William Rowland Ding

[RLWP]

I'm not sure if this is in the right section

Prompted by this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-leeds-39886297?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=591551d9e4b0be8371401f4e%26Plaque%20unveiled%20on%20site%20of%20famous%20Leeds%20test%20pilot%20crash%26&ns_fee=0#post_591551d9e4b0be8371401f4e

I did a bit of googling and found this: http://loveoakwood.co.uk/oakwood-history/1224-2/1233-2/

Now, I'm experienced enough to know that the BBC is unlikely to get the finer details of such a story right, this is from the second article:

The tragic end came for this popular man on Saturday, 12th May, 1917, at about 6 p.m., in the sight of about 1,000 horrified spectators, on what should have been just another routine B.E. 2c test flight.

Why would anyone be doing 'test flights' on a B.E.2c in 1917?

Richard

[macsporran]

My suggestion would be that lots of pilots in both wars and beyond would log flights as test flights in order to go up for a jolly or to actually test that some repair had been effected properly.

I remember my Dad telling me that in his (Mosquito) squadron, pilots would routinely take up one or more of the ground repair team to test out the quality of their work. This guaranteed that they always worked as if their lives depended on it. They did!
S

[lcarroll]

   There are various types of "test flights" in the flying world to this day. Sandy has probably identified this event correctly as a "Maintenance Test Flight" performed to verify some work or repair on the aircraft before returning it to full service. As Sandy points out a technician was often invited along to observe the success of his efforts and/or to witness the problem first hand if further work was required. I loved the concept back in my flying days, extra hops and a great opportunity to work closely with our Techs who, after all, are the most vital component of successful operations. 
Cheers,
Lance