YJ-LGF Trislander ferry to Vanuatu [Archive]

Aye Ess

16th Nov 2009, 03:10

The shortnose was even uglier. Nickname 'The Sled'. Cruised 130kts. Hot & noisy. Pre flight, to check the oil of the centre engine,the pilot opened the 2nd door on the starboard side stepped on the hinge then deftly swung himself between engine cowl & fuselage,until he could clamber up onto the roof. Walking down towards the engine,the C of G would move rearward & the tail would drop about 20cm til it rested on the tail steady,so don't get jolted off. The prop would then be hugged with the left arm whilst the right hand had to feel for the oil panel,then the red hot dip stick,always thinking 'I'm sure I turned off the mags....or did I?''

AussieO2

19th Nov 2009, 02:41

VH-BPB was cancelled 05.07.1982 as exported to USA as N3850K, then had a couple of other rego's , then to NZ, then to UK, then sold to Philippines. Think it is currently at Manilla. The operator of this one is not to hand, but, Unity Airlines in Vanuatu currently operate a "yellow" Tri, reg YJ-OO19, so could be them at a guess.

Pinky the pilot

19th Nov 2009, 05:38

Logged a total of 3hrs ICUS in Tri P2-DNN way back in 1990 with Douglas Airways. Did'nt particularly like the beast at the time. (BPU, What you up to?)

Was told at the time that I'd eventually get the endorsement and would be doing the Gulf run but Dz went bagarup before it happened.:{

In a way I'm somewhat sad I did'nt get there.:hmm:

Aye Ess

19th Nov 2009, 20:42

Pinky T. Pilot....although I hated the BN3,I am glad I was endorsed. There is not a lot of 3 engine pistons around.

lesenterbang

20th Nov 2009, 05:01

YJ-LGF was seen in PEN / WMKP early this morning. Too bad it was still too dark for a proper photo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/paparadzi/Aircraft/2009/YJLGF_PEN.jpg

Any idea where it comes from and its next destination?

Ixixly

20th Nov 2009, 05:42

Call me nuts if you like, but I find the look of LGF to be somewhat appealing... maybe a darker red would look good but still... the overall airframe just has that certain appeal to me! Or maybe its just cause i'm sick of having a single donk up front and love the idea of having 3 instead!!

Unusual-Attitude

20th Nov 2009, 06:32

yep, you're sick alright. :yuk:

SnotNoseJockey

20th Nov 2009, 06:36

If I remember correctly Great Barrier Airlines' trislanders have registrations that start with LG_. Is it Auckland bound?

Aye Ess

20th Nov 2009, 07:55

The long nose version in visually ''balanced''. The short nose just looked tail heavy. The long nose had a nose locker,which helped with baggage & especially trim. Being so long, keeping the C of G was always a problem especially on multi leg commuter flights. Thru pax had to be moved fore & aft to keep it in balance.

DBTW

21st Nov 2009, 03:47

If I remember correctly Great Barrier Airlines' trislanders have registrations that start with LG_. Is it Auckland bound?

I don't think the final destination is Vanuatu, and GBA are the only other operators in the region.

Pontius

21st Nov 2009, 04:22

DBTW, surprised you don't have a hand in this mate. Remember all those trislanders going between Bournemouth and Alderney/Guernsey/Jersey?

G-JOEY BN-2A Trislander :: G-JOEY_TRIS_EGJJ_2006_1.jpg :: Fotopic.Net (http://aurigny-photos.fotopic.net/p29090648.html)

Tony Deamer

21st Nov 2009, 05:23

This A/C is heading to Vanuatu and then to NZ may be GBA ?
They seem to have few already, they also seem to be taking the long way round from the USA to NZ that is for sure

Tony Deamer

21st Nov 2009, 05:33

10 days should do it we did it in that time form Greece See YJ-OO19 on this web site
Only ours was Yellow so may be the Red one goes faster !

YJ-RV3 operated here forn a good No. of years, made so much money the Co, paid for 2 Twin otters then some on ran it out of fuel on the way back form Tanna and it landed in a nice green padock pitty about the fallen coconut tree in the long grass !

Tony Deamer

21st Nov 2009, 05:52

Has any one elce seen this A/C on its way over M/East or south Asia Australia Yet ?
Pity they sis not have a Spider tracks we could see were thay are !!

Slater

21st Nov 2009, 06:25

GBA do have another long nosed tri on the way, not sure if this is the one or not and with regards to taking the long way home, well i think thats because they couldn't find anyone game enough to island hop across the pacific.

With regards to the long nosed being more balanced, with a full short nosed trilander, forward C of G never was a problem. At all up weight it would be miles out the front of the wee c of g envelope if we had a full load of pax, so the front nose locker wouldn't really make a difference. We always had to leave a seat or 2 empty in the front 2 rows to get it within C of G with gold bars down the back.

tail wheel

21st Nov 2009, 07:43

He was inn Malta six days ago. If he's really put big hours in each day, he's probably just arriving Athens to top up his supply of ear plugs.

Tony Deamer

22nd Nov 2009, 02:30

:= Hi there is DQ-TRI in Fiji with a long nose and some in NZ We have YJ-OO19 here in Port Vila and hope to have it flying by December this year we fweeied it from Greece in Jan I don't think they are not as noisey as the Islander as the pilots sits so much further foward and with up to 14 hours of fuel on board they will cover a good distance We Made Kalkutu to JK in 11Hr 50 min after a very late smoge delayed start to the day

Rabbit 1

22nd Nov 2009, 15:50

Slight thread drift. The pic below shows two of these terrible triplets behind a hangar at Bonriki airport, Tarawa atoll. Logged a few hours on these Trislanders and must say it was an experience. These two frames haunted the skys intially in Fiji before being sent to the then Gilbert Islands, now known as Kiribati.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/temakin/SAVE0005copy.jpg

Starter motor change island style. Perhaps this was the same in PNG?

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/temakin/starter01.jpg

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/temakin/starter02.jpg

Wonderful memories flying these aircraft. Still have my hearing too. Good luck with the Vanuatu operations.

Tony Deamer

22nd Nov 2009, 21:56

Re.YJ-LGF. It came form the USA and it is heading to Vanuatu for a while.
And Thanks for the Starter change pix on T3-ATD
I saw these two in Kiribati on our way through to Vanuiatu form RMI with BN-2A-26 YJ-OO9 in Jan 2003 . I was told they ran out of Wing spar Life other than that the engineer I met who worked on them, thinks they were the most reliable thing they ever had out in the Pacific ( if you coukld not afford a Twin otter that Is ) they would cary a full tonne of load with full tanks and still have room for two big Island boys up font !

Aye Ess

22nd Nov 2009, 22:39

Back in the mid 1970s,Eagle Airways in Sydney used to fly their Tri-thumper all the way to Perth with a load of day old chickens. Knowing the BN3's speed I guess on arrival the poultry would have been very old boilers (deaf as well)

MyNameIsIs

23rd Nov 2009, 01:46

Great photos Rabbit.

Is the Trislander's wing (other than the tip tanks) longer than the Islanders? Hard to judge from the photos.

They are soooooooooo ugly! But would still happily have a fly of one, just to say I've done it!

frigatebird

23rd Nov 2009, 02:31

Remember to check the centre engine hasn't stopped while you taxied out.. or the trees at the end will not be far under the wing on climbout with a full load.. didn't happen to me - not endorsed - but know of one instance..
Best technique would be to lead a little with the centre engine first - like leading with the rear one first on a 337.

Rabbit 1

23rd Nov 2009, 03:31

Can't recall the wing span but all had tip tanks installed. With the center engine inop it flew okay but in the tropics keeping above 3000' wasn't really possible. No terrain to worry about though in that part of the world.

Trick was not to land downwind. No windsocks out there (those things usually ended up on someones canoe) and even a 3kt component could burn out the brakes on landing.

CoG was an issue. I recall filling out the flight log one day (still strapped in) when the aircraft tipped on its a%se because the baggage handlers emptied the nose locker first and hadn't installed the tail stand. Ballast was also used on a regular basis.

Aye Ess

23rd Nov 2009, 04:13

When taxying at destination an anouncement had to be made to pax to PLEASE remain in their seats until the pilot had installed the tailstand. Of course the front RH pax had to be disembarked first because the pilot's door was on the starboard side....dumb really because the Islander's front door was on the pilot's side,far more practical.

Aye Ess

23rd Nov 2009, 04:22

The wingspan was 53 feet as opposed to the islander at 49 feet. They were very difficult to manouver in tight parking bays. Some had fully castoring nose wheels which caught many pilots by surprise, as the aircraft being SO long, easily developed a mind of its own.

fencehopper

23rd Nov 2009, 04:44

Bill Spence had three of these in his hanger at Camden around '92. they were unflown and incomplete. he picked these up in Florida and had some of the tooling with them. anyone know if they ever got in the air?

twodogsflying

23rd Nov 2009, 04:58

60000 rivets flying in loose formation!!!!!

In the 80's there was one conducting geophysical survey work with a magnetometer loop running from nose, to wing tip to tail, like the PBY and CASA had.

A very brave pilot in that at 100' agl for hours at a time!

Tony Deamer

23rd Nov 2009, 05:02

My BN Guroo Tim thells me that the TRI wing is dimentanaly the same as the Islander's with the Extednd ( Older type ) tip Tanks
And Yes the castering nose wheel can catch one out. It did me, I cliped the tail cone on my own Fuel tanker that was parked out at the end of the wing trying to get it out of a tight spot they can turn on Sixpenc.

With regards to Bill Spence Was he the blocke who was trying to put a 1,100 HP Honywell turbine in the tail and do away with the other two engines ! Now that would be a Caravan beatter and you would not have to shut down on thurn arounds so save those preseios turbine cycles

Rabbit 1

23rd Nov 2009, 05:43

Castoring was indeed a learning curve but once you got the hang of it then all was well. I was in a tight spot one day and couldn't taxy out because the nose-wheel had been left at 90 degrees the night before. From memory, the POH stated this wasn't recommended.

A friendly local LAME came over, placed his cupped hand underneath the nose cone and with no apparent effort tilted the entire aircraft rearwards and kicked the nosewheel straight. This was to be my first lesson (had many more later) about just how delicate the CoG was on the BN3.

I may be historically wrong, but I recall a New Zealand gentleman went to the effort to produce a booklet with a simple diagramatic display that showed how the BN3 should be loaded, given various pax and cargo numbers. It was a godsend to those of us flying the Tri back then.

tail wheel

23rd Nov 2009, 06:58

Bill Spence had three of these in his hanger at Camden around '92. they were unflown and incomplete.

It was rumoured someone on the Australian East Coast had a number of incomplete Trislanders, rumours range from six to nine aircraft. They were apparently acquired when Britten Norman went bust and the Company was sold to Pilatus, but I can't tell you what year.

Rumour also suggested the intent was to install two Canadian aluminium block V8s, but it never happened. No idea where they ended up.

baron_beeza

23rd Nov 2009, 07:50

I was involved with this type a little during the '90s. I thought they were great, we used to have a saying.... 'if you are making money with an Islander then you will be creaming it with a Trislander'
I was involved in both maintenance and operations with many of the companies here plus I had a looser involvement with many more....
Cook Strait Skyferry
Murchison Relines
World Geoscience
and Air Tungaru
in this part of the world and then several operators in Africa
Air Zanzibar, United at Harare
and the two in Botswana.
I also did some time in Guernsey with Aurigny.
I think that of the 77 produced I had a fair handle of where they all where in those days. I did visit the factory but they weren't really interested in supporting the type much further. I also corresponded with lance about the future of the ones on the east coast.
They were all BN2 MkIII but then came in 3 variants. The FAA certified version had auto-feather, scary.
The normal ones that most here would have been involved with just had a 'Rear engine Fail' light....
My instructor knew how to teach an awareness of exactly how useless that was on takeoff. I doubt many fresh pilots passed EFOTO straight off.
The wingspan was the same as the Islanders
53' with tip tanks. The Islander was 49' without. But the wing was a much beefed up and modified plank. Many more, and thicker laminations up on top.
I can't recall too many Trislanders having the castoring nose, certainly some Islanders did.... but that is not to say cables were not disconnected etc.
I would have thought the two up at Bonriki would have been victims of the SB190 inspection.
I remember being at the factory shortly after that Bulletin was written, - the wing that initiated the crisis was from a German islander and had severe corrosion up around the leading edge. I have never seen anything like that since in any other BN2....... but the SB is still with us..
And still causing many operators grief.

As an aside, the Skyferry aircraft were ferried across the Pacific. They left on a boat to get to the UK though.

1025 and 1039 would have been the first of type in NZ... actually almost the first two types.. but that is another story.:ouch:

tail wheel

23rd Nov 2009, 10:06

Air Mel Trislander YJ-RV3, parked at Whitesands after ...... ran out of fuel coming back from Tanna. 1990?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/Woomera/PPRuNe/AirMelTrislander.jpg

Now, that one looks sexy! :}

What happened to the BN2A Mk III that Murchison Relines owned in West Aust?

nightmode

23rd Nov 2009, 11:29

An aeroplane can never have enough engines!!:}
First time I had seen a Trislander - Was parked up in TL today.
It is really a mean looking machine.. will give j3pipercub multiple christmases all at once methinks:E

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk245/nightmode1/IMG_2915.jpg

The speed look.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk245/nightmode1/IMG_2917.jpg

the air up there

23rd Nov 2009, 12:53

So ugly the earth repels them.

However, I think with some more powerful engines to improve performance, sound proofing for comfort and blind folds for the pilots and passengers eyes it could have been a useful and popular machine.

Tony Deamer

23rd Nov 2009, 22:04

Barron Breeza May well remember Z-UTD S/N 1055, this is the One I now have in Port Vila with only 6,700 hours on it still. even after the 82 hours it took to get form Europe, It started life with the Botswanan Defence force and then went to Unitrd Air services in Zimbabwe.
I tried to send an E-mail to you directly But it was not aliowed so My be You can contact me if you want to. the Other one form Bots' and Zim has even lowere hours on it.

frigatebird

23rd Nov 2009, 22:27

The orange AirMel.. K....'s Folly !!

Tony Deamer

23rd Nov 2009, 22:45

That is a sad sight of YJ-RV3
It made a mess of it when it hit the Old Coconut trees in the long grass But no one was hurt in the event . wich is amasing I belive it becam a dive sight in Havana harbour after this , I still have the elivator and on tip tank ! and in fact the wee fering around the Port Nave light will go flying again soon !

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 02:53

Re the Red Roster YJ-LGF I Just git word they filed a Flight plan form Townsvill to PVila for to morrow
So I will try and send som pix when it gets her If I can work out how to load them !
Sorry Spaners and not key boards is were I should be, I know, I know I can't speel for nuts either Sorry But it takes all sorts of Us some to fly them some to keep them up there and some to try and keep them all on the ground !!

AussieO2

24th Nov 2009, 04:25

Interesting thread, so..is GBA the owner and Unity the operator in YJ ?

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 06:53

Hi It just landed in Port Vila form Townsvill
GBA own it a GBA will operate it Once it gets to NZ Which could be soon
they have done about 140 so far the. Pilot Usualy flys 747 so this is a bit of a slow way to get form the USA to NZ to what he is used to !

MyNameIsIs

24th Nov 2009, 07:30

Been meaning to ask, where does the centre engine draw its fuel from?

I'm presuming there is basically just a selector for "L" and "R", and it will draw from main or tip, depending on what that selector itself is set on?????

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 09:15

The Tail engine draws fuel form both main tanks
Or one can select form RH or LH Tank, the Tips just feed in to the Mains on either side.
Of cource on a ferry flight, one needs about 2000 Liters of ferry tanks/bladders inside as they uses about 165 Litres a hour with 3 engins running for up to 14 hours and about a Km of runway to get off form
and they get along at about 130 Kts. Tas. They were lucky to see 105 Kts. over the ground today on their way in to Vil.

They left Vancover on the 6th Movember arriving here tonight at 18:30 Local Had one of Vanuatu's Prime stakes at the office pub and went off to bed by 9:30 and that can still hear !!

tiger19

24th Nov 2009, 10:50

tony deamer, sounds like you just came from the pub also :ok:

MyNameIsIs

24th Nov 2009, 11:29

The horiz. stab. even has the 'raked' tips!
Haha thats just gravy!

Flown a BN2 with a fully castoring nosewheel. It wasn't too bad other than during slow-speed ground handling (ie taxi!).
Direct pedal steering with the castor ability is by far the best though.

Did the Tri's get upgraded brakes of any sort? The Islander's are not too bad but the extra weight of the Tri must hurt them a bit. Someone mentioned earlier about landing them in tailwinds wasn't good. . .

Whats the MTOW of the Tri aswell? Surprised they didn't slap the 300HP injected Lyco's on instead.... 120 more ponies would have probably been good.

Great thread :ok:

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 19:11

Our Tri does have Direct Cable steer, but then it can brake lose and caster for tight turns, not restricted by the rubber movment.

They had 8" wheels and brakes discs; the islander was on 6" discs.

Yes 300 Hp IO-540 would be Nice But having watched the local airline burn out so many starters on the IO-s tryng to start them Hot, one would have to make sure the pilots knew what they were doing with them.
I have seen some pix of Tris with 3 balded Props on the two wing engines, that may be a bit more efficent and quieter But the rear engine still have the two balded 78-80 inch prop

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 19:23

Sorry the MTOW is 10,000 Lbs for UK /Aut /NZ MkIII-1 and -2, I belive it was restricted a bit by the FAA how ever the Auto Feather may have retuned to this figure again on the MkIII-3

Tony Deamer

24th Nov 2009, 19:34

Just re-looked at the pic' of RV3 and remembered that by the time this one wound up in the Padock, it was no Longer Air Mel....'s the State owned Van Air had take over. I must have been quite high on Hours and/or Cycles by the time the Gov' it took over, as Sir Denis did not take it to Oz as part of his flight West Fleat.

Torres

24th Nov 2009, 21:06

as Sir Denis did not take it to Oz as part of his flight West Fleat.

Thank God for small mercies............

AussieO2

25th Nov 2009, 01:50

25TH, departed Port Vila, heading for Norfolk Island.

Aye Ess

25th Nov 2009, 02:10

Perhaps other old Ppruners can chime in with BN3 history. Eagle airways operated theirs from Bankstown on charter & freight mid 1970s. Sopac Aviation operated commuter services Cessnock,NSW, to Sydney & return a few times a day in 1979. Burnett Airways used theirs on commuter flights all ports to SW Queensland from Brisbane....imagine in hot summer in SW Qld bouncing around in a Trislander. Bush Pilot Airways (aka Bushies,aka BPA) bought out Burnetts around 1977 & consequently inherited the Tris,which were then based Cairns & Townsville where they serviced Lizard Island,Cooktown,Dunk Island,Palm Island,Bowen,Shute Harbour,Brampton Island & Mackay. Eventually these services were replaced by Twin Otters & the 4 BN3s were exported in 1981.

prospector

25th Nov 2009, 03:42

SkyFerry operated two, SFF and SFG, out of Wellington to Koromiko/Blenheim in the early 90's. They were good for what they were designed for. Not as noisy as the Islander for the driver, you were further forward from the props, and the higher wing loading handled the Cook Strait turbulence better. One thing that could be a little troubling was the tendency when parked on the taxiway at Wellington waiting for take off, the wind coming from astern and gusting upwards of 30 kts, they had a tendency to weathercock into wind no matter where the controls were.

baron_beeza

25th Nov 2009, 04:38

Yep, Windy Wellington..... taxying to the holding point was also a dilemma..
with a strong tail wind the machine would race away while taxying.

Hold it on the brakes, slow idle and risk plug fouling, or start the rear engine just before the holding point.

several options and none without a risk.
I guess carry more pax would have been the preferable one. :ok::D

AussieO2

25th Nov 2009, 04:50

Seven TRI's in Australia......... 5 x Mk 1, 2 x Mk 2
VH-BSG, Burnett Airways/Island Air/Falcon & Sopac Transport, crashed 17.11.1980 at Annanberg, PNG
VH-BGS, Barringer Geosurveys/Bush Pilots/Sunshine Coast Air Charter, exported to PNG as P2-DNX, 11.08.1983, then returned as VH-MRJ, Murchison Relines, exported to NZ as ZK-LOU 20.04.2004
VH-BSP, Burnett Airways/Bush Pilots/Air Queensland, exported to USA as N38535 06.04.1983, then to PNG as P2-DNP, then back to VH-BSP, 1991, Cape York Air Services/S.J.Cooper/Bumblebee Air/Marine Air Services/Gee Bee Air, exported to NZ as ZK-LGR, 20.12.2002
VH-NKW, Aerodata Holdings/World Geoscience/Fugro Airborne Surveys, withdrawn from use 28.05.2002, later exported to NZ as ZK-LGC
VH-BPH, Bush Pilots/Air Queensland, exported to USA as N3851B, 11.04.1983.
VH-BPB, Bush Pilots, exported to USA as N3850K, 05.07.1982.
VH-EGU, W.D.Hooper, crashed 16.12.1980 near Tumut.
The last two are Mk.2 models.
Does this bring back some memories?

Fris B. Fairing

25th Nov 2009, 06:19

Speaking of Burnett Airways:

http://www.adastron.com/aviation/vault/VH-BSP-H262.jpg

This is VH-BSP en route Brisbane-Oakey on 22 March 1975. What makes it even more interesting is that the camera ship was VH-BSG.

Rgds

Tony Deamer

25th Nov 2009, 06:26

The Red Rooster Departed Port Vila today heading south !

baron_beeza

25th Nov 2009, 06:41

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/b4b27ada7cd9ca4c85256730004b0bc1!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=1

It would appear the TCDS have been revised now so all 3 variants are under the one....

'''''''The United Kingdom CAA originally type certificated this aircraft under is type certificate
Number BA8. The FAA validated this product under U.S. Type Certificate number
A29EU. Effective September 28, 2003, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
began oversight of this product on behalf of the United Kingdom CAA. '''''''

I have not read all the data properly but it seems importing and exporting etc would be so much easier now.

All one TC and same Flight Manual.

When SFF and SFG arrived in NZ they were under two different type certificates... one was a MKIII-3.

It was actually the CAA that came up with the solution, that aircraft was modified back to a -2, and both became the same to certify and operate.

Aye Ess

25th Nov 2009, 07:21

Wow AussieO2,brilliant history,thanks....VH-EGU was Eagle Airways BN3,that's the EG in the rego. From memory its demise was due to ice accumulation.
Fris B Fairing....nice shot. As those not familiar with the type,the long nose looked more betterer. Kind of a more balanced look with the ginormous tail.

longrass

25th Nov 2009, 11:23

There was a yellow one with LR tanks in it in Darwin the other day, foreign rego???

troppo

25th Nov 2009, 20:03

DQ-TRI is now up for tender by FDB amongst some other aircraft that were operated by Air Fiji

Tony Deamer

25th Nov 2009, 20:49

Longgrass, By the other day do you mean Jan 2009 if so that Must have been Big Bird YJ-OO19 on its way form Europe to Vanuatu it was also sighted in Gladstone on its way out of Oz. We only did a total of 80 hours on the Ferry, over 10 days but YJ-LGF form USA to NZ will do over 150 hours in 3 weeks, ther Longest leg was Townsvill Port Vial in to a head wind, ours was 11:50 Hr. after a 6 hour delay start form Kalkutta due Smog, to KL.