Date:	Saturday 20 July 1946
Time:	day
Type:	North American Harvard T Mk 2B
Owner/operator:	20 SFTS RAF
Registration:	FS836
MSN:	14A-976
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Badby, 2 miles south of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Church Lawford, Rugby, Warwickshire
Destination airport:	RAF Church Lawford, Warwickshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Ex-USAAF 43-12677 (MSN 14A-976) Delivered to RAF as Harvard IIb FS836. To 11 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit January 1945. To 2 Flying Training School May 1945. To 20 Service Flying Training School, Church Lawford, Rugby, Warwickshire March 1946.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 20 July 1946 when crashed at Badby, near Daventry, Northamptonshire: the aircraft had been set up for a practice approach for a forced landing. The pilot then opened up the throttle in order to overshoot, but misjudged the strength of the prevailing wind, and the length of the field into which the aircraft was being flown towards. The Harvard failed to clear a row of trees at the end of the field. The wingtip struck one of the trees, causing the Harvard to dive into the ground.

20 SFTS was reformed at Church Lawford, England as 20 FTS on 3 April 1945, but on 23 July 1947, No. 20 FTS at RAF Church Lawford was re-designated No. 2 FTS and on 6 April 1948 it moved to RAF South Cerney in Gloucestershire. It was equipped with de Havilland Tiger Moths and Harvard's but in June 1949 the Tiger Moths were replaced by Percival Prentices.

Badby is a village and a rural parish of about 2,020 acres (820 ha) in West Northamptonshire, England. Badby is about 2 miles (3 km) south of Daventry, on the A361 Daventry-to-Banbury Road, which still follows the route of the Lutterworth-Daventry-Banbury turnpike as approved in 1765. The parish is bisected west to east, at about 395 feet (120 m) above sea level, by the upper reaches of the river Nene. The village is mainly south of the river, where the land rises to Badby Down at 610 feet (190 m).

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 1946-1949 by Colin Cummings p.318
3. The Harvard File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 1988 p 93)
4. ORB 20 SFTS RAF for the period 1-9-1945 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1811: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101521
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.101: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1943_2.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._2_Flying_Training_School_RAF#Third_formation_(1947)
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badby#Location

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jun-2023 20:19	Dr. John Smith	Added
15-Jun-2023 20:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated
15-Jun-2023 20:38	Nepa	Updated