March 1958 to December 1971
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
G-AOYN - c/n 263 - a V.806 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
January 1956
This was the 9th Type 806 and the 32nd 800 series Viscount ordered by British European Airways Corporation (BEA).
The first (C/N 255) was not delivered as it was loaned to Vickers-Armstrongs for V.810 development work.
Production Aircraft No. 52 - the 52nd production 800 series Viscount built,
was the 37th 800 series Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 52nd 800 series Viscount assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England.
Production Order No. F09/806. Sales Order No. F09/98B. Stock Order No. F32/33B.
20 December 1956
Registered to British European Airways Corporation (BEA).
15 June 1957
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
August 1957
Fuselage transported by road from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England to Weybridge, Surrey, England.
15 August 1957
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Weybridge, Surrey, England.
7 March 1958
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.
It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.
The test flights accumulated a total of 13 hours and 25 minutes.
26 March 1958
Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) named as 'R M A Sir Isaac Newton'.
18 November 1958
Total time 1,800:08 hours.
26 January 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
March 1959
A new BEA 'Red Square' livery was adopted and aircraft were repainted during the early 1960s when they next went in for overhaul.
Sadly, after repainting, the aircraft no longer carried a name including the nameplate on the forward cabin bulkhead.
3 March 1959
BEA annual report quotes total time as 2,022 hours.
BEA 'Red Square' livery
28 September 1959
Total time 3,584:22 hours.
20 November 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England carrying out multiple ILS approaches and overshoots.
25 January 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
August 1960
Operated a special flight from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy carrying the British Olympic Team to the summer games which were held from 25 August to 11 September.
24 September 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
17 October 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
24 June 1961
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
11 July 1961
Soviet Cosmonaut Major Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the world's first spaceman, arrived in London, England for a four day official visit.
He had completed the first manned orbit of the Earth 12 April 1961.
12 July 1961
Yuri travelled from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Ringway Airport, Manchester, England as a guest of the Foundry Workers Union on board this aircraft which was still in the original 'Red Stripe' livery. Yuri used to work in a foundry before embarking on a more exciting career. He arrived at 10:00 and during the cruise phase he was invited by Captain Stanley Key to sit in the first officer's position and take the controls. He returned to London on the same aircraft at about 16:30. He finally returned to Moscow on 15th July. Sadly, Yuri died 27 March 1968 whilst flying a MIG 15UTI which crashed during a training sortie.
Yuri Gagarin
circa 1964
Converted to V.806X standard by Marshall's at Teversham Airport, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. This mainly involved replacing the Dart RDa7 Mark 520 engines with RDa6 Mark 510 engines. The RDa7 engines were returned to Rolls-Royce where some of them were converted to Mark 526 standard for use on the BEA Armstrong Whitworth 650 Argosy.
BEA 'Flying Union Jack' livery
circa 1968
A new BEA ‘Flying Union Jack‘ livery was adopted and most aircraft were repainted when they went in for major overhaul, which took some of them into the early 70s before this was accomplished.
31 March 1971
BEA annual report quotes total time as 23,411 hours.
December 1971
Sold to Cambrian Airways.
 FURTHER READING: Books about BEA - British European Airways
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