18/12/2025
With just a week to Christmas we today open door 17 of our Advent calendar to reveal the DH .
First flying in January 1962 the Trident was ahead of its time with the Smiths Autoland system and its Doppler driven moving map display. However the design was too closely linked to 's ever changing requirements and sales suffered as a result, only 117 Tridents would be built. BEA was the launch customer with an eventual large fleet of Trident 1C, 2E and 3B versions. The only other major customer was Chinese airline who ordered 33 Trident 2E and two Trident Super 3B airliners, after having a Trident 'Taster' when they purchased four ex PIA Trident 1Es.
Other airlines to buy the Trident were: Channel Airways, BKS, Cyprus Airways, Kuwait Airways, Iraqi Airways and Air Ceylon.
When British Airways retired their fleet in 1985, four Trident 3Bs had been sold to Air Charter Service of Zaire. The final flight of a Trident was believed to have been a Chinese example in 1995.
Several complete Tridents made in to museums, four in China ,a Trident 1C at NELSAM Sunderland, a 3B at RVP Manchester Airport, a 3B at Wroughton with the Science museum , however this is shut away out of public view and of course our 2E here at Duxford.