Squadron Leader Eric Genders was killed whilst attempting to abandon the aircraft. The final chapter of the 108's story came when the first variant of the aircraft was lost in a crash on May 1, 1950. The tragedy claimed the life of its test pilot, Squadron Leader Stuart Muller-Rowland. In 1949, the aircraft appeared at the Farnborough Air Show before crashing in February 1950 following a structural failure. It was in this that Derry went on to exceed the speed of sound. Three prototype planes were built with the purpose of investigating swept wing handling up to supersonic speeds.Īfter de Havilland Junior's death in a second version of the plane in September 1946, the company produced a third variant. It boasted a tailless swept wing and single vertical stabiliser - similar to the WWII German Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. In doing so, he smashed the world speed record set around the same circuit by 40mph, according to a Daily Mail report at the time.ĭesigned in 1945 to Air Ministry specifications, the 108 was built as an experimental plane. The Royal Automobile Society also handed him the equally coveted Segrave Trophy, which was awarded to Britons who demonstrated 'outstanding skill, courage and initiative on land, water and in the air'.Įarlier that year, Derry flew the same de Haviland 108 at 605.23 miles per hour whilst flying around a closed 62.5-mile circuit above Luton.
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Shortly before that, he was awarded the Dutch Bronze Lion by the Queen of the Netherlands.Īfter the war, Derry had a brief stint as the commanding officer of an RAF flying school before he was employed by Vickers Supermarine and then de Havilland as a test pilot.Īs recognition for his achievement, Derry was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Club. It added that he had 'at all times displayed the great determination and skill and his courage has been of the highest order'. In June that same year, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for leading his squadron in an attack against 'enemy gun positions' – according to a London Gazette write-up. The cause of the plane's break-up was later determined to be a structural failure caused by a design flaw in the plane's wing.ĭerry's military career began when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an air gunner and radio operator shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.Īfter training as a pilot in Canada in 1943, he was involved in combat operations from 1944, where he flew Hawker Typhoons with the RAF's 182 Squadron.įollowing a brief stint in 181 Squadron, he then returned to 182 in March 1945 as the squadron's commanding officer. The huge loss of life prompted the Queen to send a message of condolence to the victims' families. Onboard observer Anthony Richards and 28 spectators were also killed, with a further 60 people injured.
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And, instead of blacking out, Derry said he 'suffered no discomfort', bar a 'strange feeling in my tummy'.īut tragically, the pilot was killed in a horrendous crash four years later at the famous Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire, when the experimental plane he was flying – a de Havilland 110 jet fighter – broke apart. The 'bat man' pilot reached the extreme speed by deliberately putting the plane into a steep 60-second dive which saw him plummet 10,000 feet. Speaking to the Daily Mail afterwards, the test pilot – who had won the Distinguished Flying Cross for his war service - said that 'it just happened, as these things do in routine research flying'. It was the same type of plane in which fellow test pilot Geoffrey de Havilland – the son of the famous aviation pioneer – lost his life two years earlier.īut the news was quickly followed by Derry's admission that the feat was accidental. World War Two veteran John Derry, who was then aged just 26, had broken through the sound barrier on September 6, seven miles above the Home Counties in a bat-shaped de Havilland 108 'Swallow'. On this day in 1948, news emerged of how an ex- RAF fighter pilot made history by becoming the first British man to fly faster than the speed of sound – before he revealed that he had done so by mistake.
![speed of sound jet speed of sound jet](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/58/88/7458882c07f962b95463befa25724023.jpg)
![speed of sound jet speed of sound jet](https://live.staticflickr.com/3274/2897844928_3a9d55b63e_b.jpg)
On this day in 1948, ex-RAF fighter pilot John Derry made history by becoming the first British man to fly faster than the speed of sound – before revealing that he had done so by mistake