Date:	Sunday 13 September 1964
Time:	day
Type:	Bristol Bulldog Mk IIA
Owner/operator:	Shuttleworth Collection
Registration:	G-ABBB
MSN:	7446
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Farnborough Airport, Farnborough, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Farnborough Airport, Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Destination airport:	Farnborough Airport, Farnborough, Hampshire (EGLF)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Built as a Bulldog Mk.II, c/n 7446 - the 8th aircraft in the third production batch of 20 aircraft. Constructed as a replacement for Bulldog demonstrator G-ABAC which had crashed in June 1930, and intended for use in European displays. As the first Bulldog to incorporate revised wing spars, ailerons and strengthened fuselage structure G-ABBB grossed 3,350lbs weight and led to the RAF Bulldog IIA version of which 262 were built, including G-ABBB. A total of 441 Bulldogs were built at Bristols' Filton factory.

12.6.30: Registered new as G-ABBB to the Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd., Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. Fitted with Gnome-Rhone 9ASB supercharged engine - a French version of the Bristol Jupiter VII. Finished in overall silver with Royal Blue fuselage decking. One of six civilian registered Bulldogs constructed being the fourth and final company demonstrator.

For full history between 28.11.30 and 8.6.61 see link #1. The history is picked up again in June 1961 after restoration to flying condition: 23.6.61 First 1.20 hour post-restoration flight, at Filton - flown initially in overall silver as G-ABBB. Pilot for the first flight was Bristols' chief test pilot, Godfrey Auty.

12.9.61 Presented to the Shuttleworth Trust for preservation in flying condition. Handover ceremony at Filton.(The CAA cancelled the registration G-ABBB as "permanently Withdrawn From Use" on 22.9.61)

13.9.64 (Sunday) Crashed at the SBAC Farnborough show and usually described as written off. After several slow loops at low altitude the engine cut out at the top of a loop - possibly due to magneto failure - the pilot had little chance of recovery and the aircraft crashed through the crowd barrier from the outside, the pilot, Ian Williamson, escaping with cuts and bruises.

Some time after the inevitable crash investigation had been completed, Mr Ray Lee, the Keeper of the RAF Museum, apparently salvaged some 28 parts of the aircraft from the scrap dump behind the Accident Investigation Branch hangar at RAE Farnborough. These were used as the basis of rebuilding G-ABBB in 1997-99 to a static display aircraft now on show at the RAF Museum in Hendon, NW London. G-ABBB now wears the markings of `K2227', a Bulldog of B Flight, No.56 (Fighter) Squadron, RAF North Weald in 1933, regularly flown by Leslie Stephen Holman – later Wing Commander, A.F.C. (The 'real' K2227 was a Bulldog IIA built in January 1932, with c/no 7682, and was fitted with a non-standard polygonal cowling ring until becoming Ground Instructional Airframe 978M in July 1937).

1. Full history of G-ABBB 1930-1999: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/collections/1994-1386-A-Bristol-Bulldog.pdf
2. Illustrated London News - Saturday 19 September 1964
3. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15204.0
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ABBB-1.pdf
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ABBB-1.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A2.htmll
7. Photo of wreckage: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1266494
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bulldog#Survivors
9. https://www.airteamimages.com/bristol-bulldog_G-ABBB_united-kingdom---royal-air-force_114761.html
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-ab
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnborough_Airport#Incidents_and_accidents

Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, UK. - 18th September 2010

Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, UK. - 18th September 2010

Bulldog IIA G-ABBB on static display as 'K2227', RAF Museum, Hendon 22-3-2015:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Nov-2017 23:12	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Nov-2017 23:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
01-Dec-2017 10:28	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Aircraft type]
09-Dec-2017 22:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
26-Sep-2020 18:25	Peter Clarke	Updated [Accident report, Photo]
26-Sep-2020 18:49	Peter Clarke	Updated [Photo]