One of the UK’s most prestigious aircraft looks set to find a new home in either Scandinavia or the US. De Havilland Dove G-HBBC – the first aircraft to be accepted into the Queen’s Flight after Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne in 1952 – is being sold by BBC Air Limited for the princely sum of £325,000.

Under the ownership of BBC Air, the aircraft has made trips to the Monaco Grand Prix and the Cannes Film Festival, and has been deployed on a more regular basis for missions within the UK and to Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

However, executive director Roger Collins explained why the time has now come for this particular Dove to pass into new hands. He said: “It’s been brutally under-utilised. We’ve been flying it for 50 to 80 hours a year which is not cost-effective.

“It was originally bought it as a flying boardroom. We buy lots of military establishments so it’ s been used in connection with that.”

Asked about the strengths of the Dove, Collins said: “It’s only done 5,350 hours since it was built in 1948; we’ve got ample supply of spares – two spare engines and a spare airframe; care and maintenance has never been a problem because of the likes of Devonair and Eurojet who specialise in Doves; it’s got 11 comfortable seats, 1,100 mile range, a built-in toilet, an engine more powerful than that of the average Dove and if you compare with a second-hand Citation or King Air, it’s a fraction of the price.”

Perhaps its most outstanding feature of all, however, is its place in history. From 1953-1960, it served as the only twin-engined aircraft in the Queen’s Flight and was designated the personal aircraft of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Said Collins: “This is the very aeroplane that Prince Philip learned to fly in. It has undoubted pedigree.”

While the aircraft has only been up for sale since June 14, interest so far has come from Norway and the US. Said Collins: “The Norwegians are very well off at the moment and they love classic aeroplanes. It may well end up in Scandinavia or the US. Of the two, I’d prefer it to go to Scandinavia because I’ve got connections there. I fly to Norway every three weeks.”

As EBAN goes to press, the aircraft has already picked up a considerable degree of interest. As Collins says: “it’s like buying a pre-war racing Bentley with 5,000 miles on the clock. And it’ll go up in value, no doubt at all.”