BAe Trident 3B G-AWZK Unveiled
At a ceremony at Manchester Airport’s Aviation Viewing Park BAe Trident 3B G-AWZK was unveiled to the public on 2nd April 2007 after two years of destruction, reconstruction, and renovation.
ZK was delivered to British Airways from Hatfield on 6th October 1971 and flew the routes for them until 1st November 1985 when it was grounded for ever. For the next 20 years it performed mundane tasks such as training tractor drivers and de-icing crews.
In 2005 the authorities at Heathrow decided that it was surplus to requirements and decided to scrap it, however news of this spread and reached the ears of Neil Lomax and the Trident Preservation Society who started a campaign to save the aeroplane. One of the problems was where it could be kept, Heathrow said that they were not interested but Manchester Airport were. This, of course, raised another problem, apart from the little matter of finance, how do you get a non-flyable aircraft the size of a Trident from Heathrow to Manchester? The answer is you chop it up!
The Trident Preservation Society, British Airways and Manchester Airport Authorities got together and funded a rescue package which included cutting off the wings and fin (complete with tailplane) and taking them plus the fuselage by road to Manchester. This had all to be done against a tight time scale as Heathrow had given an end date to get the aeroplane off their patch, and had to include organising a police convoy due to the size of the loads. In spite of these problems the bits of ZW all arrived safely at the Aviation Viewing Park at Manchester Airport. All that had to be done then was to put it back together again.
Those of us who were lucky to be invited to the unveiling ceremony were able to see what a marvellous job had been done in reassembling the aircraft by a company called Simulation-SERS which had been constructing the airport’s new fire training rig. The refurbishment of the interior of the flight deck and cabin is also outstanding and it all looks brand new thanks to the hard work and expertise of the Trident Preservation Society and, in particular, Neil Lomax. It must have been two years of hard, unrelenting graft.
2nd April 2007 dawned bright and sunny when a group of people associated with ZK’s past and future gathered to witness Capt Tony Angus cut the tape at the rear door and declare the aircraft open after speeches from Neil Lomax, Tony Angus and Andrew Holl, Operations Director of Manchester Airport Having admired the pristine exterior and interior, watched a DVD showing the history of the Trident and drunk a glass of champagne ZW was left in the company of a Concorde, an RJX and a DC10 fuselage to await its new public as an example of the capabilities of the British aircraft industry in general and Hatfield in particular.
Comments
- 06 Aug 17 15:53 Major Bowen from Northumberland
- Mr Lomax was NOT the originator of Trident Preservation Society. My son was the originator.and who was under minded. Mr Lomax has a lot to answer for. His observations leaves a lot to be desired. My son now is responsible for The Heathrow Trident Collection. And Proud of it!
- 05 Feb 14 08:38 Kevin Bowen from Feltham
- Hello, Please pass my details to Robin/Richard Power as I have been trying to contact him for years, to tell him of my museum, The Heathrow Trident Collection. Best regards, Kevin. DONE!
- 27 Nov 13 14:40 Richard Power from surrey
- As the retired BA Sales and Customer Service training officer Crainbank LHR that worked at co-ordinating Ramp Training I used a Trident FG/ZL ?/and ground equipment to train new starters. I had a team of training associates from the terminals to assist me. I was made a Hon Member by Mr Kevin Bowen. He may remember me by the name of Robin Power. P.S. At one time a Trident had a Robin of Cranebank logo on it .Wonderful to see pictures and your passion for this unique aircraft. IF KEVIN CONTACTS US WE WILL PUT HIM IN TOUCH WITH RICHARD.
- 05 Oct 08 20:38 James Reid from Sheffield, England
- I started plane spotting back in 1983 age 13, and have very fond memories of the Trident. I was watching them in their last days I guess, but I can always remember waiting up in my attic bedroom on the long summer evenings just after sunset for the last 3B to GLA or EDI to go by high above Sheffield. Watching these aircraft helped to nurture my love for aviation and although I never did get to fly commercially (due to medical reasons) I did get my PPL. Now I have the remarkable and very realistic Trident simulator by David Maltby for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, so I too can fly the London Shuttle in the aircraft I loved so much.
- 05 Aug 08 19:57 Bob Bennett from Leighton Buzzard
- Excellent news that a Trident is preserved. I have a great affection for the plane (and flew on most of the first 20+ delivered, as a flight observer. The performance increase of the 1E over the 1C was noticeable, to me, as it was that few minutes quicker to the initial test routine at 30,000 ft. Probably too much is made of the criticisms over 1C take-off performance, as it met the customer's book figures. Mike Mitchell (BEA's Acceptance Test Pilot) once remarked to 'humble old me' that BEA had hoped it would outperform their spec much more than it did in that respect. The engines delivered book power and they had hoped they would be delivered with a bit more than that. But the plane did the job they wanted - and its all water under the bridge now. But, for me, the Tridents are all beautiful (and quick) aeroplanes in every respect.
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