Some of you may be aware of our project to preserve one of only two remain Trident 3Bs in the UK (and now one of only 3 remaining complete Tridents of any mark in the UK), or may have even donated already.
To recap, the aircraft was restored for the BA Engineering charity “Happy Child” and saw many years of use for this and other general training purposes at LHR until 2001 when it was repainted in August into the old BEA livery. Sadly of course only a couple of weeks later, the aviation world was turned on its head by terrorists. It became difficult for non-essential persons to get airside access at LHR and the usefulness of ZK as a ground trainer was diminished as its not compatible with the modern tow trucks. By 2003 it looked likely that it would become pots, pans and razor blades 🙁
Neil Lomax of the Trident Preservation Society who had helped restore it 9 years earlier raised awareness of its plight on an internet forum and with the possibility of a new home in Manchester, several of us joined him in raising money to achieve that. Enough sponsorship and donations were raised for the aircraft to be dismantled for road transportation in 2004 and moved to Manchester in 2005. Now we really want to get on with rebuilding but it looks as if we will need to raise a lot more money to achieve this goal. To this end, we are now encouraging further donations, offering a range of merchandise and seeking corporate sponsors.
Please take a look at our website: http://www.hs121.org / http://www.zulukilo.org.uk
Most merchandise can be found here: http://www.cafepress.com/hs121shop (all profits go directly to the restoration and rebuild fund)
Limited addition prints of ZK, from sales of which a £5 donation is made to the fund can be found here: http://www.flyingart.co.uk/SHOP/indexshop.html?lmd=38930.579479 . There will also be miniature diecast models available soon, again sales of these providing further donations.
Thanks for reading this and thanks to Moggy C for allowing me to post this.
By: TobyV - 2nd August 2006 at 10:21
Hi RenFrew,
Yes Neil is still working at the AVP, I’m sure he’d be pleased with whatever footage you have.
The diecast models are made by Gemini Jets, I’m not sure of the exact scale (although I’d imagine its similar to their other products) but I have seen some test mouldings and the fuselage was about 3″ long.
Toby
By: Ren Frew - 2nd August 2006 at 08:50
Good luck Toby, I’ll be purchasing one of those t-shirts and a hat next payday…
Last time I spoke to Neil Lomax at the AVP, I mentioned I had some brief footage of Tridents at GLA taken in the early 80’s for a BBC Scotland film. Neil was looking for some clips to edit together as an educational film to play aboard the completed ZK.
That was over a year ago and as I was just about to move house, it’s taken me this long to find the dvd with the film on it. I’ll get a copy in the post ASAP, is Neil still working at the AVP ?
Also, can I ask you about the diecast models you mentioned above? Any idea what scale and manufacturer, I have a huge collection of the things as do one or two other forumites.
By: TobyV - 1st August 2006 at 19:51
Prices are in dollars as its a US based site. When you purchase the products by card the conversion is made at that point. You can check exchange rates on sites such as www.xe.com . Unfortunately they dont currently offer the facility to display prices in other currencies and the only UK company offering a similar service actually would end up costing more and doesnt have such a wide product range.
If you’re interested in a print, that is of course separate and UK based 😉
By: lotus72 - 1st August 2006 at 19:41
but whatever, bluddy good luck with the project, especially seeing what looks like happening to XH558.
By: lotus72 - 1st August 2006 at 19:41
why are prices in US $ on the merchandise page??
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August 1, 2006 at 5:32 pm