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Beagle B206, 1961

Beagle B206, 1961

Plane in flight over cityscape, from above

Auster aircraft photo collections
Beagle Collection, Leicestershire Record Office

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Personal use only unless otherwise agreed

The Beagle B.206 is a 1960s British seven-seat twin-engined liaison and communication aircraft built by Beagle Aircraft Limited at Shoreham Airport and Rearsby Aerodrome.

The design of a twin-engined light transport began in 1960 and the prototype registered G-ARRM (designated the B.206X) first flew from Shoreham Airport, West Sussex on 15 August 1961.

The prototype aircraft was a five-seat all metal low-wing monoplane powered by two Continental flat-six engines. Owned since 1990 by Brooklands Museum and recently restored by volunteers at Shoreham Airport, this historic aeroplane is now on loan to the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum at Farnborough, Hampshire, arriving there by road on 10 December 2011.

The second prototype (registered G-ARXM and designated B.206Y) was slightly larger with a larger span wing and seating for seven. Two aircraft were built for evaluation by the Ministry of Aviation at Boscombe Down and an order for twenty aircraft for the Royal Air Force followed. The RAF aircraft were designated Basset CC.1 and were built at Rearsby Aerodrome, Leicestershire.

A Series 2 aircraft (a converted Series 1, G-ASMK) with 340 hp Continental turbocharged engines first flew on 23 June 1965. The production Series 2 (initially known as the B.206S) was also fitted with a large freight door. The aircraft was soon in demand with air taxi companies and as a light transport for companies. Three aircraft were delivered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia.

A Series 3 was developed with a raised rear fuselage to carry 10-passengers but only two were converted from Series 2 airframes (G-35-28 c/n B.074 and G-AWLN, c/n B.080) and the former was later re-converted back to a Series 2. When the company needed the room at Rearsby to build the Beagle Pup, production of the B.206 ended with the 80th aircraft.

 

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21/11/2013