Flight Lieutenant David Clem LONGDEN No. 608372 Instructor (AFC). Central Flying School, RAF Kemble. Stationed at RAF Kemble and Little Rissington, Gloucestershire.
Died Monday 13 December 1971 aged 28, while flying a Folland Gnat T1 XR567 (FL557) at RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire. Laid to rest 17 December 1971.
He resided at 32 Fowler Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
XR567 was being flown as No 4 in a formation of Gnats whose crews were on staff continuation training. Three of the aircraft made passes across the airfield before entering a turn to starboard to regain formation. XR567 was rolled twice rapidly, immediately after the last roll the aircraft pitched and yawed without changing its flight path, the fin, rudder and outer portions of the mainframe broke off the aircraft resulting in the Gnat tumbling and crashed into the airfield bursting into flames and disintegrating. The rear seated pilot, (Flight Lieutenant Richard Michael Storr) training to be a QFI (Qualified Flying Instructor) ejected at 300 ft but at an altitude insufficient for the parachute to deploy, both crew were killed.
We are a non commercial community interested only in the discussion of all things military.
We do not sell or authorise the use of images hosted on our servers, if you wish to purchase or use imagery contact the uploader directly.(you will need to register). Any requests received to purchase or use imagery will be ignored. Thank you and welcome to MI.Net
You have been here as a guest for a while, I guess we are doing something right?
Register as a member and join in the discussions, its completely free and we would welcome your contributions.
All the best admin - MI.Net
We value your privacy
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.