Date:	Wednesday 21 May 1952
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	VV724
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Norton Farm, Launcells, Stratton, 4 miles from Bude, Cornwall -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VV724, 226 OCU, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 21/5/52 when crashed at Norton Farm, Launcells Stratton, 4 miles from Bude, Cornwall. Pilot killed

The aircraft was on a low flying and aerobatic training sortie, and, from a radio message received from the pilot, it seems that the "low flying" element of the sortie had been completed. The aircraft was next seen diving into the ground inverted and at a 60-degree angle, for unknown reasons.

Although the aircraft had been trimmed "nose heavy", and the pilot had released his "Sutton Harness" (presumably, he was preparing to bail out), he was not thrown out of the aircraft and did not survive.

Pilot of Vampire VV724:
Pilot Officer Roland Elgey (pilot) RAF- killed on active service 21/5/52

Vampire VV724 was formally Struck Off Charge 10/06/1952 as Cat 5(Scrap). The reported crash location of Launcells (Cornish: Lannseles) is a hamlet and civil parish in north-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Bude along the A3072 road

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p 129 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 249
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 92)
4. 229 OCU ORB (Operation Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2167 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101877
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/95: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424216
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/32/S2577: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578423
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VV
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratton,_Cornwall
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launcells

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Dec-2019 20:42	Dr. John Smith	Added
30-Dec-2019 20:43	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator]
08-Mar-2021 20:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Mar-2021 10:32	soucek56	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]
09-Mar-2021 20:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]