Date:	Tuesday 30 November 1948
Time:	day
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVIe
Owner/operator:	203 AFS RAF
Registration:	TB252
MSN:	CBAF.3807
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	1 mile east of Braunton, Appledore, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
TB252: Spitfire LF XVIe, MSN CBAF IX.3807. Built at CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) with Merlin M266 engine. Delivered to 9MU RAF Cosford, Shropshire 6-1-45. To 329 (Free French) Squadron 1-3-45. To 411RSU 8-3-45. To 341 Squadron 15-3-45. To 350 (Belgian) Squadron coded 'MN-J' 15-1-46. To 151RU 15-10-46. To 61OTU, RAF Keevil, Wiltshire 29-5-47. Unit became 203 AFS at RAF Keevil, Wiltshire 1-7-47.

Substantially damaged when collided with Spitfire SL577 and crashed 1 mile East of Braunton, Appledore, Devon 30-11-48. The pilot of Spitfire SL577 was killed (see separate entry). Spitfire TB252 made a successful emergency landing back at base (RAF Chivenor)

Spitfire TB252 still exists to this day, recently restored to flying condition, and its post-accident "after life" was as follows:

To RAF Old Sarum, Wiltshire 18-1-49. To 33MU RAF Lyneham 27-2-53 as Ground Instructional Airframe 7257M. To RAF Odiham, Hampshire 13-8-55. Allocated as Ground Instructional Airframe 7281M 2-9-55 but cancelled. To RAF Acklington, Northumberland 21-8-59. To RAF Boulmer, Northumberland 1-8-69 as Ground Instructional Airframe 8073M 15-12-69. Positioned as "Gate Guardian" at RAF Boulmer. Acquired by Historic Flying Limited in 1988.

Became G-XVIE on UK civil registry 3-7-1992; registration cancelled 28-3-2001. Sold to Tony Banta/Banta Aviation Corporation, Livermore (California), USA in 2002. After registering his Spitfire as N752TB, he decided to have it restored in New Zealand. Currently extant as ZK-NLJ since 12-4-2020. First flown again after restoration in 18-12-2020, and is now based at Ardmore

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.450
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. 203 AFS ORB for the period 1-6-47 to 31-12-50: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/1771: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101481
5. "RAF Write offs 1948": Air Britain Aeromilitaria No.1 1979: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p099.html
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190811368/alan-penlington
8. https://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/SL577
9. https://www.avialogs.com/spitfire-and-seafire-registry/item/90114-sl577
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/archive/17376.php
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Chivenor#1946%E2%80%941949
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braunton
13. https://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-register/g-info/search-g-info/
14. https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult
15. https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/first-flight-of-spitfire-tb252
16. https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2020/12/spitfire-zk-nljtb252-flies-at-ardmore.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Apr-2023 12:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Aug-2023 16:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated