122 replies to this topic

[tlc356]

U.S. Yale Univ. student and pre-WW II race driver in ARCA (prior to SCCA) Frederic Borsodi was killed in a wartime air crash. His Bugatti Type 37 had been modified in the 1930's by replacing the engine with a larger displacement Ford B 4 cyl. engine and came to be known as the Scrambling Egg. It was rescued in the 1990's, brought back to race worthiness (not restored), and races today with the same nickname in VSCCA events.

Who of us has never heard of Mr. Borsodi?

Few, I doubt if any would have heard of him or remembered him if his old racer had not been kept in it's modified ARCA racing trim and raced to this day.

[Tim Murray]

Interesting that Borsodi was killed test-flying a prototype Lockheed YP-80A Shooting Star at RAF Burtonwood in England.

http://web.ukonline....A 44-83026.htm

Here's an article about his Bugatti-Ford:

http://www.hemmings...._feature16.html

[Vitesse2]

I must admit I hadn't, but a little googling seems to indicate he came originally from Texas and was no slouch on the golf course, featuring in amateur tournament results even before he went to Yale, where he was also on the golf team. Settled in Hartford Connecticut and flew 130 missions in P-40s for the USAAF in North Africa and Italy 1941-43. Rotated back to America, as a test pilot at Wright Field.

http://www.kurfurst....6_US_EB102.html

He was killed on January 28th 1945 at RAF Burtonwood in England, testing one of the USAAF's first operational jets, a pre-production Lockheed YP-80A Shooting Star.

[jimjimjeroo]

I've only skim read this thread but I didn't see any mention of Colin McRae also wasnt David Coulthard involved in a plane crash where 2 people were killed, think it was 2000 Spanish GP also David Richards survived a fatal air crash

http://news.bbc.co.u...rope/733565.stm

http://news.bbc.co.u...sex/6997784.stm

Edited by jimjimjeroo, 03 January 2011 - 17:20.

[Gary C]

Colin McRae is mentioned just 6 posts about this, jimjimjeroo.

[jimjimjeroo]

Would have been surprised if he hadnt been! my mistake

[raceannouncer2003]

Lew Neilson was a top Mini racer at Westwood, etc. back in the day. I believe he won a national championship. He was also Canada's first Hang Gliding National Champion. A resident of Vernon, British Columbia, Lew began flying hang gliders in the 1974. He was one of the driving forces in the creation of the Vernon Hang Gliding Club (later renamed to the Okanagan Soaring Association) and in the development of the competition scene in Canada. He died in a hang glider crash as a result of a luff dive on Vernon Mountain in 1977. A hang-gliding award is now presented annually in his honour. I believe his son Drew is a top level competitive snowboarder.

Vince H.

[jonnylayze]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Bertie Fisher - killed in a helicopter crash in 2001.

[taylov]

A.F.P. Fane (1911-1942) has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread.

I found a reference to Fane in a presentation made by Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball speaking on “Spitfire Operations” at a seminar at the Royal Air Force Museum entitled “Photographic Reconnaissance in World War Two” in July 1991. Sir Alfred said, “I should add that there were a number of striking photographs and I think most certainly the most remarkable one was taken by a man called A.P.F. Fane (sic), a famous racing motorist before the war, who alas later died in a silly accident when someone left something in his controls."

I had never come across any reference to Fane's fatal crash having been caused in this way

Ball goes on, " More recently, his family wanted to commemorate him in some way and a copy of the photograph was given to the artist Frank Wooton, who reconstructed a painting of it. It is of the Tirpitz but it is staggering in that it was taken from a couple of hundred feet and as well as seeing the crew, you could almost recognise them.”

BTW Fane’s famous photo of Tirpitz in a Norwegian Fjord is in the Imperial War Museum and can be seen at online in the IWM photo archive. ref. C2355.

Tony

Edited by taylov, 24 May 2011 - 16:37.

[Vitesse2]

... who alas later died in a silly accident when someone left something in his controls."

I had never come across any reference to Fane's fatal crash having been caused in this way

Tony

As I understood it he hit something very solid - bridge? pylon? - while "flying by Bradshaw" at low level in fog.

[Doug Nye]

If I recall correctly, without checking DSJ's AFN/Porsche book, Fane's PRU Spitfire crashed into a railway embankment as he attempted a forced landing, having lost pitch control in the airframe. An aircraftsman's forage cap was reputedly found jammed in the rear fuselage between the elevator control linkage and, I think, a pulley there. Had he reached an open field unobstructed by such an embankment he might, just, have got away with it...

DCN

[taylov]

If I recall correctly, without checking DSJ's AFN/Porsche book, Fane's PRU Spitfire crashed into a railway embankment as he attempted a forced landing, having lost pitch control in the airframe. An aircraftsman's forage cap was reputedly found jammed in the rear fuselage between the elevator control linkage and, I think, a pulley there. Had he reached an open field unobstructed by such an embankment he might, just, have got away with it...

DCN

Sounds like "Freddy" Ball's power of recall after 50 years was spot on. He had joined No 1 PRU at Benson early in 1941 so his comment seems to been based on personal knowledge of the crash.

Tony

Edited by taylov, 24 May 2011 - 20:12.

[Arjan de Roos]

Another hang glider accident was that of Patrick Depailler. Not fatal, but poor Patrick was sacked while still in hospital and led him to move to Alfa... Again a motorsport 'what if'.

[PMac]

I see that the inquest into the Farnborough air crash that claimed David Leslie and other members of his crew has started: http://www.bbc.co.uk...ngland-13603149

[Graham Clayton]

Argentine driver Ruben Luis di Palma died on the 30th of September 2000 when the helicopter he was flying crashed near Carlos Tejedor.

[Lola5000]

Don Bushe whom raced in Melbourne in the early 50s in a Jaguar xk120,was killed at Bendigo airport when his Mustang P51 crashed.

[Patrick Fletcher]

Jimmy Leeward went in big time at Reno September last year - here is a link to his race car site.
http://www.ocala.com...icles/110319601

Edited by Patrick Fletcher, 10 March 2012 - 12:07.

[Vitesse2]

A.F.P. Fane (1911-1942) has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread.

I found a reference to Fane in a presentation made by Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball speaking on “Spitfire Operations” at a seminar at the Royal Air Force Museum entitled “Photographic Reconnaissance in World War Two” in July 1991. Sir Alfred said, “I should add that there were a number of striking photographs and I think most certainly the most remarkable one was taken by a man called A.P.F. Fane (sic), a famous racing motorist before the war, who alas later died in a silly accident when someone left something in his controls."

I had never come across any reference to Fane's fatal crash having been caused in this way

Ball goes on, " More recently, his family wanted to commemorate him in some way and a copy of the photograph was given to the artist Frank Wooton, who reconstructed a painting of it. It is of the Tirpitz but it is staggering in that it was taken from a couple of hundred feet and as well as seeing the crew, you could almost recognise them.”

BTW Fane’s famous photo of Tirpitz in a Norwegian Fjord is in the Imperial War Museum and can be seen at online in the IWM photo archive. ref. C2355.

Tony

This is a somewhat indirect connection to Fane, but will I am sure be of equal interest to TNF's 'warbird fraternity'. The near-complete remains of a PRU Spitfire, shot down over Norway on March 5th 1942, have been found and recovered for future restoration. Fane is listed as one of its previous pilots in this report. The pilot who was shot down - 'Sandy' Gunn - was captured and later executed after taking part in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft 3. In a further motor racing connection, another of the executed escapers was L Gordon Brettell, a well-known pre-war Brooklands habitué, who once survived going over the top of the banking.

 

https://www.independ...n-a8646841.html

 

Fane crashed fatally on July 18th 1942, having aborted a mission to photograph the U-Boat yards at Flensburg.

[ReWind]

Unfortunately French driver Richard Philippe (28) has to be added to this thread.

He died in a helicopter crash in the Dominican Republic last thursday (November 22). With him perished the pilot Roberto Lanfranco Ureña, his grand-father (Louis-Paul Guitay, obviously from his mother’s side; founder of LPG Systems), a well-known Swiss architect (Jean-Pierre Emery) and the latter’s companion (Géraldine Moschovis). They were on a flight to Philippe’s villa in Casa de Campo, La Romana.

Edited by ReWind, 26 November 2018 - 14:49.

[moffspeed]

15 years or so since I last contributed to this thread.

 

With the passage of time (and an extra helping of both maturity and reflection) it still strikes me as unusual that the 1950 Avro Tudor disaster at Llandow gains so little historical recognition given the fact that it remained the UK's worst air disaster until that BEA Trident went down in Staines. Any of us of Welsh heritage have the Aberfan disaster etched permanently and painfully into our minds, but somehow the previous decade's Welsh tragedy is lost in the sands of time.

 

Mentioned previously, albeit briefly, was the dreadful 2008 Biggin Hill accident which claimed all 5 lives of those aboard a Cessna Citation including racers Richard Lloyd and David Leslie. How everyone on the ground escaped with their lives remains a minor miracle.

 

Combining the Welsh and Citation themes a more obscure accident comes to mind. Norman Harvey was a Welshman who ran a garage business in the 60/70's  but branched out into property development. He bought up swathes of decaying and redundant Cardiff and (neighbouring) Penarth docklands and had grand plans for their re-development. As an aside he enjoyed his rallying in the "Goldfinger" Mini Cooper (yes - sprayed lavishly in gold paint) and latterly a Porsche 911.  He had a go both locally (FRAM Welsh rally) and further afield - the Monte and World Cup rallies - without any enduring success.

 

It all came to an end in October 1980. On finals into Jersey he crashed his relatively newly-acquired Citation with fatal results. Contemporary reports that he was "chimney potting" to impress a friend on the Island were never substantiated.

 

Cardiff Bay eventually ended up with its much-needed and widely-admired regeneration so at least his conceptual ideals survived.

 

 

Incidentally, drivers aside, have any notable race cars been the victims of air accidents ? 

Edited by moffspeed, 05 December 2018 - 20:49.

[D-Type]

~

Incidentally, drivers aside, have any notable race cars been the victims of air accidents ? 

 I don't know about cars, but Vanwall lost a replacement engine being flown out for the 1958 Monaco GP when the plane crashed.  I think theplane's crewof 3 were killed.

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

This one has been hanging around my HD since forever.  High time that I posted it and gave Howard Cazaly his due.

 

Not a front rank driver by any means but in the several seasons where I saw him compete at Mosport, he was definitely on the up-swing in performance.

 

Sadly, long gone and claimed with a score and more of others in the High North.

 

RIP, Howard.

 

In the image posted below, he is listed in the left-most column.

 

https://i.postimg.cc...-cazaly-rip.jpg

 

The crash...

 

https://aviation-saf...p?id=19741030-0

 

His record...

 

https://www.driverdb.../howard-cazaly/

 

As my Quebec brethren might say, Je me souviens.

[ensign14]

I read that accident report.  What on earth happened there?  Long story short seems to be that the flight crew rightly thought they were close to landing and were a few hundred feet off the ground, but the pilot then unilaterally decided that they were in cloud and, despite the co-pilot yelling at him, proceeded to plunge the plane into the ground, with such a speed that the co-pilot and flight engineer (the two survivors) could not counteract in time.  Total brainstorm?