Tiger moth crashes at yeovil
Tiger moth crashes at yeovil
Written off, upside-down in a hedgerow
The de Havilland DH82 Tiger Moth was a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer.
The DH82a variant was a two-seat primary trainer aircraft powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major piston engine and fitted with a hood over the rear cockpit for blind flying instruction. It was named the Tiger Moth II when in use by the RAF.
The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952. In postwar use, large numbers of surplus Tiger Moths were made available for sale to flying clubs and individuals. They proved to be inexpensive to operate and found enthusiastic reception in the civil market.
The DH82a Tiger Moth, registration G-ANOZ, was a former military aircraft that was lost whilst in civilian ownership. It crashed in Yeovil, nearly missing houses, on 17 August 1956 - presumably while making an approach to Westland's airfield.
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Yeovilians
remember... "Preston Brook provided a source of adventure and excitement for the kids of the 1950’s, when during a very windy day in the school summer holidays a privately owned Tiger Moth aircraft, taking off from the Westland airfield in the strong and gusty crosswind veered off the runway eventually coming to rest upside-down straddling the concrete fence posts and fencing which separated the football pitch and the allotments in the nearby Westland sports ground. We children all ran across to the wreck to find the two-crew members, a man and a woman, were unhurt but left hanging upside down held in by the safety harness, which they appeared to find difficult to release. I remember a strong smell of fuel and immediately thought of the fire risk which was only heightened when an off-duty policewoman from a nearby house rushed up and was actually smoking. The silence was almost immediately interrupted by the arrival of the airfield emergency services and I can still see and hear in my mind the fireman who spotted the policewoman smoking, I certainly learnt several new impressive swear words that day. The aircraft was extensively damaged, but the two-crew members were rescued from the wreckage unhurt." |
gallery
Firstly, this is what a Type DH82a Tiger Moth should look like when it's near the ground.
Below are a series of four photographs of Type DH82a Tiger Moth registration G-ANOZ as it ended up on the ground.
Ouch!
A postcard featuring a similar incident, but from around 1914.
