British European Airways Trident three G-AWZI Flight Deck

Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B-101 G-AWZI flight deck displayed at the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum , Farnborough airport. September 2016. Displayed in full BEA colours and as seen in service with the airline. G-AWZI flew with BEA and later British airways from August 1971 to May 1985 on routes around Europe, North Africa and the UK.

[@a.nelprober4971]

Mesmerising footage

[@marksinthehouse1968]

I know a mate who would of loved a trident cockpit in his sitting room he neatly brought a trident door at the feltham airfair back in 2005 😂😂

[@leesmith8366]

Yes I see that door was living in a flat at the time in west london so gave it a miss.

[@snoortpod6462]

Thanks for uploading. Very nicely shot. There's something satisfying about the Trident flight deck. The instruments are quite unique, especially the HSI, with its alternating black compass card extending to the blue/amber ILS designator. Then there is the PVD, although it did not make its way on to Concorde. The RMI red/green colours for Nav 1 and Nav 2 needles extend backwards to the scheme as originally used in the Comet, whereas, the PVD and autoland systems project into the modern era of jet flight. It would have been interesting to see how the moving map display functioned during real-time flight - I wonder how many times the paper feeder jammed, possibly causing unwanted distraction during heavy workload periods - the pilots would just have to ignore it. The off centre engine instruments are very compact, though they are, perhaps, the most outdated aspect of the instrument panel layout.
The autoland panel on the central console is what made the Trident so distinctive, as did the droop lever, with it's red and white stripes highlighting the extreme caution required during handling. This may have been one of the main detractors for acquiring the aircraft, especially after the Staines accident. It too became outdated rather quickly when the slat/flap function became conjoined in more modern types. Ultimately, it strikes me that for a swept wing high speed aircraft, there is nothing too overwhelming about the instrumentation - everything seems to click together beautifully. I think it might just be my favourite flight deck configuration of them all.

[@leesmith8366]

Great.

[@bullwinklejmoos]

Wow!!! Didn’t realize the Engineers work table was so small compared to the 727.

[@georgeconway4360]

I don’t believe they did not fly the Trident with a Flight Engineer. I was flown by three pilots and the two pilots other than the Captain swapped seats. I flew the VC10 and recall the operations manual said the minimum crew was two pilots and a F/E or three pilots. We always had a F/E but I believe the rules allowed for a pilot to be qualified on the panel without a Flight Engineer License.

[@Kathikas1]

@@georgeconway4360Channel Airways had a fully licensed F/E as I recall, maybe BKS as well

[@hariranormal5584]

I wonder how that map system works. Looks really interesting

[@SpidaMez]

you pull out the notebook. Turn the page. Put it back in and adjust the needle to a magnetic location.

[@calvinnickel9995]

Seems like a lot of “hunting and pecking” compared to modern CATIIIB systems.
The moving map is interesting but not really necessary with RMI and DME being more than sufficient to situate yourself to intercept the localizer and glideslope either full procedure or self-vector (radar vectors of course make it moot and the needles and distances are just for cross checking).
The AI doesn’t seem to have the rising runway, speed cues, or rad alt nearby nor any lateral or vertical deviation (I’m assuming the crosshairs are the flight director) which are required on modern CATIIIB because the pilot literally has no time to look anywhere else. Of course even more modern aircraft have HUDs which can even replace autopilot on a CATIII approach as the pilot doesn’t have to transition to outside.

[@Kathikas1]

The moving map display was actually quite useful for en route situational awareness re other traffic etc and was easily updated by motoring the stylus around via four directional buttons. For a while the stylus could ink the paper but it proved messy and an expense
You really don’t want to know what vertical speed the GroundGripper was capable of in emergency descents! 10k rpm reverse on the outboards, full spoiler, disable the nose gear and drop the mains and wind it up to Mmo/Vmo - cruise to FL100 in not much more time than it took to don a mask … (in the sim!)
Without water meths or a fourth engine she really didn’t like inversions. A summertime departure from Luqa often meant you were several miles up the coast towards Gozo before you clambered back up above Dingli Cliffs …
Oh, and until they removed the outboard ailerons it could out roll a Lightning!

[@nztv8589]

only two throttles? or are they refurbishing the third?

[@LeeAirVideos]

Three throttles in the Trident. Engines one and three have been selected in the reverse setting. The throttle for engine two is located in between and did not have reverse thrust; thus it’s smaller and in the film a little difficult to spot.

[@philipbrit13]

Did the T 3 not have booster engine. Where is the control for that.

[@Kathikas1]

@@philipbrit13top right overhead panel