Date:	Tuesday 4 November 1941
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	28 EFTS RAF
Registration:	T7179
MSN:	83645
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Featherstone, Staffordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Pendeford, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 83645; Taken on charge as T7179 at 10 MU RAF Hullavington, Chippenham, Wiltshire 2.8.40. To Sound City Films Ltd, Shepperton, Surrey 21.9.40; to RAF Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk 25.9.40. To 1 [P] FTS, RAF Hucknall, Nottinghamshire 19.12.40. Probably later to 25 [P]EFTS, alsoe at RAF Hucknall, Nottinghamsire, coded "40". Crashed 15.5.41 at Hucknall; to Lundy & Atlantic Coast for repairs 22.5.41. To 9 EFTS RAF Ansty, Coventry, Warwickshire 20.7.41. Crashed 19.8.41 at RAF Anstry; to DeHavilland for repairs 24.8.41. To 28 EFTS RAF Pendeford, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire 1.10.41.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when hit tree low flying near Featherstone, Staffordshire 4.11.41 (but see note below) Struck off charge 1.12.41 as FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E)

NOTE: The file at the National Archives at Kew (File AIR81/11361 - see link #2) states "Flight Lieutenant A B Mobley: injured; Tiger Moth T7179, 28 Elementary Flying Training School; aircraft accident at Featherstone, 4 January 1942" (and not 4 November 1941). The "4 January 1942" date is quoted by most published sources, but it contradicts the Struck Off Charge date of 4.11.41.

To confuse matters further, T7179 was used as the identity for Tiger Moth G-AKEE, which was known to have been converted from old and unidentified Tiger Moth and Queen Bee components. How many (or if any) of these came from Tiger Moth T7179 is not known.

As G-AKEE, the airframe was registered (C of R 11843) 18.8.47 to Flt Lt James Gordon Crampton, RAF Manby (note JG Crampton, then of RAF Watchfield, advertised for Tiger Moth fuselage and airframe parts in 2.47). C of A 9676 issued 16.10.47. Registration cancelled 29.9.47 as 'sold abroad'. Re-registered in Ceylon as VP-CAW 30.8.47 to Aero Club of Ceylon. Damaged on landing Ratmalana 9.11.49; repaired. Re-registered as CY-AAB early in 1950.

Re-registered 31.10.50 to Ceylon Air Academy, Ratmalana. Re-registered 4R-AAB in 1954 to same owner. Stored at Ratmalana [by 3.80].(One source ("Colombo Sunday Observer" 12.3.2017, see link #8) states "This aircraft first came into Ceylon as a civil plane and was used by the Colombo Flying Club. It crashed in 1970 and was later handed to the Air Force. It was then brilliantly restored by Sri Lanka Air Force engineers to its present condition. It was first test flown by SLAF in 1983"). Registration 4R-AAB canceled in 1981. To Katunayake AFB later in 1981 and rebuilt by Ray Wijewardene; reflown 19.9.88 by David Hawkes. To Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, Ratmalana; on display painted as "CX-123" [by 1997; still present 12.3.2017]; still airworthy and occasionally flown

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997 p.58)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/11361: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17059090
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AKEE.pdf
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p836.html
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T7179
7. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/nwcrashes1942.htm
8. https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2017/03/12/flight-tiger-moth
9. https://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=108508
10. http://www.eurodemobbed.org.uk/locations.php?location=1312
11. http://tagazous.free.fr/affichage2.php?img=42192
12. http://109.167.105.157/htmlfiles/mil/srilanka/moth.htm
13. As 4R-AAR at Ratamalana, Sri Lanka 11.66: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/4R-AAB
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherstone,_Staffordshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Mar-2022 20:47	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Mar-2022 09:18	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]