Date:	Friday 11 April 1947
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	2 EFTS RAF
Registration:	N6659
MSN:	3963
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cherhill, near White Horse, Yatesbury, Wiltshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 3963 (Gipsy Major #80876): Taken on charge as N6659 at 10 MU RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire 31.3.39. To 18 E&RFTS RAF Fairoaks, Chobham, Surrey 8.6.39. Unit renamed 18 EFTS upon outbreak of war 3.9.39. Struck Tiger Moth N6755 at RAF Fairoaks, Chobham, Surrey 12.12.39 on landing; to 13 MU RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire for repairs 3.1.40; to 50 MU RAF Cowley, Oxford 5.3.40 upon completion of repairs.

To 1 CRU Cowley 13.3.40; to 38 MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan 19.6.40. To 17 EFTS RAF North Luffenham. Leicestershire 13.2.41; to RAF Westwood, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire 7.41. To 15 EFTS RAF Carlisle, Cumberland 24.5.42. To 2 EFTS RAF Worcester 31.7.42; to RAF Yatesbury, Wiltshire 7.45; later (postwar) coded "FHE-U".

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 11.4.47 when spun in shortly after take-off and crashed near the Cherhill White Horse, Yatesbury, Wiltshire; the aircraft went into a climbing turn to starboard immediately after takeoff from RAF Yatesbury. However, the pilot allowed the Tiger Moth's airspeed to decay to the point where the aircraft stalled, and spun into the ground off the turn. The pilot - Lieutenant B.J. Hawkes, RN - survived, but was injured.

Struck off charge as Cat. E(FA) on 13.5.47. Cherhill is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) east of the town of Calne, on the A4 road towards Marlborough. The parish includes the village of Yatesbury. The Cherhill White Horse was cut out of the hillside in 1780. The horse is visible from miles around and has become a landmark synonymous with the village and local area.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1978)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.289
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p039.html
6. 12.12.39 Accident; http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?21225-UK-Collisions-Late-1939-Early-1940&p=124159#post124159
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Yatesbury
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherhill#Cherhill_White_Horse_and_Oldbury_Hill_Fort

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Sep-2021 01:24	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Sep-2021 08:39	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
19-May-2023 19:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]