Project News

This week we took delivery of two sets of authentic aircraft boarding steps at Sunderland. These steps were previously at Cosford RAF Museum, and most recently at the Manchester Airport Runway Visitor Park alongside their own Trident 3B aircraft. They were kindly gifted to the NELSAM museum by Neil Lomax. Originally the steps were used at an airport for boarding o...

As we reach the end of the useful time for working out of doors on Trident 1C G-ARPO, we spent last Saturday giving the fuselage a good wash to get rid of some of the grime that has accumulated over the past year. It was a cold and windy day, but as the sun started setting it made her paint glint and look fresh again. Keep an eye out for more work we'll be completing ove...

We've progressed with more work on our wing stubs and undercarriage this week following last week's cleaning and aluminium plating work (thanks again to Permabond for their help!) We've worked on clearing some more of the corrosion that has been creeping in to the wing and undercarriage areas, and replaced a couple of locking bolts to make sure the leg is secure. Probabl...

As we wrote last week, we planned some work this week to repair and restore parts of the wings of our Trident at Sunderland. The work involved clearing out corrosion which had formed on the wing stubs, and then covering over with aluminium plating. Due to the location, we could not weld these plates, so instead turned to industrial adhesive manufacturer Permabond, who we...

This week we will undertake some work on the wing stubs attached to our Trident's fuselage. We recently found some corrosion on these stubs - a natural side effect of the aircraft being outdoors for so long. We will begin the process of repairing these areas by cleaning up the corroded parts and adding aluminium plate to cover them over. Because of where the corroded ...

After painting one side of one flap last week, this past weekend we did some more painting of these exterior parts. The flaps were sanded down to remove any dirt and to prepare the surface, then we painted one side yellow, and turn over last week's flap to paint its top grey. There's just one side left to do now, which we'll finish soon. Here are some pictures: ...

The weather was great this week, so we took the opportunity and started a bit more outside work. The inboard flaps of Trident G-ARPO were removed prior to the aircraft being dismantled, and have been stored at the museum since we moved there. We spent yesterday sanding down one of them and painting the underside in the familiar bright yellow of the Northeast Airlines liv...

After our recent painting work inside the cabin of our Trident, last weekend we were also able to paint the opposite side of the rear cabin. This includes the luggage racks and parts of the ceiling. This has given the interior a fresh look, keeping it in good condition ready for the day we're able to welcome visitors onboard again!

We lovely weather for ducks on this late June day, we were forced to retreat inside our Trident to do some work. We have started refreshing the paintwork inside the cabin, beginning with the starboard side of the rear cabin. We re-painted the white baggage racks and panels, and the result was great. On our next meeting we will work on the other side, ...

Thanks to the incredible generosity of you all recently, we have been able to make a start with some important work on Trident G-ARPO. As we explained in our fundraising drive, we are not yet in a position to be able to reattach the wings and tail on the aircraft due to circumstances out of our control, we are able to make a start on preparing them and protecting them. ...