Yesterday, Wednesday 21 June, Britten-Norman Trislander G-BEVT flew into IWM Duxford from Guernsey to take its place in Duxford Aviation Society’s British Airliner Collection.
G-BEVT was built in 1977 by Britten-Norman at their factory at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight and has spent its entire commercial career with Aurigny. At the time of its retirement, it will have completed over 86,000 flights and spent 28,000 hours in the air.
Aurigny’s first Trislander entered service in July 1971 and since then the company has operated a total of 23 different Trislanders in various versions of the Aurigny livery and some in sponsored liveries. All the later operational aircraft were painted in the ‘aurigny.com’ livery and this is the scheme that G-BEVT carries into retirement.
Duxford Aviation Society’s British Airliner Collection at IWM Duxford consists of thirteen British-built airliners, including iconic types such as the Concorde and Comet, as well as aircraft with strong Channel Island ties such as the Herald and Viscount. The aircraft are maintained and preserved by a dedicated team of volunteers.
David Hands, Chairman, Duxford Aviation Society said: “We’re very excited about acquiring this iconic aircraft for our collection. We’re extremely grateful to Aurigny for placing it with us and to IWM for their support on the project. We’re delighted that the Trislander is now with us and can be seen by visitors as an integral part of the British Airliner Collection.”
Nigel Moll, Flight Operations Director, Aurigny said: “Aurigny is delighted that its last Trislander will be displayed in the world’s premier collection of British airliners, where it will join many other famous types from aviation history. IWM Duxford is a wonderful museum and having G-BEVT there will allow hundreds of thousands of visitors to view it year-round.”