TEST FLIGHT CRASH

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25271, 25 August 1947, Page 7

TEST FLIGHT CRASH

British Tudor II Airliner AVRO OFFICIALS KILLED (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, August 23. Four senior officials of the A. V. Roe Company were killed and two injured when Britain’s new luxury airliner, Tudor 11, crashed to-day just after taking off on a test flight at Woodford, Cheshire. Those killed were: Mr Roy Chadwick, the company’s technical director, and the chief test pilot, Mr Sydney Thorn, and two members, of the company’s flight test section. The flight engineer was admitted to hospital. Mr S. D. Davies, the chief designer, escaped with cuts on the face. Mr Chadwick was the designer of the Lancaster bomber. •

An eye-witness said that the aircraft simply dropped and buried its nose in a pond at the south end of the airfield.

The Tudor II was one of the bestequipped airliners for passengers’ comfort in the world. It carried 36 passengers with sleeping accommodation for 22, and had a cocktail bar and a wide promenade lounge.

[The Tudor II had a gross weight of 35 tons, 40001 b more than the original specification. It was planned to carry 40 passengers, with a cruising speed of 230 miles an hour at 20,000 feet and with a range of 2450 miles. It had been intended to place this type of aircraft on the England-Australia service, but in November last year it was reported that the machine “did not come up. to expectations.” It was said to be too heavy for some Empire airfields. The Ministry for Civil Aviation accordingly reducfed its order for 79 planes of this type, which were to cost £10,000,000, to 50. The discovery of the weaknesses of the Tudor II was said to have caused great disappointment in British civil aviation circles. Delivery of the 79 machines for the Ministry of Civil Aviation had been promised for May of last year, but was held up because the prototype was still being tested.]