Steven_Beeny

Thanks for posting that photo, Cliff, what a mess. From what I've heard/read, the pilot had retracted the undercarriage but still had his flaps down. Most likely the nose wheels (pictured on the ground there) were flung out when the fuselage shattered. The sight of the rear fuselage lying on top of the carriage tallies with a memory Clive Bagshaw relayed to me about vaguely remembering the tail fin sticking out of a carriage. I will try to contact the author of the book to see if I can get permission to use his photo - cheers for that. Does it by chance say who the actual photo is credite

Thanks, Stu, I have duly emailed him now.

Thanks a lot all of you again for the extra details, and Stu for informing Clive. I always try to find eyewitness accounts as much as possible - even with the years dimming some of the exact details, I find they are nearly always more enjoyable reads than the 'official' accounts that accompany crash records etc. In a nutshell they add a lot more colour!

Thanks Brian, Stu and Ashley for these memories. What is interesting is Ashley, and I think some others earlier, recalled a smoke trail. This either implies a possible fire in the engine or some other problem. We know that pilot, Dick Peach had tried unsuccessfully to relight the port engine after it had flamed out earlier when he was approaching to land. I did not know about this smoke though. Some of you may know that the Canberra was notoriously horrible at asymmetric (i.e. single engine) landings, especially when power was over-applied to the working engine. This is what happened th

Brian, did you actually see the crash or the wreckage afterwards?

Dear all, I am working on a book about the Canberra aircraft as experienced by those that flew and worked on them. I am currently researching the fate of the prototypes and am including a section on VN850 which as you know crashed at Bulwell Common. I have been reading the memories of the crash from the local's eye view and was wondering if I could include some of your memories in the book? If you are interested, please PM me and I will send you an email address. I also have a Facebook page on the book project located here if you would like more details. http://www.facebook....berraExperienc