The Trident TR-1 Trigull is a Canadian
amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...
that was developed by
Trident Aircraft of
Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard Inl ...
and later
Sidney, British Columbia
Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It's 1 of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney is l ...
. The aircraft was intended to be supplied as a complete ready-to-fly
certified aircraft. The company encountered financial difficulties and only three prototypes were ever built.
[Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 77. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ]
Design and development
The Trigull was designed as an improved and updated
Republic RC-3 Seabee
The Republic RC-3 Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aircraft Corporation.
Design and development
The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins "Spence" Spencer ...
. It features a cantilever
high-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
, a four to six seat enclosed cabin, retractable
tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
and a single engine in
pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
.
The aircraft is made from
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
sheet with the forward cabin made from
fibreglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
. Its span wing employs a
NACA
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
23015 R-4
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
, has an area of and
flaps. Standard engines available were initially intended to be the
Continental Tiara 6-285 and Tiara 6-320
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
powerplants. Later the
Lycoming IO-540-M1A5D and turbocharged
Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD were used.
The design incorporates some innovative features, including wing tip floats that retract into the wing tips and provide additional wing area and lift, a nose wheel that retracts into the nose to act as a bumper for mooring on water and drooping
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s.
The Trigull was specifically designed to compete with the
Republic RC-3 Seabee
The Republic RC-3 Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aircraft Corporation.
Design and development
The RC-3 Seabee was designed by Percival Hopkins "Spence" Spencer ...
,
Lake Buccaneer
The Lake Buccaneer is an American four-seat, light amphibious aircraft derived from the Colonial C-2 Skimmer, itself a development of the three-seat Colonial C-1 Skimmer.
Development
The Colonial Aircraft of Sanford, Maine developed the C-2 ...
and the
SIAI-Marchetti FN.333 Riviera.
Trident Aircraft was founded in February 1970 to develop the TR-1. The aircraft first flight was on 5 August 1973, with the second prototype first flying on 2 July 1976. The TR-1 Trigull 285 model's Canadian
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
aircraft certification was completed on 28 October 1976 with US
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
certification following on 16 December 1976. Series production was to commence in the early 1980s, and orders were received for 43 aircraft, plus 23 options. The project received technical assistance from both
Canadair and
Grumman Aerospace Corporation
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
. Despite financial assistance from the federal government's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Commerce and the provincial government's British Columbia Development Corporation, the company ran out of capital and ceased operations in 1980.
Although intended for series production, only three prototypes were ever built by Trident. Two were registered and flown, CF-TRI (later C-FTRI) and C-GATE, while the third was an engineering test airframe.
The type certificate has been held by
Viking Air
Viking Air Ltd. is a manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company produces new versions of the DHC-6 Twin Otter, upgraded versi ...
of Sidney, British Columbia since 2006. Viking Air also owns the two remaining prototype aircraft. In 2003 Viking Air indicated an interest in producing the Trigull as a turbine-powered amphibian, with a price at that time estimated at
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
400,000, but since then no further news has been released.
Variants
;TR-1 Trigull 285
:Model with the
Continental Tiara 6-285 engine and four seats. Type certified in Canada on 28 October 1976 and in the United States on 16 December 1976.
;TR-1 Trigull 320
:Model with the
Continental Tiara 6-320 engine and six seats.
Specifications (Trigull 285)
See also
References
Further reading
*
External links
Photos of the two Trigull prototypes flown
{{Viking Air
Amphibious aircraft
1970s Canadian civil utility aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
High-wing aircraft
TR-1
Aircraft first flown in 1973
Flying boats