Hurricane PJ689 damaged on take off from Sherburn in Elmet airfield.

During the morning of the 15th September 1943 this aircraft was in the process of taking off from Sherburn in Elmet for an ATA ferry flight with No.7 Ferry Pilot Pool when the throttle control slipped back slightly just after the wheels had been raised, this caused the nose of the aircraft to drop slightly. The propeller blade tips caught the ground but the pilot continued with the take off and ferried the aircraft to Silloth. With the ferry flight completed and on landing at Silloth airfield it was realised that the tips on all of the propeller blades had been sheered off. The pilot appears to have been an RAF pilot seconded to the ATA.

Pilot - F/Sgt Frederick William Birks ATA (M.1114).

This pilot was also involved another ferrying accident at Sherburn on 4th October 1943 when Beaufighter LZ317 crashed there and caught fire after making a crash landing. He sustained slight injuries. He was seconded to the ATA between 20th November 1942 and 21st October 1943 when he probably reverted to RAF service. He was probably one Frederick William Birks RAFVR (552483), who later received a commission in the RAFVR on 9th January 1945.

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