Airliner Classics - July 2018

Retirement

In April 2013 Aurigny announced that it would start

proceedings to replace the remaining Trislanders in its fleet.

Multiple aircraft types were discussed as possible replacements

but, after a two-week trial was deemed successful, the Dornier

Do228 that was chosen as the replacement equipment.

Within 24 hours of the news breaking that Aurigny would start

to replace its Trislander fleet, a campaign began to “Save JOEY.”

Enthusiasts and island-folk wanted to save this charismatic little

aeroplane. It would be one of the first examples to retire and on

Sunday June 28, 2015, the final JOEY flight landed in Guernsey.

As part of JOEY ’s retirement, special ‘Round the Island’ trips

were organised. These flights from Guernsey and Alderney

proved popular with islanders who took the chance for one final

flight in the ‘smiling plane’.

This was repeated in 2017 when Aurigny arranged eight special

charity farewell flights. All proceeds from these flights went to

the Channel Islands Air Search charity. Of course, lots of aviation

enthusiasts also wanted to experience the unique Trislander one

last time and flights were also undertaken from Southampton,

Alderney and Guernsey in May 2017.

Preservation

The campaign to save G-JOEY was successful and following

retirement the airframe was placed in storage for a few months

before moving to a purpose-built exhibition building in

Guernsey’s Oatlands Village attraction.

The two final remaining examples in service – G-RLON and

G-BEVT – also escaped the scrapyard. G-RLON was retired

from commercial service in February 2017 and will eventually be

put on display at Solent Sky Museum in Southampton. G-BEVT

was retired on May 31, 2017 and had her final flight from

Guernsey to her new home at IWM Duxford on June 21.

Since that final commercial flight on May 31, 2017, the skies

above the Channel Islands have proved to have been quieter.

The sound of those three Lycoming piston engines trying to

synchronise may have flown off to the history books, but many

people will always look back fondly on the Trislander.

Following the retirement of the Aurigny fleet, just four

Trislanders are still in service in the world – two with Guyana's

Roraima Airways and two with Puerto Rico's Vieques Air Link.

The Trislander was never going to win any beauty contests in

the traditional sense, but it definitely had a certain character that

would be loved by many for nearly half a century.

http://www.airlinerworld.com 29

B • G-RLON
demonstrates the f inal
scheme worn by the
Trislander in Aurigny
service.
N H

R  • Nigel Moll,
Flight Operations
Director, Aurigny
hands over G-BEVT’s
logbook to Duxford
Aviation Society
Chairman David
Hands following the
aircraft’s arrival
at the Imperial
War Museum for
preservation on June
21, 2017. It marked
the f inal f light of an
Aurigny Trislander
and the aircraft now
forms an important
part of Duxford
Aviation Society’s
British Airliner
Collection. IWM

B R  •
During the 1990s
G-BEVT was
sponsored by Islands’
Insurance and shed
the Aurigny yellow
for this stylish paint
scheme.