Date:	Wednesday 3 September 1958
Time:	day
Type:	Auster J/1N Alpha
Owner/operator:	Royal Artillery Aero Club
Registration:	G-AGYI
MSN:	1990
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Tegdown Hill, Patcham Court Farm, N of Brighton, East Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	"South of France"
Destination airport:	Middle Wallop, Hampshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Auster J/1N Alpha G-AGYI: First registered (C of R 9836/1; Cof A 7385) on 4/2/46 to Taylorcraft Aeroplane (England) Ltd., Britannia Works, Thurmaston, Leicestershire. Registration cancelled/lapsed 24/6/46 upon sale, and re-registered same day to Victor John Morris, Reigate, Surrey. (C of R 9836/2); aircraft usually based at Gosport, Hampshire. Registration cancelled/lapsed 21/4/47 upon sale.

Sold on and re-registered (C of R 9836/3) 21/4/47 to Fleetlands Shipyard Ltd., Fareham, Hampshire. Registration cancelled/lapsed 14/4/49.

Sold on and re-registered (C of R 9836/4) 20/4/49 to the Royal Artillery Aero Club. Owners registered address initially the War Office, Whitehall, London SW.1. Later the registered address was Larkhill, Wiltshire. From 23/4/54, owners registered address was RAF Middle Wallop, Stockbridge, Hampshire

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Tegdown Hill, Patcham Court Farm, Brighton, East Sussex on 3/9/1958. The pilot - the sole person on board - was killed. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Birmingham Daily Post" - Thursday 11 September 1958)

"WOMBOURN MAN'S DEATH -
Tried to Land Plane in Mist
Returning from a holiday in the South of France, three days late because his light Auster plane had been grounded owing to bad weather, a company secretary, James Cunningham Eadie, aged 26, of Park Mount, Wombourn, ran into thick mist over the Downs, north of Brighton, on September 3, crashed and was killed.

At the inquest at Brighton yesterday a Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death".

A brother, Mr. Christopher Eadie, of Park Mount, Wornbourn, said his brother had about 150 flying hours' experience, most of it with an Army T.A. unit.

A Ministry of Civil Aviation senior investigating officer, Mr. J. Goulding, said he had examined the wreckage of the plane and found no evidence of pre-crash failure. "The engine was in good order and it appeared the plane had been quite well maintained." he said. Asked by the Coroner (Mr. R. Webb) if he could give an explanation for the crash, he said: "I think the pilot was endeavouring to make visual contact with the ground, an extremely difficult thing with visibility down to only 25 yards". The plane had a limited instrument panel which, in the hands of a more experienced pilot, would have been most useful, "But," he added, "I do not think it would have been useful to a pilot of the deceased's limited experience." He said that records showed Mr. Eadie to have had only one hour 50 minutes' actual instrument flying time and 55 minutes' mock instrument flying practice".

Registration G-AGYI cancelled by the CAA on 14/10/1958 as "destroyed"

1. Birmingham Daily Post - Friday 05 September 1958, Thursday 11 September 1958 and Friday 12 September 1958
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AGYI.pdf
3. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1599087
4. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1215325
5. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=1889
6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitworth/5444366075/
7. photo of wreckage ("The Royal Artillery Aero Club Auster G-AGYI came to a sticky end on the South Downs on 14-10-58."): http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/airfields/xchjp.html
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14186.0
9. https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/places/placefarm/patcham-court-farm/patcham-court-farm-3

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
06-Jan-2013 22:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative]
24-Feb-2020 18:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]