L-1011 design features

Early RB211-22B engines that powered standard lenght TriStars were equipped simultaneously with both cascade vanes and clamshells reversers. The clamshells when deployed deflected the hot stream from the engine core. But they were very unreliable and troublesome and were definitely removed. As a result, a new and shorter afterbody design led to less engine drag.

Reverser system © Lockheed

As an option, Lockheed offered built-in airstairs that serviced door R3 on standard lenght TriStars. Very few airlines took this option, LTU being one of them.

Built-in airstairs © Lockheed

Our website's Specialties page was updated with this information and pictures.

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

Site update - new photo galleries

CS-TMP © Luís Machado

Thanks to visitor and contributor Luís Machado, TriStar500.net has now available four new galleries with amazing photos of CS-TEB (Photos 2), CS-TMP and CS-TMR (Photos 3) from unusual perspectives, and finally the end of line of CS-TMX (Photos 4 and 5) just before being scrapped in Lisbon:

• Photos 2
• Photos 3
• Photos 4
• Photos 5

To accommodate the new galleries, the website's structure was slightly altered. The global overview of the website can be seen in our Sitemap.

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?

An article from AirlineReporter

It was published by AirlineReporter a comprehensive article about the L-1011 and what made this aircraft so unique.

This article starts with a brief description of the historical context of the time where the L-1011 developed and the goal of Lockheed of designing a product that made the difference by employing advanced technology and unique features.

Then it proceeds with the inputs of the airlines on the L-1011 and with special cabin details that made the TriStar a pleasurable aircraft for the passengers.

It even includes the proposed self-dimming windows (a concept very similar to what we find today on the Boeing 787) that unfortunately did not make it into production aircraft:

Self-dimming windows © AirlineReporter/Lockheed

Another interesting curiosity revealed was that the L-1011 flight deck was proposed in three different colours to the operators: grey, blue and olive. TAP's original L-1011s were delivered with their flight decks in tones of blue.

Finally, the article tells about the remarkable TriStar's AFCS, whose systems are also described in this website's Specialties page.

• AirlineReporter: Requiem For a Trijet Masterpiece - The Lockheed L-1011

TAP TV Commercials in the 80s

With the renewal of the fleet in the early 80s and with the arrival of the first L-1011s, TAP advertised its new product in a typical Portuguese way. The L-1011 is the aircraft shown in these adverts, being presented as a "race horse". In the last advert we can also see a nice view of the original Economy Class interior. This is a sequence of three TV commercials by TAP:

Voe Português, Voe TAP Air Portugal

LTU L-1011 video footage

It was recently made available on YouTube a footage about a Düsseldorf-Fuerteventura flight on a LTU L-1011 that shows what a charter flight looked like in the 80s.

Video uploaded by Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture