TriStar500.net Blog

N910TE will be ferried to Kansas City

As we previously announced, TriStar History and Preservation acquired the ex-Flying Hospital L-1011 and we now know that their intention is to ferry this aircraft (re-registered N910TE) to Kansas City.

The Flying Hospital © Mercy Airlift

The aircraft has been readied at Tucson for the ferry flight and it seems there is already a Special Flight Permit approved.

The Flying Hospital was a project established by Mercy Airlift using the largest fully equipped surgical hospital ever constructed inside an aircraft, to provide medical services and humanitarian aid.

TZ-MHI seen at Nairobi Jomo-Kenyatta Airport

L-1011 tail number TZ-MHI (msn 1221) was seen today abandoned at Nairobi airport. The airframe seems to be in a very sorry condition in such a way that, almost for sure, it will never make it into the skies again.

TZ-MHI@NBO © Nuno Carvalho

This L-1011 was originally delivered to TWA in 1981 and had a long life with several operators, being the last one SAM Intercontinental. It was one the of last remaining airworthy examples.

It visited Portugal during the UEFA Euro2004 tournament, carrying Greek supporters while operated by StarAir that later became StarJet.

Thanks to Nuno Carvalho for these rare photos!

Aerial photos of Al Alamain Intl

Thanks to our visitor David Fidler, we can see three L-1011s parked at Al Alamain Intl Airport (DBB/HEAL), in Egypt. The following photos were taken in August 2014, while overflying at 30.000+ feet:

The L-1011 on the top of the second photo is HR-AWM (msn 1229) which was supposed to operate for Rollins Air some years ago. The other two airframes with the blue "masks" and tails are TZ-SGI (msn 1237) and TZ-SPA (msn 1245) belonging to SAM Intercontinental.

"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.

TriStar History and Preservation new L-1011?

According to the N-Number registry, it seems that TriStar History and Preservation company recently bought the ex-Flying Hospital L-1011. The aircraft previously registered P4-MED has now a new tail number N910TE. The airframe, a PSA original, has been stored for several years in Tucson Intl Airport.

Let's hope this move doesn't mean TriStar History and Preservation is giving up on N91011.

Some info about the Flying Hospital, here. And the recent discussion about this airframe in Airliners.net's forum.

Season's Greetings

We would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And hopefully more L-1011s to track in 2016 :)

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.

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.

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:

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