Tiger Moth BB804 at Yeadon airfield.
On 22nd October 1941 the pilot of this 20 E.F.T.S. aircraft was flying solo when he made a heavy landing at Yeadon. The aircraft sustained damage
to the propeller but the pilot was uninjured. The aircraft had just been repaired from a previous incident on 8th May 1941 at Yeadon.
Pilot - LAC Laurence Sydney Staight RAFVR (1216102), of Erdington, Birmingham.
In May 1946 it was flown to RNAS Stretton (HMS Blackcap Aircraft Maintenance Yard) for storage prior to disposal. On 21st March 1951 it was sold by The Ministry of Supply to C.G. Wheatley at Hill Lane, Yorkshire and re-registered on the civilian register as G-ADWL on 19th June 1951 by Maurice Dumont at Stockton on Tees. On 17th July 1951 it was inspected and the CofA was restored but it's registration was cancelled on 1st October 1951 for an unknown reason. It was then registered to Ronald Henry Braime and Arnold George Wilson trading as The Yorkshire Aeroplane Club on 29th October 1951. The registration was later cancelled and it was sold to Mehrwald & Co. in Bremen on 28th February 1957 and on 2nd April 1957 it was registered as D-ECUT on the German register. In August 1957 it was registered to Luftsportverein at Oldenberg, then in April 1958 to Luftsportgemeinschaft Nordsee at Wilhelmshaven. It may have been involved in a crash on 28th May 1958 after which it may well have not been repaired. In November 1961 the registration was finally cancelled on the expiry of the CofA.
Laurence Staight had just been involved in the mishap to Tiger Moth R5018 on 15th October 1941 which crashed at Yeadon. He completed
his training and was posted to 142 Squadron but on 17th April 1943 he was lost while flying off Malta. He was twenty years old and is commemorated on the Malta Memorial.
This specific Tiger Moth was built by The De Havilland aircraft Co. Ltd. at Hatfield and was first registered to Scottish Aviation Ltd. at Prestwick on the civilian register as G-ADWL on 9th February 1935 where it remained when 12 E&RFTS moved in. It was used by them and then by 12 EFTS before being impressed into RAF service with 12 EFTS at Prestwick on 12th October 1940 and given the RAF serial BB804. On 24th March 1941 it transferred to 20 EFTS based at Yeadon and here it sustained Cat.A/FA damage in a landing accident in May 1941. It was repaired on site and continued to be used by them only to suffer this second mishap at Yeadon on 22nd October 1941, with Cat.A/FA damage again being recorded. It was again repaired on site and on 5th December 1941 it was flown to 45 MU at Kinloss and placed into storage. On an unspecified date in 1942 it was transferred to Royal Navy charge but remained in storage. On 6th August 1943 it was taken on charge by the Station Flight at RNAS Inskip but on 28th November 1943 it was flown to Lundy & Atlantic Coast Air Lines Ltd. at Barnstaple, Devon for a major inspection. This inspection was complete on 21st January 1944 it was flown to RNAS Lee On Solent for storage but ran out of fuel en route, force landed and damaged the undercarriage (location unknown). The Naval damage Cat.Y/FA damage was recoded. From this unknown location it was dismantled and transported by road to RNAS Arbroath for repair. In October 1944 it was taken on charge by 780 Squadron at Hinstock and survived the War.