Hawker-Siddeley Trident

Some of these changes were nevertheless added into the original prototype, and it was renamed the Trident 1C.

The main difference was a larger fuel tank in the centre section of the wing, raising weights to 115,000 lb (52,000 kg) and range to 1,400 miles (2250 km).

The first Trident 1, G-ARPA, made its maiden flight on 9 January 1962 from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien],^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} and entered service on 1 April 1964.

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} By 1965, there were 15 Tridents in BEA's fleet and by March 1966, the fleet had increased to 21.

Hawker-Siddeley then proposed an improved 1C, the Trident 1E.

This would use 11,400 lb_f (50.7 kN) Spey 511s, have a gross weight of 128,000 lb (58,000 kg), an increased wing area by extending the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and the same fuselage but with up to 140 seats in a six-abreast configuration.

This specification took the 1C closer to the larger concept of the original DH121, but powered with 7,000 lb_f (31 kN) less thrust.

There were only a few sales of the new design: three each for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], four for PIA (later sold to CAAC), two each for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and one for [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Trident 2E

At this point, BEA decided that the Trident was now too short-legged for its ever-expanding routes, and that an even longer-ranged version was needed.

Hawker-Siddeley responded with another upgrade as the Trident 1F.

It would have the Spey 511 engines, a 2.8 m fuselage stretch, a gross weight of 132,000 lb (60,000 kg) and up to 128 seats in the original five-abreast configuration.

BEA planned to buy 10 1Fs, plus an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for 14 further aircraft. As work continued on the 1F the changes became so widespread that it was renamed the Trident 2E, E for Extended Range.

Now powered by newer Spey 512s with 11,930 lb_f (53.1 kN) thrust, it also replaced wing leading-edge droops with slats, and extended the span with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-style tips.

It had a gross weight of 142,400 lb (65,000 kg) and a 2,000 mile (3200 km) range. BEA bought 15, two were bought by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and 33 by CAAC, the Chinese national airline.

The first flight of this version was made on 27 July 1967 and it entered service with BEA in April 1968.

Trident 3B

Subsequently, the Trident was becoming the backbone of the BEA fleet and BEA wanted an even larger aircraft.

Hawker-Siddeley offered two new designs in 1965, a larger 158-seat two-engine aircraft otherwise similar to the Trident known as the HS132, and the 185-seat HS134, which moved the engines under the wings and led to a modern-looking design very similar to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Both were to be powered by a new high-bypass engine under development at the time, the Rolls-Royce RB178. BEA instead opted for Boeing 727s and 737s to fill the role of both the BAC 1-11 and Trident, but this plan was later vetoed by the British government (the owners of BEA).

BEA returned to Hawker Siddeley and instead chose a stretched version of the basic Trident, the Trident 3.

This included a fuselage stretch of 5 m for up to 180 passengers, raised the gross weight to 143,000 lb (65,000 kg), and made modifications to the wing to increase its chord.

The engines remained the same, and BEA rejected the design as being unable to get off the ground in "[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]"
conditions, given that the 2E was having so many problems already.

Since the Spey 512 was the last of the Spey line, extra power would be difficult to add. Instead of attempting to fit a new engine, which would be difficult given that one was buried in the tail, Hawker-Siddeley decided to add a fourth engine in the tail, the tiny [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turbojet, fed from its own intake behind a pair of movable doors.

The engine added 15% more thrust for takeoff, while adding only 5% more weight, and would only be used when needed.

BEA accepted this as the Trident 3B, and ordered 26.

In some configurations, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (later [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien])
Trident aircraft had a number of rearward-facing passenger seats, an
uncommon seating arrangement for civil aircraft.

The first flight was on
11 December 1969 and the aircraft entered service on 1 April 1971.


Addition of extra fuel capacity resulted in the Super Trident 3B, two of which were sold to CAAC.

In 1977, fatigue cracks were discovered in the wings of the British Airways Trident fleet.

The aircraft were ferried back to the manufacturer, and repaired, then returned to service.

In total, 117 Tridents were produced, while the Boeing 727, built to the original airline specification for the Trident, sold over 1,700.

Variants


Trident 1C

Production version for British European Airways, 24 built

Trident 1E

Increased [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] uprated engines and addition of leading edge slats, 15 built

Trident 2E

As Trident 1E version with triplex autoland system, 50 built