Date:	Thursday 21 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX
Owner/operator:	129 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NH317
MSN:	CBAF.
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire,

Narrative:
NH317: Spitfire LF. IX, Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin 66 engine. Delivered to the RAF at 39 MU RAF Colerne, Wiltshire 13-5-44. First issued to 411 "City of York" Squadron RCAF 22-6-44 at RAF Digby, Scopwick, Lincolnshire. Cat AC damaged on ops 31-7-44. During 1944, Spitfire NH317 was credited with two victories in air-to-air-combat when with 411 Squadron RCAF

1st: 14-7-44, F/O T.R. Wheler, RCAF - shot down a Fw-190 piloted by Gefreiter E Sauer, of 1/JG-2, five miles North West of Caen, France
2nd: 18-9-44: Flt Lt R.G Lake, RCAF - shot down a Me-109 – 20 miles North of Aachen, The Netherlands.

To Westland Aircraft, Yeovil 13-2-45 for modifications and repairs. To 129 Squadron, RAF Dyce, Aberdeen as 'DV-N' 16-5-45. Between May 1945 and March 1946, 129 Squadron (and Spitfire NH317) moved around a lot, as follows...

May-June 1945: Dyce, Aberdeen
June 1945: Sumburgh, Shetland
June-July 1945: Vaernes (Trondheim, Norway)
July-November 1945: Gardermoen (Oslo, Norway)
November-December 1945: Molesworth, Cambridgeshire
December 1945-January 1946: Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire
January-February 1946: Spilsby, Lincolnshire
February-May 1946: Hutton Cranswick, East Yorkshire

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 21-3-46 when ran off peritrack, hit wall of dispersal pen and overturned Hutton Cranswick. The aircraft was taxying too fast in gusty wind conditions.

Not repaired, declared FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) 21-3-46 and Struck Off Charge 28-3-46. Despite being written off as "damaged beyond economic repair" due to FACE (Flying Accident Cat. E) the pilot appears to have escaped uninjured.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.34. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.101
4. 129 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-6-1941 to 31-7-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/934: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503573
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.97: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. No 126 Wing RCAF (Chapter 1, page 36) By Donald Nijboer
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p078.html
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/NH317
9. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/86697-nh317
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?31056-Spitfires-PL118-and-NH317-June-20th-1945-F1180-s-available&p=184405#post184405
11. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?31040-Spitfire-went-down-20th-of-June-1945-in-Trondheim-Norway&p=184341#post184341
12. http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/129_wwII.html
13. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/136860-spitfire-to-identify-please
14. https://www.rcafassociation.ca/heritage/history/rcaf-combat-claims/rcaf-combat-claims-1944-1-july-to-31-december/
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._411_Squadron_RCAF#History
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._129_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Hutton_Cranswick

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-Jun-2021 22:44	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Jun-2021 08:53	Don Diego	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]
17-Sep-2023 15:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator]]