File:De Havilland DH.125 Srs.1 ‘G-ARYC’ (50119445548).jpg

English: c/n 25003.

Built at Chester in 1963 as the first production aircraft and has been on display at the museum since 1979. She carries Bristol Siddeley titles on her port side and Rolls Royce titles on her starboard. de Havilland Aircraft Museum, Salisbury Hall, London Colney, UK. 12th July 2020

The following information is from the museums excellent website:-

“The Museum’s DH125 (G-ARYC) was the first production aircraft, built at Chester in 1963 and used for Viper engine development, later for liaison between Filton and Toulouse for Concorde. It was moved to the Museum in 1979. In its various later guises (with Hawker Siddeley, Beechcraft, British Aerospace, Raytheon) the 125 became one of the World’s most successful business jets. This was the third DH125 (Manufacturing Serial Number 25003) but was the first to be completed at the Chester factory. It was also the first to be built to the Series 1 production standard. MSNs 25001 (G-ARYA) and 25002 (G-ARYB) were completed at Hatfield with the major components having been shipped from Chester. These first two aircraft, however, were essentially prototypes, differing substantially from the third and subsequent aircraft. G-ARYC was built in 1962/63 and first flew on 12th February 1963. On completion of flight testing she began her career in July ’63 with Bristol Siddeley, being used to test and develop the relatively new Viper 520 Series engine, rated at 3,000lb thrust. This was to be the standard for the Series 1 aircraft (‘YA’ and ‘YB’ started life with the 2,500lb thrust 511 Series).

In early May 1964 ‘YC’ visited 16 countries, covering over 5,000 miles in one day (19hrs 32mins) thus demonstrating the robustness of the 125’s design and its ability to deal with an intensive operating schedule. Later, when Bristol Siddeley became part of Rolls Royce, ‘YC’ was one of four aircraft used as communications aircraft between Filton and Toulouse for the Concorde’s Olympus 593 engine.”