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439 (Tiger) Squadron Crest (RCAF)
Image: Courtesy
Department
of National Defence (Canada)
Registration or Serial: LD564
Operator: Royal Canadian Air
Force (RCAF)
Operating Base:
RAF Ayr;
439
(Tiger) Squadron RCAF.
(Base included
also RAF 44 Grp. Transport; RN HMS Gannett; HMS Wagtail.)
Base
Location: Ayr (Heathfield)
Aerodrome, Ayr, Scotland.
Current Airport Status: Operational
Civil Airport;
National Air Traffic Services (NATS): Scottish Area
Control Centre (SACC), Oceanic Area Control Centre (OACC),
Military Control, & Engineering.
Current Airport Name:
Glasgow (Prestwick) International Airport (EGPK)
(Principal airport data courtesy of
John Woodside,
A
Catalogue of UK Airfields)
Aircraft Nicknames: Hurry; Flying Tin
Openers; Flying Can Openers (later versions).
Aircraft Type & Background
A military single-seat interceptor / fighter / bomber flown by the Royal Air
Force. The Hurricane was designed by Sydney Camm and built mainly by
Hawker Aircraft Ltd.
The
Hawker Hurricane was equipped with 1 Rolls Royce
liquid-cooled Merlin III 12-cylinder power plant. Later
versions had Merlin XX, XXI or XXII power plants.
The Hurricane
fighter-bomber was armed
with eight .303 inch Browning machine guns mounted on the
wings. The Mark IV version also carried 2 x 250lb or 500lb
bombs or fragmentation bombs. Some Hurricane Mark IVs were
equipped with rocket projectiles (see photo opposite).
Aircraft Accident Details
The fighter-bomber aircraft featured here was a
Hurricane Mk. IV attached to 439 (Tiger) Squadron RCAF. At the time
of the accident, it was being piloted by F/O R. M. MacTavish, who
came from Vancouver,
British Columbia in Canada.
Little is known about the cause of this
accident. The aircraft had been on a training flight and was flying
at 3,300ft. However, witnesses on the ground saw the aircraft
descend through the clouds in a steep nose-down attitude.
For a short time, the Hurricane was obscured
from view. Ultimately, however, the fighter was found to have crashed into
the forest close to Loch Doon, killing the pilot.
The pilot who died was:
F/O MacTavish was buried at Ayr Cemetery, Ayrshire, Scotland;
Grave Sec R. 1931; Div Grave 2721
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