TAP Air Portugal relaunches Los Angeles (LAX) route

TAP Air Portugal started flying to Los Angeles in April 1989 using the L-1011 TriStar 500. The route, called the "Bi-coastal" was seasonal and only lasted until the early 90s.

Yesterday, TAP relaunched the route to Los Angeles, 6 years after flying again to San Francisco, this time using their A330neos.

I thought it would be nice to remember those days when the L-1011 was the flagship of the fleet:

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.

N140SC with updated Northrop Grumman titles

N140SC © JetPhotos / xuxinyi1000

ICON launch set for this Wednesday

News from NASA's Kennedy Space Center:

NASA and Northrop Grumman completed their Launch Readiness Review on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are no technical issues being worked at this time. NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite mission is scheduled to launch Wednesday, Nov. 7, by Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket, which will be carried aloft by the company’s L-1011 Stargazer aircraft taking off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

• Kennedy Space Center: Launch Readiness Completed for ICON

Stargazer painted with Northrop Grumman titles

Stargazer © Airliners.net/Brad T

Orbital ATK is the new owner of N91011

When consulting FAA Registry website, Orbital ATK (trade name for ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP) shows up as the new owner of the L-1011 with tail number N91011, a transaction that took place on April 5.

N91011 parked at Victorville

This airframe, an ex-TAP Air Portugal, was previously owned by TriStar Experience, which gave up on it in favor of preserving the ex-Flying Hospital L-1011.

No press release was made about this move on Orbital's website but one can assume N91011 will be used for spare parts to support the operation of the only active L-1011 in the world, the "Stargazer".

• FAA Registry: N-Number Inquiry for N91011

Press release from Tempus AS

It looks like Tempus Applied Solutions has firm intentions to bring back to life the ex-RAF TriStars parked in Bruntinghorpe:

Tempus Applied Solutions Finalizes Acquisition of Ex-Royal Air Force Air-To-Air Refueling Aircraft
Transaction consists of six Lockheed L-1011 aircraft

MARCH 12, 2018
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. | March 12, 2018 – Tempus Applied Solutions (TAS) announced today that the company has finalized the acquisition of six Lockheed L-1011s formerly owned and operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. Four of these aircraft are specifically configured for air-to-air refueling (AAR) operations and the remaining two are configured for passenger and cargo operations only. The aircraft previously served the RAF and NATO.

Read more on the link down below.

• Tempus AS: Acquisition of Ex-Royal Air Force Air-To-Air Refueling Aircraft

Northrop Grumman-Orbital ATK Merger

Last November, Orbital ATK's stockholders approved the acquisition of their company by Northrop Grumman. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2018, after regulatory approvals.

Meanwhile, according to Spaceflight Now, the launch of the Pegasus XL rocket carrying the ICON satellite has been postponed to a date yet to be defined, in early 2018:

Launch time: TBD
Launch site: L-1011, Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
An air-launched Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket will deploy NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite into orbit. ICON will study the ionosphere, a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere where terrestrial weather meets space weather. Disturbances in the ionosphere triggered by solar storms or weather activity in the lower atmosphere can cause disturbances in GPS navigation and radio transmissions. Delayed from June 15, Nov. 14 and Dec. 8. [Nov. 13] 

TriStar500.net takes this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

• Orbital ATK: Orbital ATK Stockholders Approve Acquisition by Northrop Grumman Corporation

Tempus Applied Solutions buys RAF TriStars

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tempus Applied Solutions (TAS) announced today that the company has entered into a definitive purchase agreement for the acquisition of six Lockheed L-1011s formerly owned and operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom.

TAS intends to operate only three of the six aircraft, with the remaining three serving as a source of spare parts:

• msn 193V-1157 | N304CS
• msn 193V-1164 | N405CS
• msn 193V-1165 | N309CS
• msn 193V-1174 | N705CS
• msn 193Y-1186 | N507CS
• msn 193Y-1188 | N703CS

• Tempus: Tempus Applied Solutions To Acquire Ex-Royal Air Force Air-To-Air Refueling Aircraft

Las Vegas Sands' N388LS scrapped

Not everything is like good news about TriStars these days. The gorgeous N388LS belonging to Las Vegas Sands casino was finally scrapped at Don Muang Airport (Bangkok) in the beginning of this month... This aircraft was damaged beyond repair, in 2011, during the floods.

SN: 293A-1249

Type: -500

Regstr: N388LS

Owner: Las Vegas Sands Corporation

Status: Scrapped

New launch attempt for tomorrow

Stargazer © Orbital ATK

It was announced yesterday that a new attempt to launch the Pegasus rocket with eight small CYGNSS satellites is now scheduled for tomorrow:

Orbital ATK and NASA announced today that the next launch attempt of the Pegasus rocket will be scheduled no earlier than December 14, with a launch window from 8:20 to 9:20 a.m. EST. This additional time will allow for a replacement L-1011 carrier aircraft component to arrive from Mojave, California, and be installed, as well as support the required crew rest requirements. 

Today’s launch was aborted due to an issue with the launch vehicle release system on the L-1011 Stargazer. The hydraulic release system operates the mechanism that releases the Pegasus rocket from the carrier aircraft. The hydraulic system had functioned properly during the pre-flight checks of the airplane.

• Orbital ATK: Pegasus XL CYGNSS

N140SC flew today in preparation for the CYGNSS launch

From Orbital's Twitter account:

N140SC © Orbital ATK

Our L-1011 #Stargazer lands in VAFB to conduct check outs for the upcoming #Pegasus launch of @NASA's #CYGNSS satellite

According to SpaceFlight Now website, the launch is now scheduled to take place on Nov. 21.

• Twitter: Orbital ATK

When TAP sold their last L-1011

This is a clipping from Air Transport World magazine (January 1998) announcing the sale of the L-1011 CS-TEA to Air Transat.

CS-TEA (msn 1239) was the first L-1011 delivered to TAP Air Portugal in 1983, and it was the third of the type bought by Air Transat from TAP, in November 1997 - after acquiring CS-TEE (December 1996) and CS-TED (January 1997). CS-TEA was at the same time, the last L-1011 operated by TAP.

"One Year... One Company"

Yesterday, Orbital ATK - the only L-1011 operator left - celebrated one year after the merger of the two companies.

Orbital ATK merger anniversary

And today, their L-1011 dubbed "Stargazer", took off from Mojave for a series of flights to Marana (Pinal Airpark), Phoenix Goodyear and back to Mojave.

Flightradar24 printscreens

11-Feb-2016 L10/Z KGYR-KMHV 03:39PM MST 04:05PM PST En Route
11-Feb-2016 L10/Z KMZJ-KGYR 12:51PM MST 01:14PM MST 0:23
11-Feb-2016 L101 KMHV-KMZJ 09:06AM PST 11:17AM MST 1:11

N140SC is currently the only L-1011 in operation in the world, so every single take-off means a major event for every TriStar fans.

Barq Aviation - redelivery of TriStars?

The website CH-Aviation recently announced that Barq Aviation took redelivery of its three TriStars:

L-1011-500 © Barq Aviation

Barq Aviation (BUR, Amman Queen Alia) has taken redelivery of its trio of Lockheed Tristars following their return from South America where they were supposed to operate for Transportes Generales Aéreos (Lima Int'l) in Peru.

However, these aircraft never left Ras Al Khaimah Airport (RKT) where they are stored since 2013. In fact, it was somewhere in 2013, that a possible operation for Transaer RASA (Peru) was studied with the following registration numbers being assigned to the aircraft:

• msn 193B-1230 as OB-2049-P
• msn 293A-1238 as OB-2060-P
• msn 293A-1220 as OB-2061-P

Probably none of these TriStars have ever flown out of RKT since 2013 and they are still listed in the FAA N-Number registry with their previous ATA Airlines tail numbers.

• CH-Aviation News: Barq Aviation

L-1011 retirement video (Air Transat)

Nice footage about Air Transat's L-1011 final retirement. Air Transat operated the type between 1987 and 2004.

Source: Airliners.net Forum

There's still a TriStar reaching for the Stars

Last Saturday (31 Oct), the L-1011 with tail number N140SC dubbed "Stargazer" was seen airborne between Phoenix Goodyear Airport and Mojave.

This was not a Pegasus launch mission - it was a flight for unknown operational reasons. Nevertheless it's always great to see the Stargazer in action with its new blue livery of Orbital ATK. Ain't she beautiful?

AGD Systems takes six TriStars from RAF

Defense Contractor AGD Systems announced recently that it will operate six ex-Royal Air Force TriStars which will return to civilian operation (these aircraft once belonged to British Airways and Pan Am) and will be available for military contracts.

The six aircraft have already the following N-numbers assigned:

• msn 193V-1157 | N304CS
• msn 193V-1164 | N405CS
• msn 193V-1165 | N309CS
• msn 193V-1174 | N705CS
• msn 193Y-1186 | N507CS
• msn 193Y-1188 | N703CS

Ex-British Airways examples (193V) are air-to-air refueling capable while the two ex-Pan Am (193Y) are in ordinary passenger configuration. These aircraft are intended to be deployed on the very same missions they performed for RAF such as "refueling, cargo, personnel and medivac missions globally".

• PR.com: AGD SYSTEMS Corp Announces Capabilities with Addition of Six (6) Tristar Tankers

Stargazer turns blue

Following the recent merger of Orbital Sciences Coporation with Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Stargazer - the only active L-1011 left in the world - got a revised paint job that reflects the new corporate identity.

N140SC © Orbital ATK

At least two more launches of the Pegasus rocket are scheduled until 2017.

euroAtlantic - 20 years flying around the world!

euroAtlantic airways magazine

The latest issue of euroAtlantic airways' inflight magazine is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the airline and it has a special article about its operation and mission since the beginning. euroAtlantic was founded in 1993 as Air Zarco/Air Madeira and started flying with one L-1011 in 1997. The article shows several interesting photos including one with the crew of its first flight and with the L-1011 (still with Air Portugal's stripes) in the background.