HAWKER SIDDELEY TRIDENT 3 BRITISH AIRWAYS 1/20th Scale Solid Model

The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley. In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA) request. By 1960, de Havilland had been acquired by Hawker Siddeley.

The Trident’s maiden flight happened on 9 January 1962, and it was introduced on 1 April 1964, two months after its main competitor, the Boeing 727. By the end of the programme in 1978, 117 Tridents had been produced. The Trident was withdrawn from service in 1995.

The Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B was a stretched version of the Trident, and had a small booster-engine making it a four-engined Trijet.

Unique to the Trident 3B is a fourth booster engine in the tail, which is mentioned in the video. BEA crews nicknamed the aircraft “the gripper” as its wing – designed for high speed cruising – had lower lift on the ground, making it take a long time to get into the air.You also see the unusual offset nose gear, which is not in the centre as on most aircraft. This was to make more space in the bay for the avionics computers.