Practavia Pilot Sprite G-BDDB near Thorpe Willoughby.
This aircraft was a home built kit aircraft that was constructed by Mr Harrison Peter Burrill, of Snape, near Bedale, North Yorkshire. He registered the aircraft on 20th May 1975 but it appears to have not been passed as airworthy for some period of time. On Saturday, 4th December 1976 the owner flew the aircraft from his home airstrip to Sherburn in Elmet airfield. A short time later and after he had handed it over to a test pilot of the Popular Flying Association this pilot took off from Sherburn in Elmet to test fly the aircraft for an airworthiness certificate. After around thirty minutes flying the engine cut out and the aircraft then crashed near Thorpe Willoughby killing the pilot. It broke up in fields bordering Dam Lane but most of the aircraft came to rest in a roadside ditch and around half a mile from a former Longwood isolation hospital
Pilot - Mr Ernest Martin Woodhams, aged 44, of Radford Semele, Warwickshire. Burial location unknown.
Mr Woodhams was a former RAF pilot (2608063) and was known as Bill. He was married with two teenage children. Local newspapers state that he was cremated before a memorial service at the church at Radford Semele.