As we approach move date at the speed of a Trident in cruise (fastest subsonic airliner in its day, don’t you know!), we’ve been landed with a big insurance bill to top us up to the required amount for the move. This amounts to an extra £2000 in costs, which we just don’t have lying [...]

We can now announce the date we will move Trident 1C G-ARPO up to the North East Aircraft Museum at Sunderland. The date set by our transport permit is Sunday 31st July. We will begin on Saturday 30th by moving the aircraft from Serco’s fire training ground at Teesside and lifting it over the various [...]

Before we move G-ARPO, we wanted to patch up two cracks in the wing stubs that appeared when we removed the wings. So members of the team met at the site today to carry out this work, which will strengthen the aircraft for the move to Sunderland. Flavell Welding came across to help us do [...]

We met at G-ARPO today to spend some time preparing the aircraft for its move. In order to fit on the trailer for the move up to Sunderland, we needed to retract the landing and nose gear legs. Tridents have unusual wheel configurations, with the main landing gear rotating as they retract, and the nose [...]

Two more days of work on G-ARPO at Durham Tees Valley and the last stage of dismantling the aircraft is now complete! Over Thursday and Friday we worked on removing the wings from the aircraft so that she can be transported by road to the North East Aircraft Museum at Sunderland. We had worked out [...]

The final stage of dismantling the Trident was started today when the team met. First of all, the remaining #3 engine side pod was removed, leaving the rear of the aircraft clear for the move. Then, after marking up the lines to cut along the wings, Stan (from MSD) and Neil began pre-cutting. They also [...]

RES Teesdale Scaffold Ltd have agreed to sponsor us the scaffolding we need when we meet again to cut the wings of the Trident this month. Sadly we weren’t able to complete the job last time they sponsored us due to problems with fuel in the wings of the aircraft. However, RES have kindly agreed [...]

Since starting the project, we’ve been collecting information about our Trident 1C’s life flying passengers around Europe. Many former pilots who flew the aircraft, as well as passengers who took flights on her, have come forward and offered their personal log books which detail the flights. This give a fascinating insight into G-ARPO as she [...]

We met again on Thursday 14th April to continue working on the Trident. First of all, our rudder and wingtips from G-AVFE at Belfast were delivered by TNT, who had brought them across the Irish Sea. The intention today was to start cutting the wings off now that she had been moved into a better [...]

Today there was a sight not seen for a long time… a Hawker Siddeley Trident flew again. OK, admittedly it wasn’t under its own power, and it certainly wasn’t operating the British Airways Shuttle flight into Heathrow, but Trident 1C G-ARPO lifted off the ground with the aid of two cranes from MSD as we [...]