Simviation Forums

When I arrived at Shoreham yesterday I was surprised to find this sorry sight in full view.





G-ARRM, the prototype Beagle 206. Very different now to when I saw it proudly rolled out in its gleaming 'Beagle Bronze' livery back in 1961. I fondly remember the many private displays we were treated to when "Pee Wee" Judge, Beagle's chief test pilot, put it through its paces in those exciting days. His party trick was a low-level roll in front of the control tower with one engine cut & the prop feathered. Wouldn't be allowed now & I wish I'd had a camera to record it. He demonstrated it at Farnborough the same year & I found this photo of what it looked like then.


The last I heard RRM was on display at the Bristol Aero Collection. http://aeroflt.users.netlink.co.uk/mus/uk/1-b/bristolaerocoll.htm
I assume she's been brought back home to Shoreham for the Miles/Beagle reunion meeting next month. I would have thought they could have given the old girl a coat of paint. That Beagle Bronze looks more like rust now. A very sad sight indeed & says it all about the demise of the British Aviation industry.

Sad sight Doug - you'd think they'd be able to sell that with its history...

Check your PMs for worse Basset news Doug...

Hopefully she will be restored by some group or organization Doug.
It is sad indeed to see an aircraft left like that.


Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

How much is it? I'll buy it!

LOL... not...

How much is it? I'll buy it!

LOL... not...

I would....

Cheeper to fly it, if its got a history..

Spares would be almost impossible to come by now. The best we can hope for is a proper restoration to static display condition. Even that will be expensive & require a long period of hard work by dedicated volunteers.

That is tragic It truely speaks volumes about the state of British aviation

Looks like it is from Tennessee

That is tragic It truely speaks volumes about the state of British aviation

How does one shabby plane sum up the whole state of British aviation????
I agree that its a crime to scrap or dump prototypes, but
there have been thousands of prototype aircraft scrapped or left to rot since WW1, and that

How does one shabby plane sum up the whole state of British aviation????

Unfortunately when Beagle Aircraft Ltd folded in 1969 the hopes of the British light aviation industry went with it. The talented workforce at Shoreham was split up & many of those people left the industry for good. Many of these people were my friends. Similar things were happening at aircraft manufacturing plants all over the country at the time. I look on that prototype as a symbol of the mismanagement & misguided government policies of the period that also saw the decline of the industry as a whole.

Summed up entirely by a chap at an interview at BAE Systems, whilst commenting on wanting to work in the aviation industry

"We're a SYSTEMS company as well you know