5X-UVA
A personal note. I always felt an affinity for UVA as I was fortunate enough to be at Brooklands when she took off on her maiden flight to Wisley in 1966. Somewhere under a vast pile of my lifes's collection of bits and pieces is my old reggie spotting log book with the exact date. One day I'll dig it out.
BAC used to do guided factory tours of their adjoining Weybridge works on Saturday mornings which you could go on for free if you wrote a letter showing interest and, on one of my my days (I went twice as I found it so interesting), UVA's maiden take off was a bonus highlight. The tour was fascinating in itself as VC10s (mainly the RAF ones from the part cancelled BOAC order if I recall) plus Concorde fuselage sections were in production there at the time.
However, the sight and sound (aaahh Conways!) of 5X-UVA, resplendent in that beautiful (then brand spanking new) EAA scheme, roaring south away from the rail embankment (they had to stop the trains whenever there was a take off to avoid jet blast blowing a passing Southern Region train from the vertical) is something I will never forget. Sadly I got no photos as cameras were banned from the factory tours for obvious reasons.
The terrible fate of that beautiful bird and, worse, its innocent occupants just a few years later is very sad.