Graham Hill and Tony Brise

[Kicking-back]

Thirty years ago today

[Peter Mallett]

Yep.

I remember where I was when I heard the news.

[Al Weyman]

I was a kid working at Elstree Aerodrome as an apprentist fitter come general dogsbody at the time Graham won the Indy 500 and the Piper Aztec he died in fully kitted with all the latest gear was part of the prize £40,000 I think it was worth would not buy a BMW today). Prior to that he had a single engined Cesna and it was with great pride when he first taxed the Aztec in.

Very sad day when he landed short into a wood not far from where I live but I tell you if you had seen the facilities at Elstree back then to try to land in those conditions was folly, the fire truck was a 1940's Land Rover and the flight path had to be manually lit (parrafin flares!) as I recollect although this was 6 or 7 years before the accident I left the job and things may have been improved by then.

[ghinzani]

RIP. What might have been? And not forgetting all the rest of the team who died that day.

[John Turner]

Awful tragedy for all involved; it really doesn't seem like 30 years ago.

[M Greenslade]

Yes sadly missed, very much a school boys hero and the young pretender too - Balders

[davyboy]

Time really does ebb away quickly doesn't it. I can't believe that 30 years have passed since the Embassy Hill team perished.

Strange coincidence in terms of timing this, but I was on a airliner about a week ago and the guy next to me was an aviation enthusiast and began talking about this incident unprompted. He was talking about a thing pilots suffer from, affectionately called 'get me home syndrome', and said that he believed Graham Hill's accident was one such situation. He also mentioned that he believed Graham wasn't actually qualified to land in the conditions he attempted to and that had all sorts of ramifications after his demise. I don't know whether any of this is true, but I thought I'd share with you nonetheless.

All in all a dreadful, dreadful loss of life and great promise in terms of Tony.

[Craig]

I recall a lady who lived opposite my gran was widowed by the crash and I recall my gran talking of the huge problems she had in getting any compensation, as davyboy suggests. This talk was a long time ago but I think it was more to do with the lack of any insurance at all - is this true?

[Peter Mallett]

I seem recall that too. Bette Hill had a lot of problems in the aftermath of the accident.

[John Turner]

In the January edition of MotorSport, Nigel Roebuck has written a really warm and poignant piece about Graham Hill and Tony Brise, which I am sure eloquently sums up the views of many.

[Robin_D]

Again this date is here upon us.

Graham Hill, Tony Brise and some team members lost their lives 32 years ago today.

[Flat Out Farr]

I used to watch Tony Brise race at Brands, especially in the Modus. if I recall.
He was an exciting driver to watch and possibly the Lewis Hamilton of his era.
To have him snatched away from motorsport just when he had his big chance............ A great shame

[Peter Nightingale]

Originally Posted by Robin_D

Again this date is here upon us.

Graham Hill, Tony Brise and some team members lost their lives 32 years ago today.

Also one of those that lost their life in that tragic accident was Tony Alcock designer/ constructor of Australian BIRRANA CARS... RIP to ALL...