Footage showing Stargazer at Long Beach Airport

by Roy Rausch

L-1011 Stargazer at the Festival of Flight 2024

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 "Stargazer" took off today towards Long Beach Airport to be part of the static aircraft display of this year's "Festival of Flight".

Festival of Flight 2024

The festival will be held tomorrow at the LGB Airfield:

Generously sponsored by the Port of Long Beach, the lineup of aircraft is expected to include a KC-46 Pegasus, an air-to-air military refueling aircraft; the Flabob Express DC-3, built in 1943 and full of a storied history that includes flying Winston Churchill and the Royal Family; and a Northrup Grumman modified Lockheed L-1011 TriStar that is the only L-1011 still operational. The Condor Squadron will also conduct two flyovers. All aircraft displays are subject to change.

The ferry flight from Mojave to Long Beach took only 27 minutes to complete.

• Long Beach Airport: Festival of Flight 2024

An abandoned L-1011 on a beach

L-1011 in Cotonou © Matthew Klint/Live and Let's Fly

An L-1011 originally delivered to All Nippon Airways and last operated by Air Rum (msn 193P-1156) is sitting on a beach for some years now in Cotonou, Benin - West Africa.

One can find two interesting reports of this aircraft on the internet:

• Live and Let's Fly: Onboard A Lockheed L-1011 TriStar In Cotonou, Benin
• AirlineReporter: Exploring an Abandoned L1011 TriStar on a Beach in West Africa

Portuguese L-1011 fleet status 2023

Still no news of CS-TEB being scrapped:

• MSN 1206 euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped at Lisbon (LIS/LPPT)
• MSN 1240 euroAtlantic CS-TEB - stored at Amman (ADJ/OJAM)
• MSN 1248 Luzair CS-TMP - scuttled in the Gulf of Aqaba

And we now say goodbye to Novair

Nova Airlines AB, doing business as Novair, ceased operations last October, ending a 26 years run.

Novair SE-DVF © LRS 747

Novair was a swedish micro-airline operating two Airbus A321neo on the charter scene, a company that started its activities in 1997 with an ex-TAP L-1011 registered SE-DVF adding a second one (SE-DVI) some months later.