TriStar500.net Blog

L-1011's 1st commercial flight was 40 years ago

In 26 April 1972, the L-1011 TriStar entered in service with Eastern Airlines.

Flightglobal: The TriStar heritage 40 years on

TAP's First Class seats in the L-1011

When TAP Air Portugal introduced the L-1011 in 1983, the aircraft had a configuration of 12 First Class seats (2-2-2 abreast) and 234 in Economy. About one year later, TAP decided to end its First Class service and introduced the brand new C/CL called Navigator Class. Configuration was changed to 21C232Y with 2-3-2 abreast in Navigator Class.

In 2004, an exhibition of TAP Museum was held in Pavilhão do Conhecimento (Lisboa), where we could see some of those FC seats:

L-1011's First Class seats

Despite being wide and comfortable, they look rather vintage and quite primitive even when compared to current Top Executive product.

In the 'Memorabilia' section of TriStar500.net you can find one vintage ad about TAP's First Class in the L-1011.

OSC L-1011 and the NuSTAR mission

The L-1011 of Orbital Sciences Corporation is scheduled for a new launch of its Pegasus rocket in June 2012. Its payload will be NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) which will search for black holes, map supernova explosions and study the most extreme active galaxies.

Pegasus XL rocket © NASA

The Pegasus XL rocket is fully assembled inside a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Technicians will tow the rocket to the base's runway a few weeks before launch and bolt it to an L-1011 carrier aircraft, which will fly the Pegasus and NuSTAR payload to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The L-1011 jumbo jet will drop the rocket about 40,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean, and the three-stage, winged Pegasus will light to propel the 800-pound NuSTAR satellite into a 340-mile-high orbit.

This L-1011 named Stargazer and registered N140SC is one of the few active TriStars left and was specially modified by Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge to carry the air-launched Pegasus rocket.

L-1011 Stargazer © Orbital Sciences Corporation

Spaceflight Now: Launch of NASA X-ray telescope

Airways Magazine - TWA TriStar Returns Home

On January 2010 we reported the arrival of the former TWA L-1011 with reg. number N700TS to its new home in Kansas City.

Airways Magazine published an article about this aircraft and its final ferry flight in its May 2010 issue. Now you can read it online: TWA TriStar Returns Home (pdf).

This file is hosted in the TWA Active Retired Pilots Association website.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 02/12

No changes since last report. Clearing up some recent rumors, CS-TEB was not scrapped and it's still stored at Amman/ADJ.

MSN 1206 euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped at Lisbon (LIS)

MSN 1240 euroAtlantic CS-TEB - stored at Amman (ADJ)

MSN 1241 Luzair CS-TMR - stored at Victorville (VCV) / listed for sale

MSN 1248 Luzair CS-TMP - stored at Aqaba (AQJ) / listed for sale

CS-TMP (Luzair) seen at Aqaba

Photos taken 9th February 2012

msn 1248 CS-TMP - stored at Aqaba (AQJ) / listed for sale

Airworthiness Directive for L-1011 aircraft issued by FAA

December 30, 2011

Summary: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Lockheed Martin Corporation/Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Model L-1011-385-1, L-1011-385-1-14, L-1011-385-1-15, and L-1011-385-3 airplanes. This AD was prompted by results from a damage tolerance analysis conducted by the manufacturer indicating that fatigue cracking could occur in wing rear spar and upper surface zones. This AD requires repetitive inspections for cracking of the wing rear spar and upper surface zones, and repair if necessary. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct such fatigue cracking, which could result in cracking that grows large enough to reduce the wing strength below certificated requirements and possibly cause fracture of the rear spar, resulting in extensive damage to the wing and possible fuel leaks.

Source: Government Publishing Office