Date:	Friday 9 May 1924
Time:	day
Type:	Westland Dreadnought
Owner/operator:	Westland Aircraft
Registration:	J6986
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Yeovil/Westland Airport, Yeovil, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Yeovil/Westland Airport, Yeovil, Somerset (EGHG)
Destination airport:	Yeovil/Westland Airport, Yeovil, Somerset (EGHG)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The Westland Dreadnought was an experimental single-engine fixed-wing monoplane design for a mail plane created to test the aerodynamic wing and fuselage design ideas of Woyevodsky. It was designed and built by British aircraft manufacturer Westland Aircraft for the Air Ministry. Only a single aircraft was built, and it crashed on its initial flight, badly injuring the test pilot.

On completion of the Dreadnought, the pilot Arthur Keep carried out taxi trials and short airborne hops. On 9 May 1924, he took off for its first flight test from Yeovil/Westland Airport, Yeovil, Somerset. The aircraft was initially stable, it soon became clear that Keep was losing control and not long after, at a height of about 100 ft (30 m), the Dreadnought stalled and crashed. Thrown from the aircraft, Keep suffered severe injuries and later had both legs amputated. He remained with the company and did not retire until 1935. (He died on 3 December 1952)

After this failure, the Dreadnought design was abandoned, although the ideas that were conceived and used in its making were visibly an advancement in aircraft and are appreciated as such in the present day (such as the "flying wing" design of the B-2 'Spirit' Stealth bomber)

1. James, Derek N. Westland Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam, 1991. ISBN 0-85177-847-X.
2. Lukins, A.H. The Book of Westland Aircraft. Leicester, UK: Harborough, 1944.
3. Mondey, David. Westland: 2 Westland. London: Jane's, 1982. p. 17.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Dreadnought
5. Pilot's obituary: "Captain A.S. Keep" Flight 2 January 1953 p11
6. https://yeovilhistory.info/westland-dreadnought.htm
7. https://www.westland100.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Westland-100-History-Leaflet.pdf
8. Biography of Pilot: https://thetartanterror.blogspot.com/2009/01/capt-arthur-stuart-keep-mc-xxxx-1953.html
9. https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/6859223
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeovil/Westland_Airport#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Oct-2011 07:09	harro	Added
12-Jan-2018 12:18	harro	Updated [Embed code, Narrative, ]
13-Aug-2025 05:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]