The Last flight of Buffalo 33 - RCAF

[OneHungLow]

In November 1944, an RCAF Mosquito fighter bomber crashed into an isolated hillside in Nova Scotia, killing the two men on board. One was the son of an Air Marshal, the other the son of a Farmer. They died side by side but were buried 1,750 miles apart. What exactly happened?

https://www.vintagewings.ca/stories/the ... buffalo-33

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Interesting, thank you.
By chance, I shall be passing Higgins Mountain tomorrow.

Ten days later, and about 60 miles north, another Mosquito crashed.

http://www.bedequemuseum.ca/bedeques-av ... ashes.html

I wrote this piece.
My guess is that the crash was due to disorientation on entering the low cloud base after take-off. The aircraft was diverted into Summerside with a minor hydraulic problem, approximately halfway along the first leg of its transatlantic ferry.
After the problem was fixed in short order, the aircraft took off again, probably without refueling. The acceleration of the lightly loaded Mossie was probably outside the experience of the young pilot, and contributed to his disorientation. I have been in a similar situation myself.

[CharlieOneSix]

A fascinating article, OHL. This snippet was especially poignant for me:

No. 31 OTU at Debert was the first OTU to be built and was originally created by the Royal Air Force to train pilots for long-distance over-water patrolling, anti-submarine work and for selected pilots and crews to ferry American and Canadian-built aircraft across to Europe in the early stages of the war.

My father served with No.31 OTU at Debert from 22/4/1943 to 9/6/1944, and flew home across the Atlantic in Liberator AL592 to Prestwick via Goose Bay on 14/6/1944.

AL592.jpg (25.54 KiB) Viewed 1423 times