Date:	Thursday 31 October 1957
Time:	night
Type:	Fairey Firefly U.8
Owner/operator:	RAE Llanbedr
Registration:	WM890
MSN:	F.8945
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cardigan Bay, off Barmouth, Gwynedd -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAE Llanbedr, Gwynedd (EGOD)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Firefly U.8: Ordered for FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm Royal Navy) as a Firefly T.Mk.7, but built by Fairey Aircraft Ltd., Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Cheshire as a Firefly U.8 (21st out of 34 built as such). First flown as such 23/5/1955 at Ringway Airport, Manchester.

Delivered to the FAA RN at HMS Nuthatch, RNAS Anthorn, Cumberland on 17/5/1955. Issued to RAE Llanbedr, Gwynedd on 10/12/1956. Sustained substantial (Cat.3(R)) damage when crashed on landing at Llanbedr on 3/6/1957. Presumed repaired and returned to service as lost on operations on 31/10/1957. Remote radio control was lost with the aircraft while being flown unmanned, and Firefly WM890 dived into Cardigan Bay, off Barmouth, Gwynedd.

Crash believed to have happened on the night of 31/10/1957 to 1/11/1957, which would explain why various sources quote both dates as the date of loss

1. Fleet Air Arm Fixed Wing Aircraft Since 1946 (Ray Sturtivant, Lee Howard & Mick Burrows, Air Britain, 2004 p.300)
2. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WM
3. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1232478/
4. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/11027/WM890
5. http://www.ukserials.com/losses_drones.htm

Fairey Firefly U8 WM890 wearing the standard 'high visibility' drone scheme of yellow top and red fin and lower fuselage at Ringway Airport, Manchester (MAN/EGCC) on 30-03-1955:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Sep-2020 19:28	Dr. John Smith	Added