Number Two engine and 'S' duct explained by Lockheed

Number Two engine and 'S' duct

The Number Two engine is installed in the aft fuselage. Like the wing engines it is a 50,000 pound thrust Rolls Royce Engine. Its inlet is a curved "S" duct which provides performance equivalent to that of a straight through duct,

(There is no performance penalty)

Aside from improved looks, there are several advantages to using an "S" duct. First, this lowers the #2 engine, which gives a low center engine thrust line. This reduces pitch up tendencies, and permits both wider lateral spacing of the wing engines, and a wider flap span.

The aft fuselage does not taper as much as other wide body aircraft because of #2 engine. This allows a longer fuselage constant section and more passenger room.

The lower engine allows for a one piece rudder which gives improved handling by increasing rudder effectivity.

Surprisingly, the "S" duct design also reduces aircraft weight. The engine is mounted in the aft fuselage. This eliminates the need for heavy structural supports (800 lbs.) which would otherwise be required, Those supports, if used, would reduce the passenger cabin by 65 square feet, or 11 seats.

TriStar History and Preservation has a new brand

TriStar Experience

News from TriStar's Facebook page:

TriStar is officially re-branding from its legal name "TriStar History and Preservation, Inc." to our dba name "TriStar Experience". Its an important step to re-affirm we're not a museum. Rather TriStar is a unique organization that uses airworthy, iconic jet aircraft to inspire kids (ultimately of all ages) with hands-on experiential programs to pursue STEM fields of study and professions. As part of the rebranding our website is being redirected this week to the new URL (TriStarExperience.org) then rebuilt entirely. You can see here that our facebook name has already been changed. Both our twitter and Linkedin accounts / pages have been rebuilt. If you're interested in following us via those means (LinkedIn, twitter), please visit and sign up again.

TriStar Experience also released a new video showing a successful engine run performed on its recently acquired L-1011 with tail number N910TE.

More news on L-1011 N910TE

N910TE © TriStar History and Preservation

An article published on the Kansas City Star Site reveals more about the intentions of TriStar History and Preservation on their recently acquired L-1011, the ex-Flying Hospital.

They expect to ferry this L-1011 from Tucson to Kansas City within two to three weeks and use it for their STEM educational project.

The integral airstairs that give access to the lower deck - one of the two aircraft delivered to PSA in this configuration - are a major advantage according to the sources.

About N91011, the ex-Portuguese L-1011, also owned by TriStar, we can find this reference:

TriStar History also owns the TWA Wings of Pride McDonnell Douglas MD-83, a British Aircraft Corp. One-Eleven and another L-1011 in California.

• The Kansas City Star: News Article and Interview

L-1011 customer codes by Lockheed

In a similar way to Boeing that used to identify the original customers of its aircraft by attributing a special code in the last two digits of a certain type's series, Lockheed used a prefix in the Serial Number.

It happened that certain airlines which operated both standard length and -500 TriStars, had two different codes, also marking that difference between the models.

TAP's customer code prefix was "293B-". TAP also operated two second-hand L-1011s originally intended for Air Canada that were not taken up by this airline. These two aircraft had the prefix "193H-" attributed to AC's -500 models, although their first operator was Royal Jordanian.

L-1011 customer codes table - click to enlarge

For the complete serial numbers' list of the L-1011s registered in Portugal, please refer to the Aircraft page, in our website.

L-1011 walk-around photos

A nice set of photos of a walk-around session around the L-1011 msn 1189 (ex-N753DA) can be found on Pas-Decals website. Albeit with Luzair logos, this aircraft never made part of its fleet.
Follow the link below.

Luzair L-1011 © Alex@Pas-Decals.ru

• Pas-Decals: LOCKHEED L1011 TRI STAR

L-1011 lower deck galley

Two very nice videos covering the features of the L-1011's lower deck galley can be seen on YouTube:

Author of the videos: Carla Kittler

These videos were filmed inside an ATA Airlines' L-1011-100 series, probably N194AT. Only standard length TriStars were equipped with a lower deck galley.

Newark Air Museum acquires TriStar Sim

Last month, Newark Air Museum (England) took delivery of a static TriStar Simulator that was previously on display at Royal Air Force Museum in Colindale/London.

TriStar Simulator © André O Malhão

The simulator is not yet available for display in its new place since it has to assembled again and the museum is still deciding to what extent it will be made operational.

• Newark Air Museum: TriStar Simulator

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.