On 15 June 1936, K4049 conducted its maiden flight from Brooklands. Vickers chief test pilot Joseph Summers flew K4049 on its first flight, accompanied by Wallis and Trevor Westbrook. The aircraft soon came to be widely regarded as being an advanced design for its era and proved to have considerable merit during its flight trials.Andrews 1967, pp. 6–7. On 19 April 1937, K4049 was destroyed by an accident during a service test flight by Maurice Hare. The cause was the failure of the elevator's horn balance due to excessive slipstream exposure, leading to the aircraft inverting and rapidly descending into terrain. It was destroyed in the crash, which also resulted in the death of the navigator, Smurthwaite.Andrews 1967, p. 7. The horn balances were later deleted from the design and were not on production aircraft.
On 15 June 1936 K4049 conducted its maiden flight from Brooklands Vickers chief test pilot Joseph Summers flew K4049 on its first flight accompanied by Wallis and Trevor Westbrook The aircraft soon came to be widely regarded as being an advanced design for its era and proved to have considerable merit during its flight trialsAndrews 1967 pp 6–7 On 19 April 1937 K4049 was destroyed by an accident during a service test flight by Maurice Hare The cause was the failure of the elevator's horn balance due to excessive slipstream exposure leading to the aircraft inverting and rapidly descending into terrain It was destroyed in the crash which also resulted in the death of the navigator SmurthwaiteAndrews 1967 p 7 The horn balances were later deleted from the design and were not on production aircraft