Date:	Wednesday 9 May 1951
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	229 OCU RAF
Registration:	DE998
MSN:	85858
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wrafton, near RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon (EGDC)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 85858; Taken on charge as DE998 nominally at 15 MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 3.9.42. Howevet, placed into long-term stroage locally in purgatory in the Oxford area; returned to Morris for erection [undated, but probably 4.44]. To 15 MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 22.4.44. To 22 EFTS RAF Teversham, Cambridge 10.5.44, coded ‘77’. To 22 RFS RAF Teversham, Cambridge 26.6.47, coded "RCU-T". To RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire 4.5.50. To RAF RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon 28.10.50; probably operated by 229 OCU

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 9.5.51. Collided with a hedge on take off from RAF Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon, and landed on a nearby railway line near Wrafton Station (on the Barnstaple to Ilfracombe line). No reported injuries to the crew.

NOTE: John Romain/The Aircraft Restoration Co at Duxford rebuilt a Tiger Moth to static museum condition from surplus spares [in 1999-2002]. Sponsored by Marshalls of Cambridge, it was painted to resemble DE998 “RCU-T” as it was in 1947-50 (see above); it was handed over to the Imperial War Museum 5.3.2002. The airframe was repainted as N6635 “25” in 3.2006 (to celebrate Battle of Britain pilot Johnnie Johnston). the airframe is actually a complex composite rebuild reportedly including parts of K2572 and several other aircraft.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.113 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft DA100-DZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.136
4. 229 OCU RAF Chivenor ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2167 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101877
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p858.html
6. http://aircraft-in-focus.com/de-havilland-d-h-82-tiger-moth/
7. http://aircraft-in-focus.com/wp-content/gallery/dh82-de998/Scan-180825-0054-800x.jpg
8. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
9. http://www.martinwilkinson.co.uk/martinphotos/tiger_de998.htm
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilfracombe_branch_line#Wrafton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jan-2021 21:26	Dr. John Smith	Added
22-Jan-2021 21:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
23-Jan-2021 10:14	Emil Robot	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Operator]
03-Oct-2021 23:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
03-Oct-2021 23:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]
03-Oct-2021 23:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, Category]
04-Oct-2021 09:16	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]