BEA British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident

[@MrFlashjet]

My first year of spotting in 1985 meant I was lucky to see all the Trident 3's in action before they were retired. This was the aircraft that got me hooked on aviation!

[@Starboard76]

Exactly, we all have that one airliner that connects with us!

[@EppingLad]

I flew in a Trident 3 from Milan to Heathrow.Along with the Super VC10, one of the best aircraft I've been lucky enough to fly in.

[@Starboard76]

Indeed you were.

[@terencejacobs5352]

I joined British Airways and my first aircraft I operated on as cabin crew was the Trident

[@paulwebb5111]

Brought back so many memories , can almost smell the fumes

[@Springbok295]

I'm so fortunate to have flown on a few Tridents during my family travels to Yugoslavia in the 1970s. My first was in '72 on BEA from LHR-BEG, my last ride was in August 1981 from Zagreb to Heathrow on BA. My father and I sat in the row just behind door 2R. These were rear-facing seats on a T2.

[@atomic32205489]

I have worked 737s for more than 40 years and am very accustomed to their (and most other types of airplanes) centered nose gear. So seeing the Trident's off-center nose gear is so different. The close up shots in the air are amazing.

[@APW_Manbow]

When I was in ground service in the 80's, we often cleaned Tridents for CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China). The sound of the Spey engine is often used by the Thunderbirds.

[@ronintoronto65]

Noticed the location of the nose wheel was offset a bit…interesting

[@mazdaman0075]

Because of the size of the advanced electronics bay under the cockpit there wasn't enough room for the nose wheel to retract fore/aft, it retracted laterally. The electronics were very advanced for the time, specifically the Triplex autoland system.

[@cslan4]

Wow that's crazy how the nose gear folds in and out to the side ,and how it's off set to the left , it seems like a really nice jet but i know very little about it. A British 727 cool!!!

[@rjs1138]

In all my years being interested in aircraft did i ever notice the unusual deployment and offset of the nose gear 🤔🤯🇬🇧

[@massimilianomoretti1067]

never flew this aircraft...I saw only one series 3 taking off from Milan MXP airport during the summer 1982 when Milan LIN airport was closed for WIP

[@lrg3834]

Say what you will about the Trident, but remember, at the end of the day, it was more advanced than the Boeing 727. The 727 didn't have Autoland. A big deal in places like London, where you get a lot of fog.

[@ranrom9514]

Reminds me a 727 Nose gear looks odd as one of the other comments say

[@markflatters9819]

Is there a reason why the front nose wheel is placed SO off centre? Seems bizarre...

[@davereid2246]

Not enough space for it to retract fore-and-aft.

[@marthamarlette1193]

@@davereid2246 It’s very disconcerting. Never noticed it before, and I’ve flown on many Tridents.

[@davereid2246]

@@marthamarlette1193 As you can see from the video, it's only obvious if you are looking at the aircraft head-on. Or if you're watching retraction tests in the hangar (and aren't distracted by the even more ingenious main gear, seen at 0:38).

[@simongray8019]

I believe it was done to accomodate the ancient electronics for the autoland sysrem

[@davereid2246]

@@simongray8019 Yes, the equipment bay forward of the nosewheel contained, among other kit, 3 enormous VRUs (Vertical Reference Units) that took up a lot of space.

[@stenic2]

That nose gear was weird

[@tuscanrider8985]

ATC phraseology is so gash...no read backs of clearances etc