Hawker Siddeley Trident | Rise and fall of the mighty trijet

[@DrFod]

"This aircraft failed, but it paved the way for others". British aircraft industry in a nutshell.

[@beek014]

@Alexander Challis beautiful technical solutions, but much too complicated!

[@SiliconBong]

4:48 that guy with glasses is awesome :D

[@southwest3671]

SiliconBong people were decent and approachable back then.

[@SiliconBong]

@@southwest3671 I wish the same could be said the latest version of windows, *should have stuck with the mac.

[@COIcultist]

Dr Fod how is miss Wayward Body getting on these days? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmjdkmVuhZiNhKM

[@christianzhouzheng]

Yes, finally! I love the British aircraft, from the Bristol Britannia to the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 to the BAe 146 and everything in between. Great video Sky as always, keep up the great videos and upload schedules!

[@johnmehaffey9953]

I loved flying on the trident it thrilled me being on board such a beautiful aircraft cutting edge in its day

[@GolfInTheZone]

As a kid in the 70s I spent many hours plane spotting at Elmdon Airport, Birmingham. We were lucky if we got more than 3 flights an hour! The majority were BA One-Eleven's, but looked forward to the Tridents and Comets. Great video - makes me feel nostalgic :0)

[@canerguener8664]

1-11 was loud. Very loud rear seats

[@tango22ah]

Glad to see Lt. Columbo making an appearance at 4:38

[@cogitoergospud1]

117 Tridents versus 1,872 Boeing 707s! Wow, that’s a HUGE market share difference.

[@caiomotta9936]

Sky, please do a video on the VC-10!

[@douglasfaichnie]

I love the old BEA livery. Thank you 😊

[@senosab]

Hi. I'm pretty sure the Caravelle was a twin engine jet. Keep up the good work! Love your videos BTW. Great job!

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

I think he just misused the article, he said "like THE 3 engined Caravelle" and I believe he ment to say "like A 3 engined Caravelle"

[@chrisburnby62]

It was twin engined. Sud Aviation made it. It blew its wings off a few times due wheels being retracted and stowed too early. An airspeed switch was installed to prevent retraction on ALL types of aircraft from then onwards. It had never happened before so it was a wake up call heeded by the regulators.

[@jacobzimmermann59]

The European aviation industry in those days seemed to always run into the same wall. Whether it was the British or continental Europe (mainly the French firms), they had lots of good ideas and unquestionable engineering talent that were systematically undermined by poor understanding of the market (with the possible exception of the Caravelle). It really took Airbus to turn that around and even then, the original A300 was still designed and initially marketed with the same old mistakes, that is based on the assumption that it could just be pitched to domestic government-owned airlines who would be directed to buy it.

[@pauljones8149]

Your forgetting the BAC 1-11 which had similar numbers to the caravelle but your spot on with the reasons why some of these planes were never a success.

[@paulqueripel3493]

The British had the reverse problem. We designed our planes for what one airline told us, not for what the majority of airlines wanted. Then the airline would change its mind. The vc10 fits your model though, BOAC never wanted it, they'd been told they needed by the government and Vickers made it to BOAC's specifications, which again , nobody else wanted. Edit, okay, he just said that. I'd paused it to reply.

[@pauljones8149]

Paul Queripel the VC 10 was an amazing aircraft though , flew on it many times , a much nicer ride than the 707 .

[@jacobzimmermann59]

@@paulqueripel3493 That's true and the same thing could be said for the ill-fated Dassault Mercure and of course the Concorde. But I guess my point was that back then the European industry was trying to build and sell aircraft based on a perceived and often imaginary need (whether it was the specs of a single airline, or the supposed requirements of a state monopoly) without being able to understand the broader market realities. On the other hand, Boeing and Douglas were extremely good at this, had a much larger market which allowed them do to it cheaper, and as a result their products sold like hotcakes.

[@pauljones8149]

Alexander Challis 👍

[@dpace2310]

Can you do the history of the VC-10.

[@MechanicalMentor]

Great video man. Miss the piano music you used to have lol.

[@ElmerCat]

Hawker Siddeley went on to build trains for Boston's MBTA Blue Line and Orange Line subways. After 40 years, the Orange Line cars are still running!

[@RLTtizME]

I flew on this aircraft from London to Manchester. I remember that the seats faced backwards...a little disconcerting.

[@michduncg]

R L T Not all the seats faced backwards - just a few groups of seats faced each other across a table. At the forward end of the rear cabin. This was a BEA feature they had used throughout the 50 and early 60s on Elizabethan, Viscount and Comets - presumablly Vanguards as well.

[@trash4cash454]

Good British plane. I think some of its tech came to the A320 later

[@super20dan]

was not a good plane . severely underpowered and dangerous at climb out

[@michduncg]

@@super20dan it wasn't severely underpowered, hence its ability to fly faster than most modern airliners. Yes it could have done with a little more power to help reduce take off lengths. Any aircraft is designed to operate within parameters and the Trident was no exception. The T-tail arrangement didn't help but provided the slats were extended appropriately there was absolutely not a problem with safety at take off. Hawker Siddeley put huge effort into stall warning and mitigation systems that are still used on airliners today. There was a design flaw in the cockpit arrangement of the slats as a separate control instead of building it into the flap controls as airliners do now. Yes, that may have resulted in the loss of one Trident in the 'PI accident, which is still the UKs worst aircrash. The only other major Trident incident in British service was a mid air collision when the aircraft was in steady flight over the former Yugoslavia

[@Robert_N]

@@michduncg I believe another crashed at a test flight. The pilots pulled the circuit breaker for the stick pusher then deliberately stalled the aircraft. They didn't have enough altitude to recover. Aircraft crashed after it went into a deep stall killing the test pilots.

[@chrisburnby62]

@@super20dan the “ pocket rocket” underpowered? Get a grip man!

[@Needmore27]

Please do Fokker 28/100, that would be awesome

[@MobileGifte]

Please make a film about the BAC1-11 made in my home town Bournemouth I made parts for her and flew from Gatwick to Madrid also on a comet from venice to bournemouth Dan Air

[@brothergrimaldus3836]

Why is it British industry never reads market trends correctly? If they had just stuck with the original size to compete with the 727 and then made it smaller later, they would have been just fine.

[@adamskikijowski9139]

Remember flying London Oslo or Gothenburg in them. First flight Monday. Always freezing cold initially. Great friendly BA stewardesses.

[@super20dan]

was going to comment but the comment below say it all

[@paulqueripel3493]

Image of Hawkers at 5.50, I recognise that, now a housing estate. Not seen fog in London for a long time.

[@paulshepherd8295]

Yes, the old factory at Richmond Road, Kingston. Did my apprenticeship there.

[@kaiparker7757]

theres one on display at my local airport

[@johnbockelie3899]

Boeing 727 was like this plane.

[@bmc9504]

@@johnbockelie3899 eh?

[@seanwalsh9814]

Next time you're there please make a video on it! Would love to see it!

[@smallmoneysalvia]

Where do you find all these old high res film scans?

[@ikecanada]

Please please do a video on the Canadian Avro Arrow!!!!!! Love to see your take on it

[@ikecanada]

J. O. The Avro Arrow is stuff out of legends as they were all destroyed after canceling the program. Mach 2.0 in the fifties with altitudes higher than 50 thousand feet!!!! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow

[@ikecanada]

J. O. 1959. Please do a video on the Avrow Arrow. I would love to see your take on it

[@ramilv739]

Oh , now I know which aircraft Tupolev copied for tu 154. My grandfather worked at Soviet aircraft factories

[@RomanCollins-ji2qp]

The Boeing 737 max 10 shuld have buster engine

[@petebeard324]

I started my working career at Hatfield manufacturing the 2E and the Super 3B for China. I wish I had a £ for every time I hit my head in the avionics bay under the cockpit

[@jorge8596]

So they made an amazing plane with great capabilities and then BEA told them to make it worse?

[@marksinthehouse1968]

Stories of tridents going supersonic over Hertfordshire on test Shame it was too closely tailored to BEA

[@dyeet6861]

well if they did go supersonic they would explode and break up

[@K1W1fly]

The autoland system on the Trident was exceptionally good for its time. At one point Heathrow airport complained that there was a build up of rubber on specific places on their runways where all the Tridents were landing on the same spot.

[@biggbro9]

Such precision considering it was the 60s and still a new technology.

[@southwest3671]

They have a special scraping machine for that today. It removes all the rubber build up.

[@Robert_N]

Amazing aircraft. Dad RIP was a captain on the Trident aircraft 1965-1974. He loved flying it.

[@austindarrenor]

@@southwest3671 Dawn dish soap and a scrub brush.

[@beagle7622]

It was outstanding. I had no idea that in testing , test pilots were doing zero visibility landing. Of course at the same time 1969 Boeing introduced the INS (Inertial Navigation System on the Boeing 747-100). It was a remarkable period for aviation. I do remember something about the rubber build up . My dad always had a subscription to Fight International.

[@llynellyn]

It's not really fair to class the Trident as a failure considering it was designed primarily for a single operator and ended up doubling it's initial sales target, the plane was very profitable for it's manufacturer. It was a great plane, there would probably still be some flying somewhere today if they hadn't all been retired early due to the noise regs.

[@justforever96]

They met their minimum sales target to ensure they turned a profit and didnt lose money, so it was a success as far as that goes. But they obviously hoped for a larger market eventually. No aircraft company develops a jet and says 'we just want to sell 150, to make sure development costs are covered, we have no interest it selling more than that'. Perhaps it is not fair to call the Trident a failure, except as compared to the success of the clear competitors to it, like the 727. The Trident was sold in far smaller numbers, and was not developed any further, so it was hardly a success as measured by major aircraft builders.

[@daveroche6522]

The HS-121 was far ahead of its time. Unfortunately, as with most great designs/inventions, everything is ruined when the politicians / executives get involved. Thank you Skyships - another superb presentation - I especially like the reference(s) to 'Albion'. Dave (Hibernia).

[@xtrofilm]

You could hear them take off from Malaga when you were plane spotting on the roof at Manchester.

[@byteme9718]

I used to love cycling to the airport with my mates as a kid to watch and listen to these. BAC 1-11s were probably noisier and both far more than Concorde.

[@magnusforsman9150]

😂

[@steviec8370]

You are not wrong... An ear bursting scream that was pretty unwelcome at all times..!

[@j.o.1516]

@@byteme9718 Tridents were nosier, no wonder, three engines, not two.

[@byteme9718]

@@j.o.1516 To be honest I never felt they were but both were capable of rattling your diaphragm on take off.

[@alexp3752]

Thank you for the wonderful video. I flew on a BEA Trident in 1969 from LHR to ZRH. I remember the brown leather interior and novel center engine intake. Amazing plane looking back with its advanced Autoland system. Smart guys, British engineers! After all, they invented the first jet engine, the first pressurized jet transport and countless other innovations. We owe them a great deal. Bravo chaps!

[@alvexok5523]

They were a good aircraft. In 1981, I flew on a BA Trident from London Heathrow to Frankfurt. On several other occasions in that time period, I also flew on a BA Bac 1-11 from London H to Aberdeen, a BA 747 from London H to Boston and London H to NY. It was all when BA livery had the flag corner and red top of the tail.

[@Glen.Danielsen]

Sky is the apple of our eye. Endlessly articulate, intelligent, artful, fascinating. 💛😎

[@derekbell4641]

He has a command of the English language many native speakers lack. A disarming mellifluous eloquence!

[@sadiqjohnny77]

I loved the Trident--it was my first jet command. Our airline did not want the plane, we wanted the B 727 which was better suited to our routes and the temperatures that we operated in. It was much more advanced, technically than our B707s. We had the Trident 1E with a greater range than the 1, but still gave us a range problem between Lahore and Dacca. We never had that navigation system or the auto-land. We did have one in an unusual configuration. The President's plane had a small, extra engine that could boost the speed rapidly if a stall condition occurred. The President gave the airline his plane and only used it (with our crews) when it was needed. The 1E had an auto pilot that had separate engagement levers for roll and pitch. We did not have the "motorcycle" control column but had the usual half wheel, which we preferred. Its radar was the best for its time--you could use it for navigation as well as its primary use of avoiding bad weather--and we had plenty of that.One of the instructors who trained our pilots was the wartime night fighter ace, Group Captain Cunningham. In temperatures above 30C (and we sometimes landed in 40+C) the brakes would overheat and blow tyres. Cunningham taught us to take idle reversers (only on the two side engines) while crossing the threshold for landing--bringing in full reverse for touch down. Very few pilots used this as it took a bit of extra skill but I used it a lot --and it saved me from overheating the brakes. In summer this plane cruised at Mach .78 in high temps, but in winter it became an amazing climber and cruised at Mach .88----our B707s cruised at Mach .82. We sometimes overtook them en-route. HS upped the price of spare parts to the extent that it was uneconomical--even with full loads--so we sold them to China.The Chinese loved the planes and bought many more from HS. The Chinese could make their own spares. The plane was very sensitive to speed on approach--if you let the speed bleed off, it would go into a "mush descent" which could only be arrested by going to full go-around power. Many years later, when I was Chief on B747s, I had lunch at the Paris Air Show with the Chairman of BAC. They wanted to sell us the the BAC 146 for our Northern Operations. I reminded him of the trick played on us by the huge increase in Trident spares. He did not deny that, but assured me that it would not be repeated for the BAC 146. We never bought them!

[@geoffreymee7671]

Great story/ies of your aviation history Johnny. Thank you.

[@canerguener8664]

Great. Short-term profit leads often to long-term loss.

[@oxcart4172]

I lived about 5 miles from the factory. Boy they were loud! U could hardly hear it's relacement, the BAe 146!

[@vulgivagu]

I know they were loud but they were outdone by the BAC1-11. I lived a mile from where they were made at Hurn and the noise was deafening. Considering it was a small aircraft the sound was crazy. As far as I am aware it is the only British built airliner that had to have a hush kit fitted to its engines.

[@bullwinklejmoos]

The 146, the 5 APU airplane. 2 years of good memories flying that bird.

[@damian-795]

Boeing nicked it after being invited over by HS and made the 727. We were polite and British and let them do it, God knows why 😥

[@beagle7622]

The 727 is markedly different. Look at the 2 side by side. Remember they flew about 12 months apart. The fuselage section was very similar to a Boeing 707 as was the cockpit.

[@justforever96]

Boeing was already well into the design of the 727 before HS ever approached them. Why do you think they went to Boeing specifically? Because they knew they were already working on a very similar aircraft and feared the competition. In any case, even if Boeing 'stole' their idea, Boeing took it and did it _correctly_, made it larger and more powerful, and much more in line with the needs of the airlines, which is why Boeing sold many times more 727s. In any case the aircraft are totally different aside from both being trijets, and if you want to get into accusing people of 'nicking' based on that, then DH 'nicked' Sud Aviation's idea, and Lockheed and Douglas 'stole' it from Boeing. This is how the aviation industry works. This is why all airliners now use the underwing engine layout that Boeing created with the 707. I understand why Brits are bitter at being left behind so rapidly, but that doesn't mean the whole world only succeeded by stealing the brilliant ideas that only _British_ engineers could come up with. Not that Americans dont do the same thing whenever the Soviets, and now China, come up with something good. Or the Japanese, who 'stole' an American fighter design to create the Zero (with the minor differences of looking totally different, being much faster and more agile, and actually working well, which was never the case with the plane they supposedly copied).

[@beagle7622]

@@justforever96 Part of the reason that plane got stuffed up so badly was that BEA was dictating to HaS what they were to build . I think Government money was tied to that requirement. Of course the British didn’t really have an engine either. I mean the basic design is just so different. Boeing back then built aircraft that the market want . The British built planes for both BEA and in the case of the VC 10 what BOAC wanted. I have read in many places the VC10 was heavy & just too complex when compared to the Boeing 707 . Also they used their own engines , the Conway & the Spey. I may be wrong on some points but been reading about this since I was a kid.

[@COIcultist]

Skyships. Sir as always a fine documentary but unusually one I might find some fault with. I think you underplay: The British policy of designing for the UK airlines and not to the original design possibilities. This murdered the Vickers VC-10 also amongst many projects. The airline getting just what they wanted then changed their minds leaving the producers with a white elephant. The political force of H.M. Government in trying to force consolidate the UK aircraft industry. The initial BEA required downsizing destroying the need for the RR Medway engine which bit back again when trying to upsize the now undersized Trident and the need for a fourth engine. Or fifth if including the APU. ( Nothing to do with this but look at the picture of the RB. 142 Medway on Wikipedia. Where have you seen something similar?) What I'm finding odd though is your one complete omission of one feature. I thought you were possibly generous in saying that the take off performance was *"Not Record Breaking."* I think I've seen it quoted that the performance on take off was *"Proof Of The curvature Of the earth!"* Yes the DH/HS/BAC 121 had advanced devices to assist the performance of the wing but a quick wing with not quite the engine it should have had did make take off performance interesting. Landing performance was another thing altogether. Ignoring it being able to land when other planes would be diverting its actual physical performance was outstanding. It could come in high. Over terrain or weather and drop faster than a stone. Over 10,000 feet/min. One of the few aircraft able to deploy reverse thrust in flight (Off top of head MD 80 also?) See 3.06 onwards. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGbFqKpngtWUhJI Still think your documentaries are top drawer Skyships and look forward to being able to watch the VC=10 documentary again soon. Please, Sky I ask on nearly every documentary that you do, can you convert the engine thrust into lbs force. Be it aurally or a quick subtitle. I can convert other units in my head but I have to pause to look up and convert thrust figures.

[@marcusdamberger]

I agree, I'm all for metric, but all my reference to thrust has been in lbs of force with jet engines mostly. I do appreciate Skyship Eng including both feet and meters for service ceiling etc.

[@Kathikas1]

COIcultist On a westerly departure from Luqua (Malta) on a hot summer’s day with a full load the aircraft would rotate just before the end of the runway and soon after cross over Dingli Cliffs. The controlling obstacle then became the sea surface some 700ft below and it was not until abeam Gozo some 20miles away that the trident would labour back above it’s departure altitude at Luqua .........

[@frankthomas855]

Great video Sky. Very informative. Really glad you were able to explain that offset nose gear.

[@tenistepic]

thank you for this video I 've been waiting for a video about the trident for so long

[@greateraviationgl91]

Same

[@gooner72]

Me too mate.... as a proud Englishman, I love these early jet passenger aircraft designs.🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌

[@davidgoldin2577]

Agree. Used to be in the UK when I was a kid because my father worked there. Begged him to take BEA when we traveled so I could ride on it.

[@747-8F]

it is great to listen to the fantastic researches you have done and your great knowledge about aviation

[@flybobbie1449]

Been a while since British isles called Albion. There's a Trident at Manchester airport you can walk around.

[@justforever96]

Albion is a classic alternative name for Britain, often used in literature as a poetic reference to Britain. Sort of like referring to anything French as 'Gallic', even though it has been a long, long time since it was called Gaul.

[@flybobbie1449]

@@justforever96 Not sure if it was used as BEA callsign.

[@gooner72]

As I'm English, I'm proper pleased that you've included the Trident on your channel. She's such an iconic aircraft in aviation history and deserves more recognition than she currently gets. Thank you mate!!🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌

[@MyJerseybean]

The lesson here was painfully learned by making an Aircraft for just one customer . Airbus has been a far greater success by careful Market research and building Aircraft to fill the needs of many Airlines, thus at last the strangle hold of Boeing has been met, To day Airbus has , I believe 50/55% Market share of the Worlds Airliner market. The lessons were learned the hard way as I believe the HS Trident was a well built and rugged Aircraft with Blind Landing which was ground breaking in its Day.

[@chrisburnby62]

Rubbish, Airbus we’re giving their a/craft away for free in those days. I remember 6 with Eastern Airways. Boeing always made for the American market , it was big enough to ignore others.

[@Springbok295]

I flew aboard several Tridents during the 70s when my family visited friends and family in Yugoslavia. My last Trident flight was in August 1981 on a Trident 2 from Zagreb to LHR. My father and I sat in the rear facing row immediately behind door 2R. I can still remember seeing Big Ben/Parliament as we flew the approach into Heathrow. One flight in '73 on BEA from LHR-BEG the flight crew left the cockpit door open on finals.

[@harmentrout4286]

Do a video on the 797. What it would have been and how corona ruined it

[@SkyshipsEng]

Interesting idea

[@seanwalsh9814]

Anything by Boeing isn't worthy of notice.

[@justforever96]

@@seanwalsh9814 Yeah, its just one of the two major airliner manufacturers in the world, providing a majority of passenger transport aircraft, and classic iconic designs like the 707, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, and game changers like the 787. Clearly we should just ignore them as a trivial side issue and pretend they don't exist, because a bunch of Airbus fanboys get butthurt when their chosen team doesn't get all the attention. I mean, it's _obvious_ that Airbuses are far superior, based on up to a _dozen_ trivial, subjective points, so pay no attention to all those multi-billion dollar corporations who still select Boeing over Airbus, they clearly have no idea what they are doing, and should all take the advice of emotionally-involved internet experts who can tell them how it _really_ is. Because airbus is just, like, BETTER, because it IS! Because I LIKE Airbus better!!!

[@nztv8589]

the safety record was excellent as far as remember. One was lost in a mid air collision due to ATC error, another one the droops were retracted early. none, as far i recall crashed due to design errors

[@eamonryan2198]

Another crashed in 1972 on take off from LHR. Apparently the the captain was having a heart attack and too steep an angle of attack stalled the aircraft.

[@jumboneil]

Mid 1980’s, in a bar frequented by a mixed bag of airline pilots, a senior British pilot was holding court and boring a few of his younger colleagues talking at length about flying the Trident in his youth as a first officer. The younger pilots politely listened about the airplane’s autoland capability or it’s design allowing reverse thrust in-flight to help it aggressively descend (most pilots knew the airplane’s reputation as a dog, with regard to poor takeoff performance (earning the airplane it’s nickname, the ground gripper) and, as mentioned in this video, it was actually a commercial failure compared to the B727). Eventually, a Qantas pilot in the bar had enough of the history lecture and told the Brit pilot, “listen mate, we all figure that flying that Trident was a bit like making love to a sheep....it might have seemed like fun at the time, but you don’t talk about it later....”

[@canerguener8664]

Not a gentleman

[@geoffreystone4849]

I saw one do a barrel roll over Hatfield airfield back in the 1970s where Hawker Siddeley had their headquarters.

[@seanwalsh9814]

Holy shit that's cool

[@chrisburnby62]

It was called the pocket rocket!

[@clive817]

That might have been my father! He has often said that he rolled the trident during a flight! Not with passengers on board though!

[@MobileGifte]

Rolly beaumont rolled a Vulcan at Farneboure And then over the factory And broke many windows He got a real bollocking

[@divyamsinghchauhan1740]

MiG-21, 25, 31? Great video..like always!

[@SkyshipsEng]

Maybe MiG-25 soon

[@divyamsinghchauhan1740]

@@SkyshipsEng Can't wait!

[@greateraviationgl91]

@Skyships Eng Yes these fighters but also don't forget fighters from USA like the F-4 Phantom ii, A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair ii and F-5 Freedom Fighter / Tiger

[@seanwalsh9814]

The F4 is American?

[@justforever96]

@@seanwalsh9814 Is that a joke? The F-4 is one of the most classic, symbolic American fighters. it is a symbol of the Vietnam war, much like the UH-1 Huey helicopter.

[@nickbenfell4327]

In 1969 I flew in a Trident from Rome to London - a flight whose memory remains with me to this day. Loved that aeroplane and sad to see it did not have the success it deserved.

[@tombirkland]

Good job, Sky, as always. Great footage at 3:50 of the FedEx 727 landing at Merrill Field in Anchorage, Alaska, some years ago. Merrill Field is a small general aviation field, and FedEx donated that plane to the University of Alaska's aviation program. Must have been exciting to see such a big plane land at such a short field!

[@rapidthrash1964]

I saw that plane recently and got to take some up close photos of that beauty

[@anikettsuuryanshirana5630]

Fedrex is so rich they donated Aircraft, thank you for the knollage. WORKING ON ANY PROJECT'S AND DESIGN IS KEY . But few comes out as expert or champion. I M ONE OF THEM . JACK OF ALL BUT I m not Master because I m still STUDENT 🌴🍂

[@davekp6773]

Thanks Sky, great vid. I was lucky to fly on a British Airways Trident back in 1982 with rear facing seats.

[@COIcultist]

Ah! You sat at the seats with the table? How many table seats were there? I'm presuming it was first class? I was confused at first thinking of the RAF's VC-10s having reverse facing seats and thinking "There weren't any RAF Tridents were there?" Only aware of the Tridents' table seats because Trident interior mock-ups were used in the great Yorkshire TV spy drama The Sandbaggers. (Available on KZbin well recommended!)

[@COIcultist]

Ah, just the two tables 09.30 to 09.36 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGbFqKpngtWUhJI

[@austindarrenor]

I flew on a BEA Trident from LHR to GVA. That was the closest I've ever been to going straight up vertical in an airplane.

[@donlove3741]

You nailed it in the opening. The British always seemed to design airplanes for a national Carrier. Rest of the aviation world Seem to do market research and then determine what kind of plane to build.

[@bobsingeton2719]

From 1970 until 2017 I lived near Hampton Court on the Heathrow flight path. Concorde was noisy... VERY noisy... when it flew overhead, but that only happened a few times a day. Almost as noisy were the Tridents, and with BEA flying several times a day to Paris, Amsterdam and elsewhere there were dozens of flights a day. In summer when we had the windows open to get some air in the house, it was absolute hell! It was a joyous day when they were taken out of service! As a UK-French dual national, I flew several times a year between Heathrow and Le Bourget/Orly/CdG on Caravelles, Viscounts, Tridents and 727s in the early days and Airbus more recently. Loved the Caravelle, but the Viscount was the most comfortable in those earlier days.

[@richardroller6366]

Flew all Tridents 1,2and3 many, many times. with BEA .Remember the rear facing seats up front where you directly faced pax ..Also, Trident one of very few aircraft certificated to allow reverse thrust while still airborne. Flying into Milan Linate one day with a a nasty float I recall the pilot flying engaging the clam shells and heavily opening the throttles to get the damn plan onto the rapidly reducing remaining runway and kill the lift and get on the brakes.(From frequent trips into Linate. I knew the usual touchdown point by the ‘hut’ that was on the starboard side of the airfield and that day we sailed past it still in the air! As an aside in those days(1970+ ) 200 cigarettes on board cost £1.00 and gin and tonic£0.25 - and it was customary to tell the steward to ‘ keep the change’ which they always gratuitously did.- Yes the Trident was a very welcome site on the tarmac with its distinctive tail marking after 3 weeks in Moscow with shocking food and its then USSR soviet oppression. I recall also waiting to board a Trident in Lisbon for the return to LHR - there was a technical problem and from the airport window I saw the flight engineer with the cowling open in the rain working on the centre engine doing something . Finally all was closed up and we boarded and took off. Those were the days of no security but also the airline cartels.

[@victorgrasscourt3382]

The problem was that aircraft like the Trident or VC10 were too customised to the customer, rather than the wider market. The BAC 1-11 did better as the brainchild of Freddie Laker, who saw the opportunity in the business for this type of aircraft.

[@possel4747]

"Perhaps the most famous creation of its motherland"? "Awesomeness"? "Dramatic fate"? Do you know what "hyperbole" means? The Trident entered service in 1964 not 1965, and had only three fatal accidents in airline service, and one of those was a midair collision. I think you are a little harsh with comments about its accident rate.

[@hypercomms2001]

These problems are a typical of the reason why there is no British aviation industry today. Bad management both at the corporate and government level has led to his destruction. Now Brexit, and especially if a Na deal occurs Will kill off this once great enterprise. In my case I once worked for Marconi GEC Avionics.

[@RonJohn63]

Britain had a bad habit of giving away aviation secrets to the competition...

[@akronymus]

Britain had a bad habit of never developing anything to perfection.

[@shebbs1]

@@akronymus The same could be said of many countries, including the US and Russia.

[@akronymus]

@@shebbs1 Ok, same could be said about Snowwhite or the dwarfs.

[@hydewhyte4364]

This and the 707 were my favourite planes to fly.

[@BackwardFinesse]

Did you ever fly VC-10?

[@saintuk70]

Loved watching Trident movements at Glasgow Airport (Abbotsinch) in the 70's and early 80's - at that time it was used primarily are the Shuttle, a service that ran between Scotland and London.

[@istvansipos9940]

04:35 wait! is that really my man on an aviation channel? Is it Lt. Columbo?

[@ahshatmasell6751]

Dagger of the mind episode

[@skyem5250]

What happened to your VC10 video?

[@SkyshipsEng]

Some KZbin issues. Maybe it will be back after some time

[@COIcultist]

@@SkyshipsEng Please, Sky it would be good to see it again.

[@freddyrosenberg9288]

It failed because the nose landing gear was offset to one side... it looked goofy on the ground.

[@MrJoe1129uscg]

The first trijet...with 5 engines. True story

[@gavinmunro1739]

I flew on one of the first international flights into China in January 1978 aboard a CAAC Trident from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. It was quite strange to see this lonely little Chinese aircraft in the middle of the tarmac at Kai Tak Airport amongst all of the western Boeing 747s. At that time in Hong Kong nobody had seen a Chinese aircraft before. The takeoff was quite extraordinary - the pilot must have been ex-military. After the takeoff run the aircraft just went straight up with an amazing rate of climb. It must have been at least 30 degrees pitch and maybe more. The pilot continued in this fashion all the way to Guangzhou - only about 30 minutes. At Guangzhou we were the only aircraft and the terminal was a very empty place apart from our passengers. Enormous contrast to the present day.

[@gavinmunro1739]

Sorry 1979 not 1978.

[@macavitysmusic4427]

Lovely Plane. Flow on one quite a few times! Lived directly under flightpath to Manchester (UK) Airport - Planes normally flew over at 800ft or so... ONE day, Jet noise (behind house) kept on increasing! We dashed to front window, to see a Trident - FULL throttle, angled steeply - Almost skimming rooftops? No internet! Such stuff didn't make the News? A bit disconcerting though! :P

[@dogbadger]

A trident could be stacked over an airport in a holding pattern awaiting a landing slot - when fog was present delaying landings for other types these aircraft could be authorised to jump the que as they were capable of descending very rapidly, even able to achieve a 10,000ft per min sink rate with thrust reverser operation in flight (for which the type was certified)

[@Kathikas1]

Al James On base training details we used to apply 10000rpm reverse thrust on engines 1 & 3, full speed (air) brake, disable the nose gear then drop the main gear and descend at .88M/365kts and achieve well over 20000fpm Oh, and before they disabled the outboard ailerons it had a faster rate of roll than the BAC Lightning!

[@alexp3752]

@@Kathikas1 You have more guts than me! - Retired MD-11 PIC.

[@chrisjohnson6876]

Another FAB doco on UK aviation pioneers, brings back fond memories of my plane spotting days in 1970 @ Ringway! Cheers

[@johnbockelie3899]

I saw a Nimrod at the air show years ago. Never knew it was a modified De Havland Comet.

[@bmc9504]

What many don't know is that it actually had 5 engines, 1 booster and the APU was a jet.

[@justforever96]

No, it is a turbine engine, like most APUs. A turboshaft. Not a 'jet'. A jet creates output in the form of thrust, a turboshaft or turboprop is identical, except it extracts the energy from the gasses with a turbine and sends it to an output shaft as rotational energy, like a piston engine. Most helicopters and large prop planes use these engines as main engines, and all aircraft APUs since the 1960s or so are turbine engines. It is not classified among the engines of a plane because it doesn't provide thrust (directly or indirectly), and it is not used in flight. It is only to provide power and hydraulic pressure when the plane is on the ground and the engines are shut down.

[@bmc9504]

@@justforever96 thanks for the correction. Interesting.

[@JDJLalor]

The fourth engine was the RB162 and was introduced on the Trident 3.

[@Miftahjaya96]

nice content,,,,,amazing video

[@anikettsuuryanshirana5630]

Good for short runway , nice avionic systems 🔵

[@bmc9504]

Americans stole the 727 design from the British

[@jurb2941]

post ww2 britain is depressing

[@fokkerf281000]

Great job, very much enjoy your videos.

[@daos3300]

remember flying on these as a child, always loved the look of the 3 engine layout.

[@dr.p.andthewomen4851]

Very competently produced video. Great footage, great text. I really appreciate your work.

[@jasonking6892]

Great plane Lousy Government 👎🇬🇧

[@AviationNut]

I don't know why but I can't stand the look of that cockpit teardrop window, it just makes the front of the aircraft look ugly. But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@stalkinghorse883]

4:37 Lt Columbo

[@tedthesailor172]

Yep - I did a double take on that one. I wonder which episode brought old crumple-coat to London...

[@bobparker9511]

The Hawker Siddeley Trident was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after the Boeing 727. 177 Tridents were manufactured. Boeing produced 1,832 727's.

[@ImperialDiecast]

back in the 50s and 60s when the UK was a powerhouse, had 20 different car companies and even aircraft manufacturing companies of its own. Today a far cry from these times of innovation.

[@tiberiotavares9698]

Hello mate, thank you for this video as I was not aware of said history

[@alibuolayyan9038]

Thank you . I got new information the first time I know it especially about wheels. In 1966 the first accident of the crash of a Kuwait Airways Trident plane occurred before its arrival at the airport building coming from Beirut with 72 passengers on board. Thank God there were no human losses because the plane fell on a sandy ground close to the airport

[@danielkennedy1524]

Great show! The British really had forward thinking!, just poor marketing and manufacturing. VC-10 was another!

[@Yuu_Adamowski]

The range of the Trident also killed one particular Chinese General's whole family when they tried to defect to no other than United Stat.. I mean Soviet Union. And the lack of the air stair even forced him and his family to climb onto the plane via evacuation rope in the cockpit, since time is tight when doing something like defection maybe. And the Chinese really loved their Tridents.(I think they're the biggest operator beside BEA.) Even in the socialist bloc there're some concerns about the safety of Ty-134/154.

[@ltcm777]

VT 18.16 Lin Biao was his name.

[@Yuu_Adamowski]

@@ltcm777 Thanks for the Info, there're some really interesting things about his family though. Apparently, his son was considered as a Punk Rock father of China? But that did make sense cuz only privileged people could listen to western music in China at that time.

[@camiemengineer]

Informative, engineering-wise, as always and top class presentation.

[@bennybenitez2461]

Brilliant, utterly brilliant presentation. Well thought out and most interesting and informative. Jolly Good!

[@steviec8370]

It was so noisy.. I lived in Norwood Green - west London as child and the Trident was the only other aircraft besides Concorde that was clearly audible even with the TV on and indoors. Those shots of the Comet 4 - wow what a beautiful aircraft... Surely the most elegant jet airliner ever.? Great post once again Skyships... I just love your videos..

[@MobileGifte]

RR spay engines also on the Buckaneer night sorties no sleep at HMS FULMAR Lossiemouth great days i wish i could go back

[@ckyliu]

Take off performance was so poor with the original 1C variant it was nicknamed "Gripper" and crews joked it only took off because of the curvature of the earth LOL. Whilst more power would have helped the wing was optimised for a high speed cruise to the detriment of "unsticking"

[@jackharrison6771]

Great video, thanks. I could never decide which I liked the best, between this, and the BAC 1-11; I had a Slight Simulator 9 version for both. And both were good to fly.

[@dc10fomin65]

UK has a glorified history of developing exceptional flying machines but always missing the " FINISHING TOUCH ". The Comet, the Trident, the BAE146, on, and on, and on, oh and the Concorde, but that was Anglo-French. No matter what, I salute the Brits for being so innovative in producing airplanes, oh, I forgot, how about the VC-10, I better stop, cheers from Chicago...................

[@atatexan]

Excellent video, Sky. Another masterpiece. I used to work for Rolls-Royce Aero Engines. One of the old hands said the Trident was known asthe “Gripper” because of how long it clung to the runway on take-off.

[@ronnieince4568]

Charles Cleaver -only the curvature of the earth finally got a fully loaded one into the air !!! But seats 25X and 25Y were the most roomy seats in any aircraft of the time

[@spottydog877]

That was down to the Rolls Royce Spey engines which hampered its development (same for the BAC 1-11).

[@chrisburnby62]

Don’t believe that! I flew twice a week for a year home and back for the weekend! It glued you to your seat on take off with sheer acceleration and upwards! Remember its nickname was the “ pocket rocket” which was appropriate. + the first commercial auto land .

[@ronnieince4568]

@@chrisburnby62 well itcwasca friend of mine who flew then who said they were reluctant to actually lift off -once they did it was an excellent aircraft and technically at the leading edge for its era .

[@chrisburnby62]

Didn’t seem like that to the passengers!

[@thebiggs1469]

The Lockheed L1011 was very advanced too. It could take off and land itself. but ultimately lost to the DC-10.

[@gooner72]

And lastly......... The Nimrod, which was a development of the Comet, was in service well into the 2,000's and was used in Iraq and Afghanistan by the RAF.🇬🇧🇬🇧✌✌

[@RedArrow73]

Project? Brits say, "Programme". (not 'Program')

[@theshadowman1398]

That front landing gear drives me crazy

[@justforever96]

So you are the OCD type he is talking about. Congratulations. There is nothing wrong with an offset gear, it works just as well. Why make design and packaging more complex than it need be just to avoid offending perfectionists who think it should be a certain way just because it looks more tidy that way? Offset gear works just fine on the A-10 as well.