In 1949, "VW120" put on an aerial display at Farnborough and scored third place in the Society of British Aircraft Constructors Challenge Trophy Air Race before being turned over to the Ministry of Supply and test flown at RAE Farnborough. It was destroyed on 15 February 1950 in a crash near Brickhill, Buckinghamshire, killing its test pilot, Squadron Leader Stuart Muller-Rowland. The accident investigation at the time pointed, not to the aircraft, but to a faulty oxygen system that incapacitated the pilot.