Firebrand IV EK635 at Brough airfield.
During the afternoon of 30th August 1945 this Firebrand was due to be collected from the manufacturer Blackburns at Brough airfield by an ATA ferry pilot of No.7 Ferry Pilot Pool and flown the short distance to Sherburn in Elmet prior to a longer flight to RNAS Anthorn. The aircraft was seen to take off prematurely with the tail down, the undercarriage was retracted immediately after it left the ground and it then began to climb but at around 300 feet above the ground the flying speed was low so that it stalled. The starboard wing dropped and it dived into the ground on the airfield killing the pilot. An investigation was concluded that the pilot took off too soon and pushed the nose up which made the centre of gravity near the aft limit, as he then raised the undercarriage this then further affected the nose-up trim. At a low flying speed it was possible that the pilot did not then have enough elevator control to hold the nose down and could not prevent it stalling. The National Archives file "AVIA5/22 Rep.w2254" will hold more information but I have yet to view the file.
Pilot - 1st Officer James Richard Burton ATA (704), aged 30. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire (Grave 5512).
James Burton was born in Selby on 26th October 1914 and as a boy attended Drax Grammar School. As a young man he worked as an aircraft fitter for the Blackburn Aircraft, at Sherburn in Elmet repairing aircraft. He also passed his civilian pilot's A-Licence in June 1939 (probably after training at Sherburn). He applied to join the ATA in December 1941 and while flying he was involved in a number of flying mishaps. On 8th December 1942 he forgot to lower the undercarriage of Spitfire ES278 on landing at Lossiemouth. On 1st August 1943 the Barracuda he was flying lost hydraulic pressure because of a faulty pressure gauge and he made a forced landing but the location is not stated in his service file. On 4th October 1943 an Anson he was flying suffered starboard engine failure, he made a successful landing on one engine and again the location is not stated in his service file. Just prior to his death he had recently married Phyllis Lee in Selby.