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| Date: | Friday 9 April 1937 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Hillson Praga |
| Owner/operator: | F.Hills & Sons Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AELK |
| MSN: | HA.13 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aldwark, Hambledon, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Barton Aerodrome, Salford, Lancashire (EGCB) |
| York Municipal Aerodrome, York, North Yorkshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First Registered as G-AELK (C of R 7191) 17.9.36 to F Hills & Sons Ltd., Trafford Park, Manchester. Application to Fly 101 issued 11.9.36. Delivered by road to Barton 15.9.36; first flight 18.9.36. Sold (but not re-registered) later in 9.36 to Ralph Jaggar, York (but based at Barton, Lancashire).
On 9th April 1937 this civilian aircraft crashed during an attempted forced landing near Aldwark, North Yorkshire, following engine failure. It was being flown on a demonstration flight to the York Aero Club (probably York and Leeming Flying Club) at the time of the accident when it suffered engine problems. The aircraft overturned on crashing around 200 yards beyond Aldwark village and in a field ajoining the Aldwark to Flawith road. The passenger on board was killed.
Pilot - Mr John Stubbs, of Bootham, York. Seriously injured.
Passenger - Mrs Ivy Lilian Hughes, aged 33, of "Askerne", York Road, Haxby, York. Killed. Burial location unknown.
NOTE: In some published sources, this aircraft is recorded to have crashed near Chorley, Lancashire on 7th June 1937 but with the same people on board. Remarkable considering one of them had died two months earlier. By way of confirming the crash occurred in Yorkshire, on 9th April 1937, the passenger's death was registered in the Bulmer District of Yorkshire which is the right district for Aldwark. It is theoretically possible that G-AELK was repaired quickly and flew again, although it is unlikely that it was flown by the same pilot who had sustained serious injuries just two months earlier. The date of "7th June 1937" is more likely to have been the date that the registration was cancelled
There were two John Stubbs' that held Royal Aero Club licences in 1937. Purely because of his age, the crash location of G-AELK and his flying club membership, he proably was the one who was born on 22nd February 1903 at Hawes, Yorkshire. He was working as an electrical engineer when he passed his Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate (Cert.No.14473) on 9th October 1936 at the York and Leeming Flying Club. While living in York, John Stubbs owned HM14 Pou-Du-Ciel G-AECE (a Flying Flea) from 13th February 1936 (when it was first registered) and December 1937 (when the registration was cancelled as destroyed or permanently withdrawn from use). He based the aircraft at York and G-AECE might have been built by him as many were home-built aircraft. Obviously, he recovered from his injuries, and reportedly died in February 1987 at Market Harborough, Leicestershire, aged 84.
Aldwark is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Ure, about 14 miles from York.
Sources:
1. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AELK.pdf
2. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/hillson%20praga.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A9.html
4. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/component/content/article/15-aeroplanes/79-register-gb-g-ae.
5. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
6. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-AELK.html
7. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york37/aelk.html
8. http://theaeroplanecollection.org/mags/TACMAG_ISSUE1_2014.pdf
9. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/john-stubbs-24-78k0wr?geo_a=t&geo_s=ca&geo_t=uk&o_iid=41016&o_lid=41016&o_sch=Web+Property&geo_v=2.0.0
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldwark,_Hambleton
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Dec-2011 12:05 | harro | Added |
| 17-May-2014 23:22 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Sep-2017 00:22 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 28-Jan-2018 16:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Jul-2025 06:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
| 02-Aug-2025 07:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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