VH-UEH  Beagle A109 Airedale                                (c/n    B526)

                           

                                As kind of a last ditch effort to combat the impact of American machines such as the Cessna 172,
                                British Executive & General Aviation Ltd developed the A109 in 1961 from the old line of Auster
                                aircraft.  In fact, in order to save production costs the jigs which had been used to produce the Auster
                                range were were modified for use on the Airedale line.  It was, of course, a lost cause, and the resultant
                                costing consistently showed a P & L bottom line with parens around it (i.e a loss) and. as a result, only
                                43 were built.  Ironically, these Beagle products were extremely well made and good Airedales and
                                even more so, good 206s are hard to find and fetch a handsome price these days!   This aircraft is
                                still active.  Geoff Goodall's photo above shows it when fairly new at at Horsham, Victoria in 1965
                                while below is a contemporary (April, 2008) shot of it by Phil Vabre, still in its original Beagle
                                bronze and white livery, taken at the Temora Air Pageant.