US Navy Collision July 29, 1930 San Diego,

[paulmcmillan]

The first of my 2 Outstandings for 1930 is:

I would like to know the 2 aircraft serials involved if possible and who was flying which - If the unknown crewman could be identified that would be a bonus

Many Thanks

July 29, 1930 Lt Apollo "Sock em" Soucek USN San Diego, Calif. Collision

Wednesday, July 30, 1930
Titusville Herald
Soucek Escapes in Air Crash SAN DIEGO Calif July 29 (AP) Lieutenant Apollo Soucek noted navy pilot escaped
spectacularly from a wrecked falling bombing plane here today. The officers plane collided with a scouting
plane 3000 feet up. He jumped with his parachute. His shirt caught on a projection of his plane and he fell
with it to nearly 200 feet from the ground when he extricated himself and his parachute opened enough to
break the fall. His only injury was a strained back Ensign Christian Harold Duborg pilot of the scout plane
continued to North Island air station with his plane which was only slightly damaged.
Duborg nor his one unidentified passenger were injured. An early investigation failed to disclose the cause of the
collision, which occurred at about 3000 feet. -> 'San Diego Cal Tuesday' -


Ensign Christian Harold Duborg (Later commander Carrier Essex in Korea)
18 June 1904
29 March 1990

for Apollo Soucek see:

Apollo Soucek (February 24, 1897 – July 22, 1955)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Soucek

"In June 1930, Soucek returned to sea duty, serving as Squadron Flight Officer of Fighter Squadron 3 on the carrier Lexington (CV-2), and as Gunnery Officer and Executive Officer of Fighter Squadron 3 aboard Saratoga (CV-3)."


More Detail
Flying Magazine Oct 1931 Soucek Lieut.
Apollo Soucek, famous Navy filer, who holds the world's altitude record for both airplanes and sea-planes, was not particularly optimistic as to the outcome of his initiation. A collision during the course of aerial combat maneuvers caused Lieut. Soucek's plane to go into a violent diving spin. The centrifugal force imparted through this maneuver held him fast in his seat. When he released his safety belt, it seems that in some unaccountable manner he pulled the rip-cord of his parachute. His life already in danger, this unwitting act made matters still worse. The only thing Lieut. Soucek could do was to hope for a good break. He did not get it, for when he finally managed to push himself out of the cockpit the parachute opened immediately, caught on the tail of the plane and hurled him around in the air like a pendulum. In the meantime the plane was hurtling towards the ground, carrying the imperiled airman down with it to what seemed certain destruction. All of a sudden, kind fate intervened. There was a welcome jerk when the parachute tore itself loose from the tail and threw the imperiled airman off into space like a stone from a sling-shot. His hopes, however, sank again when, on looking upward, he saw a great hole in the silk, with all indications pointing to a total collaspse of the chute. The ground was coming up fast, and he luckily hit a soft spot in some sage-brush. A fellow flier who witnessed the accident stated that Lieut. Soucek bounced about ten feet when he hit the ground. His experience was such as is calculated to add many white hairs to any normal man's head. He was lucky to survive the initiation with only a sprained back.

I also have an update of the damage to the other aircraft

"Scouting plane with which I collided had end of wings cut off, but flew-back to station."

[twocee]

The collision, 2 miles SW of Camp Kearny, took place during a mock attack by fighters on scouts. Soucek, one of the fighter pilots, dove on the scouts but lost sight of them as he closed and so pulled out of his dive. In the course of the pull-out his left wings struck the upper right wing of the other aircraft and were torn off, forcing him to bail out.

Soucek was flying F3B-1, A-7757, of VF-3B. His nemesis was a tough Vought O2U-2 of VS-2B, which survived the collision and flew back to base. Duborg's crewman was RM3c F.W. Lamb.