Aircraft and Flight Details
The accident involved a DH82A Tiger Moth, registration G-APAO, powered by one De Havilland Gipsy Major 1C piston engine. The aircraft was manufactured in 1940. The flight was a training flight with one crew and one passenger on board. Neither occupant was injured. The damage was limited to the mainplane and front spar.
Pilot Information
The commander held a Commercial Pilot's Licence and was 47 years old. His total flying experience was 349 hours, of which 130 hours were on type. In the last 90 days he had flown 28 hours, and in the last 28 days, 19 hours.
Narrative of Events
On 25 September 2011 at 0940 UTC, G-APAO was parked to the left of another Tiger Moth at Duxford Aerodrome, Cambridgeshire. The pilot began to taxi and attempted to turn left through approximately 90 degrees. However, he was prevented from doing so by the tendency of the tail-wheeled aircraft to turn into the wind, which was blowing from the right. Consequently, he decided to turn right through 270 degrees instead. During this maneuver, the aircraft's turning circle became larger than he expected, and he found himself in close proximity to the other Tiger Moth. He was unable to stop his aircraft, which had no brakes, or turn away from the other Tiger Moth before colliding with it.