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