TriStar500.net - Blog

Airworthiness Directive for L-1011 aircraft issued by FAA

2011-12-30T18:31:00.002Z

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 / PDF)

TWA L-1011 TV Commercial from 1979

2011-10-10T05:01:00.000+01:00

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 10/11

2011-10-08T21:13:00.000+01:00

msn 1206 euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped

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

msn 1241 LUZair CS-TMR - stored at Victorville (VCV) / listed for sale, contact

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

Moving to a new hangar

2011-08-11T02:42:00.003+01:00

TriStar500.net is moving to a new home so the site should be off for a little while.

I'd like to thank Jorge Diogo (Airsim.net) and Miguel Blaufuks (SimFlight) for providing the free hosting for these last 4 years.

Free Sky Project L-1011

2010-12-11T16:17:00.010Z

FSPro is a new freeware Flight Simulator addon developer which seems to have inherited most of Project Opensky's legacy. However their first model will be a reshaped L-1011 model previously designed by Vistaliners.

The L-1011 versions to be reproduced are the -100, -250 and later the -500.

Free Sky Project website: www.freeskyproject.com

Lockheed L-1011 turns 40 today

2010-11-16T20:02:00.007Z

16th November 1970

N1011

Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar 1

Reg# N1011
MSN 193X-1001
First Flight 16NOV1970
Hours 3,842
Cycles 1,841

Follow the 40 Years Ago Today: First Flight L-1011 thread @ Airliners.net

Safari Airlines - new TriStar operator?

2010-07-10T06:03:00.008+01:00

News from site PANROTAS [portuguese only]

Safari Airlines

EXCLUSIVO: Grupo brasileiro investe US$ 25 milhões em aérea na África e deve voar em agosto ao Brasil (Fortaleza)

De olho nas oportunidades de negócios na África e com apoio do governo da Guiné Bissau, ex-colônia portuguesa localizada no oeste do continente, um grupo de seis empresários brasileiros investiu US$ 25 milhões e fundou há quase cinco meses a Safári Linhas Aéreas de Guiné-Bissau S/A. Objetivo: tornar, por meio da empresa, o aeroporto da capital do país, Bissau, um hub para unir a América do Sul, tendo o Brasil como maior mercado, a África e a Europa.

A companhia aguarda a aprovação da Anac para estrear no mercado com um voo regular, duas vezes por semana, entre Bissau e Fortaleza. “A Anac tem colaborado bastante e, para operar a rota, compramos um Boeing 727-200, que está em manutenção na Tap Maintenance and Engineering aqui no Brasil”, diz, com exclusividade ao Portal PANROTAS, o presidente da Safari, o paulista Marcos Marcelino Vieira, em entrevista realizada no escritório da holding Cooperate Group, na capital paulista. A empresa atua na exportação de commodities, sobretudo minérios - manganês e ferro.

“Também compramos um Lockheed Tristar, que deverá unir São Paulo (GRU) com Bissau em uma próxima fase de nossa operação no Brasil”, emenda o diretor comercial, o mineiro Paulo Almada, experiente profissional da indústria aérea. Ele iniciou carreira na então TWA, dos Estados Unidos.

O Boeing 727-200 da Safari terá 12 poltronas na executiva e 161 poltronas na econômica. Caso a Anac aprove, os voos Fortaleza-Bissau devem sair às terças e às quintas – decola à 0h30 e pousa às 6h30 (horário local). “Depois o mesmo avião segue para Lagos, a capital da Nigéria”, conta Almada.

Website Safari Airlines: www.voesafari.com

Privilege Jet's HR-AVN @ FIFA World Cup - South Africa 2010

2010-06-23T22:55:00.008+01:00

An old TAP and Air Transat L-1011 was seen operating World Cup charter flights. The aircraft belongs to Privilege Jet with reg. nr. HR-AVN (msn 293B-1242). It is supposed to be operating on behalf of Rollins Air.

Photo with special livery at Buenos Aires.

Farewell L-1011

2010-03-31T23:27:00.011+01:00

Ten years ago when I launched this website I was far from knowing how much an airplane would change my life:

the plane that gave me new friends;
the plane that gave me wings;
the plane that gave me a job.

Today, the last portuguese L-1011 made its way to final retirement. I was lucky enough to see it for the last time getting ready for its take-off to Amman where it is now stored, while I was arriving from Munich.

Goodbye CS-TEB...

Thank you L-1011!

It was not an easy move...

2010-01-31T01:01:00.006Z

Posted on Mon, Jan. 25, 2010 11:03 PM

Iconic L-1011 aircraft to join Airline History Museum collection at last - KansasCity.com

By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star

A jumbo jetliner from the past once fated for scrap will make one last flight after all — to the Airline History Museum in Kansas City.

The vintage Lockheed L-1011 is scheduled to land here at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and become an educational exhibit.

The museum made the same announcement last April, and a crowd of aviation buffs arrived for the landing but were disappointed. It turned out that the Federal Aviation Administration had serious reservations about whether the craft was airworthy to make the trip from Roswell, N.M.

But months of effort by Airline History Museum director Larry Brown and other volunteers persuaded the FAA to allow the one-time trip after all. Brown received the go Monday morning, and a permit was to arrive by overnight mail.

“It’s been a long struggle,” Brown said Monday.

The huge plane, which flew under the colors of hometown airline TWA beginning in 1972, will be permanently parked south of the museum hangar at Wheeler Downtown Airport, its tail hanging out over the fence surrounding the airport apron.

The museum plans to make it a classroom of sorts for the history of passenger aviation. School groups will sit in first class and watch an educational video on the plane’s in-flight monitors. The L-1011, thought to be about the last salvageable one of its kind in the U.S., will complement the museum’s other planes, including a Lockheed Constellation, a DC-3 and a Martin 404.

To secure a permit for the L-1011, the museum had to satisfy 28 “airworthiness directives” for the FAA. Agency spokesman Lynn Lunsford in Fort Worth confirmed Monday that the FAA inspector had signed off on the permit.

The event is important to aviation buffs and others because the L-1011 was only the second wide-bodied jet and is considered a reminder of the high times of passenger flight, both in comfort and in gadgetry. It was the top of the line in electronics at the time and had Rolls-Royce engines.

Lockheed had made only 250 of the planes when production ceased in 1983. None has ever landed at Kansas City’s downtown airport.

This plane has had a checkered history since it left commercial service. Under a previous owner, it went through various registrations and incarnations in locations from Africa to South America, and he wanted to sell it.

Brown became aware of the plane and was negotiating its purchase when the owner instead sold it to a scrap dealer. But the dealer agreed to sell it to the airline museum for $100,000, which was provided by benefactor Paul Pristo of Arizona, who had also helped the museum acquire its “Connie.”

Brown thinks securing FAA approval to fly the L-1011 to Kansas City was complicated because of its past.

“The FAA said that it had been operating illegally,” Brown said. “They were mad as hell at the airplane and its owner. They took it out on us. I explained to them we were not part of the problem. We’re trying to save the airplane.”

Brown got help from Ann Meili, a former L-1011 flight attendant for Royal Jordanian Airlines and American Airlines. Because she had been hired by the former owner to train new flight crews for him, she knew the plane’s history.

“I knew exactly where that airplane had flown from 2002 until it ended up in Roswell,” Meili said Monday.

Brown was able to calculate that the plane had logged 30 to 35 hours of flight during that time and to relay that information to the FAA.

Another critical concern was a rear spar that provides strength where the wings are attached to the plane. The L-1011s were supposed to have modifications to the spar because they were in danger of cracking. This airplane did not have the modification, but it also did not have cracking, Brown said.

In other respects, the previous owner had taken good care of the plane. It has new avionics, a new paint job and new furnishings.

“The interior is spectacular,” Meili said. “It’s absolutely beautiful, all redone in royal blue with new covers on the seats, new carpet and carpet on the walls.”

Still, the Airline History Museum had to do about $60,000 of mechanical work to make the craft airworthy.

Earlier this month, the flight crew fired the systems up and taxied around the runway in Roswell. Engine No. 1 smoked a lot, but it just needed to be blown out after three years of sitting idle, Brown said. Videos of the tests are available at www.ahmhangar.com and on YouTube.

The plane will be flown to Kansas City by a crew that stays certified for the L-1011 by training in a surviving simulator at Delta Air Lines in Atlanta. FAA restrictions will require the plane to carry only essential personnel and not to be fully pressurized. It must fly slower and at a lower altitude than commercial aircraft and avoid congested areas.

There will be a short ceremony when the plane lands, as well as some photo ops for retired TWA crews. Then the plane will be opened to the public by way of a stairway to the cabin door, which is 15 feet above ground.

The L-1011 will be conspicuous to motorists on the Broadway Bridge and the highway next to the airport. It is expected to be popular with visitors.

“It was a plane the passengers loved,” Meili said. “It was modern, it was sleek, it was beautiful.”

«We did it!» - Airline History Museum (Kansas City)

2010-01-31T00:34:00.012Z

Today (30th January), N700TS made its final flight to Kansas City where it will be part of Airline History Museum display.

You can see more videos and photos from the arrival and from previous run-ups in these links:

... and the flight report here.

As an L-1011 enthusiast, I would like to thank all those who worked hard to achieve this goal and save a TriStar.

CS-TMR @ Victorville

2009-12-12T18:53:00.007Z

Photo from Airliners.net, taken on 4th December

Taken one year ago but also recently added to the same site, we can see CS-TMP stored at Aqaba (Jordan)

Unfortunately, a dying breed.

Luzair is currently flying a sole B767-300ER registered CS-TQI.

New L-1011 operator

2009-12-09T01:30:00.007Z

Sky Capital Airlines from Bangladesh has added two TriStars to their fleet. One of them is the well known S2-AET and the other one is ex-'S9-GAR' now registered S2-AKB.

Here are a couple of photos of S2-AKB @ Flickr:
Photo 1
Photo 2

Operator list was already updated in the site's Links section.

Airline History Museum will add an L-1011 to their collection IV

2009-11-09T12:11:00.002Z

A little update from their site:

What is the latest on the L-1011?Monday, November 2, 2009 at 7:50AM

Still moving forward. Due to the past experiences of giving out dates, etc. and then hitting another delay, we will not be announcing anything regarding arrival, etc. almost until she taxis onto the runway in Roswell. (Not quite.) Larry Brown has spent a LOT of time on the phone, will a host of highly qualified individuals volunteering their time to work on "paperwork" and to repeat, the project is moving forward! Just stay tuned here and we will post the latest when it is appropriate to do so.

Older entries:

CS-TEB returned from C-check

2009-10-25T19:45:00.015Z

CS-TEB, msn 293B-1240, owned by euroAtlantic airways, returned from Amman last 21st October, where it performed a C-check, with MMZ301P callsign.

The aircraft also received the billboard titles of the revised livery of euroAtlantic airways, but only on the left side.

(photo: Tiago Palla)

The 23rd October, CS-TEB departed to Ilorin in Nigeria, with 'Med View' MEV3333 callsign, but it seems to be operating Kabo Air's Hajj flights to Jeddah from there.

(photo: Tiago Palla)

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 10/09

2009-10-06T14:01:00.004+01:00

msn 1206 euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped

msn 1240 euroAtlantic CS-TEB - ferried to Amman last 12th September for C-check

msn 1241 LUZair CS-TMR - stored at Victorville (VCV) / for sale

msn 1248 LUZair CS-TMP - stored at Aqaba (AQJ) / withdrawn from service

Privilege Jet Airlines L-1011 re-registered HR-AVN

2009-07-28T15:03:00.003+01:00

MSN 293B-1242, an L-1011-500 from Privilege Jet Airlines, has a new registration: HR-AVN. The aircraft was previously registered TL-ADW.

CS-TMR stored at Victorville

2009-07-12T13:41:00.007+01:00

A very recent photo (June 2009) of CS-TMR is available at Planepictures.net

(click on the thumbnail for the full picture)

CS-TMR is owned by Luzair but it's listed for sale in SpeedNews website since October 2008.

Airliner World - Lockheed TriStar Classic Trijet

2009-06-23T16:50:00.008+01:00

A very interesting article about the Lockheed TriStar (its history, present and uncertain future) was published in the current issue of Airliner World magazine. It seems the next issue will also have an article about military TriStars.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 06/09

2009-06-23T16:38:00.005+01:00

msn 1206 euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped
msn 1240 euroAtlantic CS-TEB - active
msn 1241 LUZair CS-TMR - stored at Victorville (VCV); future unknown
msn 1248 LUZair CS-TMP - stored at Aqaba (AQJ)

Thanks to Privilege Jet Airlines information, the current status of msn 1242 TL-ADW (an ex-TAP L-1011) was changed from 'Unknown' to 'Active' in the site's Fleet section.
It's nice to see some of these old boys still kicking around.

TAP/VASP codeshare agreement

2009-06-06T20:50:00.008+01:00

This press-clip from brazilian Flap magazine (Issue 226, Feb. 1991) states that VASP leased TAP L-1011's to increase their capacity in the RIO-SSA-RIO route, taking advantage of the long parking time that these aircraft had at GIG airport: the flight from Lisboa arrived early in the morning and the aircraft wouldn't make its return until evening.

However it seems the real deal was a little bit different. TAP used to make a stop at SSA (Salvador) in their route to RIO two times a week. So VASP bought a block of 60 economy seats on the legs between SSA/RIO/SSA. VASP's marketing sold these seats with the following slogan in portuguese 'RIO - Salvador e Salvador - RIO, pela VASP com sotaque português' which means 'Rio-Salvador and Salvador-Rio, fly VASP with portuguese accent'.

This press clip was found via AeroFórum.

TAP Air Portugal - Just the right size!

2009-05-31T12:40:00.012+01:00

It was added to the site's Articles section a rather old TAP brochure from my childhood entitled "Big enough... small enough".

After some years with the slogan "An airline should be big enough to have 747's", TAP had to change its marketing strategy when it phased-out the B747's, so the L-1011 was "just the right size" for a 'new' airline which had lost significant traffic from its old ultramarine colonies.

This brochure marks a new era of TAP-Air Portugal which superseded this one:

It is also available in the same Articles section a new incident report (portuguese only) about a TAP L-1011 which had a double engine flameout just after landing from a flight from Rio de Janeiro due to fuel starvation, in 1983. Many thanks to GPIAA.

Where does a TriStar belong?

2009-05-28T16:27:00.015+01:00

... to the Skies!

Welcome back CS-TEB!

Lining-up RWY03 (LPPT)

Today's landing after a test and checking flight for new pilots

Engine Run-up:

Flight Plan:

(FPL-MMZ351P-IN
-L101/H-SDRWXYIHZ/C
-LPPT1000
-N0481F190 FTM9N FTM A5 MANIK DCT 4055N00838W/N0481F180 DCT MANIK A5 FTM/N0480F170 A5 ESP ESP7A
-LPPT0052 LPPR
-REG/CSTEB SEL/AMBF RMK/CALLSIGN EUROATLANTIC 351P OPR/MMZ RMK/NAV/RNV10 DOF/090528)

Some minor updates to the site

2009-05-16T16:03:00.016+01:00

TriStar500.net, the official site of this blog, was recently updated on the following sections:

Fleet: update of the 'Actual status' of some aircraft listed;

Airlines: it was added the new safety card of LUZair (2008 module) to which I am proud to have given some kind of contribution;

Articles: new 'Flight reports' sub-section with links to some of my L-1011 flight descriptions as a cabin crew member which you can also find via my other blog Navigator Class - although written in portuguese, if you're not able to understand this language, you can always appreciate the photos and some short videos you can find there;

Links: also added a new 'L-1011 operators' sub-section with links to the sites of the current L-1011 operators all over the world (unfortunately, not many these days...)

Despite these new updates, if you're looking for TriStar500.net's updates, news, photos, etc, you should either bookmark or visit this blog, since it's intended to be the truly dynamic part of the site.

CS-TEB news

2009-05-16T15:57:00.002+01:00

euroAtlantic's L-1011 was spotted yesterday out of the hangar at 'Foxtrot' apron (Lisbon Airport), now with all its three engines mounted, nav ligths ON, movements in the cockpit and some maintenance activity around it.

Let's hope it will make it into the skies very soon!

CS-TEB to fly again soon

2009-05-06T00:32:00.003+01:00

euroAtlantic's TriStar MSN 293B-1240 was again moved to Hangar 6 in order to mount engine #2 (the one that was still missing) and to finish other tasks. The aircraft should return to the skies soon, probably next week.

Airline History Museum will add an L-1011 to their collection III

2009-04-22T04:44:00.002+01:00

More news about the L-1011 which will be ferried soon for Airline History Museum:

L-1011
DateTuesday, April 21, 2009 at 2:53PM
We would love to say everything is finalized and we know for sure the L-1011 will be coming in this Sunday, the 26th. HOWEVER, there are still some paperwork hang-ups so we are unable to absolutely confirm the arrival date and time, at this moment. Check back here for the latest, as it will be posted on this site as soon as we know.

Airline History Museum will add an L-1011 to their collection II

2009-04-20T07:10:00.008+01:00

The aircraft to be preserved: msn 193B-1066

Lockheed L-1011 will fly to KC to become permanent part of airline museum

By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star

Kansas City’s Wheeler Downtown Airport will soon score a first when a Lockheed L-1011 flies in to become a permanent part of the Airline History Museum.
An almost pristine example of one of the most beloved modern airliners will fill an important gap in the museum’s collection, allowing it to show the evolution of passenger aviation from the 1930s to the wide-body jet age.
Officials say an L-1011 has never landed at the downtown airport before, and this is one of only two operable planes of that model left in the U.S.
“We wanted to save her from being chopped up,” said pilot Paul Pristo of Arizona, who bought the aircraft and donated it to the Kansas City museum. “We want to give her new life as a 300-seat auditorium.”
The plane will be used in an educational program for school groups and adults, said Paul Sloan, the museum’s executive director.
The public is invited to watch the L-1011 arrive at the airport about 2 p.m. next Sunday. It will be parked outside the museum at Hangar 9 — it’s too big to fit inside. Tours of the plane will be free that day.
This particular plane was once flown by Kansas City’s hometown Trans World Airlines. But it never served the downtown airport, as Kansas City International Airport opened in 1972, the same year the L-1011 began service.
They don’t make planes like this one anymore. In fact, it was the last passenger plane Lockheed made.
A vintage TWA promotional placard at the airline museum brags about it as “Kansas City’s first big jet,” offering daily 8:30 a.m. ambassador service to Los Angeles.
“This is what an airplane should be,” the placard proclaims.
Museum member Larry Denning of Liberty agreed, and he should know. He used to pilot this very plane.
“It was a smooth airplane to fly,” Denning said. “And the passengers loved it. It had a lot of headroom.”
The L-1011 was the top of the line in electronics at the time. The doors were electric instead of manual. The coat closets whisked hangered garments away into storage. The galley was below the cabin level, which was serviced by elevators. Also, the plane had an automated landing system that kept it at an even pitch, making descents more pleasant for the passengers.
Those elevators still work, as do the video screens, which will be used by the museum to show educational films about aviation. The plane still has its three, 42,000-pound Rolls-Royce engines.
This plane had been refurbished for commercial use, but that deal fell through and it was sitting in a hangar in Roswell, N.M. Larry Brown, a founding member of the airline museum, located it and began the process of trying to acquire it.
It was way beyond the museum’s budget, but over many months of negotiation the owner reduced the price to $100,000. Pristo, who previously had donated a Lockheed Constellation “Connie” to the museum, agreed to buy the plane.
The museum still needs to raise about $14,000 to cover the costs associated with preparing the plane for the special-permit ferry flight to Kansas City. The 1½-hour trip will consume about 5,000 gallons of jet fuel.
The L-1011 evokes an era — not that long ago — when flying was still special, when the trip was almost as important as the destination.
“Everybody took a shower before a flight,” Denning joked of those days. “No one wore flip-flops.”

Famous people aboard the TriStar

2009-04-18T23:04:00.007+01:00

This is a rather old photo of Eusébio (ex-Benfica football player) and Amália Rodrigues ('Fado' singer) aboard a TAP L-1011 TriStar, which you can confirm by the particular design of the overhead lockers. You can also see the old blue bulkhead decoration. I really miss those times :)

Airline History Museum will add an L-1011 to their collection

2009-04-16T23:31:00.003+01:00

From their website:

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 12:39PM
. . . update on the arrival of our L-1011. Paperwork delay in getting everything done for the ferry flight, so she will now arrive 2 weeks and one day later--Sunday, April 26th. Time to be announced but most likely will be in the afternoon.

The airframe to be preserved seems to be an ex-TWA L-1011 (msn 193B-1066) currently with N700TS reg number and WAL livery. See photos here.

Great news for the L-1011 'aficionados'!

L-1011 cockpit DVD - quite an adventure!

2009-03-21T03:41:00.036Z

When I came across with Air Utopia and the trailer of their L-1011 DVD, I was really amazed by the spectacular images of the preview but a little bit skeptical about this producer since I never heard of them although it seems they're in business for quite a while.

Despite being an unconditional fan of the L-1011 (hell! I started working as a Flight Attendant and one of the reasons - if not the main one - was because I wanted to fly the TriStar again and that was the only way to achieve that goal) it took some time until I decided to purchase a copy of this DVD.

The aircraft depicted in this film is the oldest L-1011 in the world still flying and the first one to be converted to a freighter standard in 1987. We are talking about MSN 193A-1012, the 12th TriStar coming out from production line.
This particular aircraft (a dash 1 TriStar) was delivered to Eastern Airlines in November of 1972 (more than 37 years ago!) with N311EA registration. Then it was converted to an L-1011-1F freighter and delivered to Tradewinds in 1991.
After 2004 it was exported to Thailand where it flew for SkyEyes and Thai Sky Airlines, the last one having ceased its operations in 2006 and leaving all its three TriStars in storage at Bangkok (DMK). In 2006 and after two years without flying, a new owner decided to pick up MSN 1012 and that's where our adventure starts.

Before jumping into the movie itself, let's see some technical information about this aircraft from Lockheed's Goldenrod Issue:

Type: -1
SN: 1012
Config: F (= Freight)
Engine: 22B
GTOW: 430K (pounds)
MLW: 358K (pounds)
ZFW: 332K (pounds)
FUEL: 160K (pounds)
Hrs: 61.460
Cycles: 27.086

Air Utopia's DVD begins with the final inspections and preparations for the delivery ferry flight from Bangkok (DMK) to Dhaka (DAC) in Bangladesh. This is a short hop flight of approximately 830 nautical miles:

Inside the airframe they were also carrying a spare engine.

We can see refuelling procedure and the use of drip-sticks to ensure they have the correct fuel quantity reading in the cockpit gauges.

They pressurize the hydraulic systems still without engines running (with the help of the Air Turbine Motors) and cycle the landing gear on the ground by pulling the lever to the up position. Obviously the landing gear wouldn't retract (unless the aircraft was completely jacked up) but they done that to guarantee there were no hydraulic fluid leaks.

A rather unusual and spectacular view of the TriStar is given when they are checking #2 engine, entering the S-duct as shown in the trailer. As they check the fan blades one by one, one can clearly understand why they do that "tac-tac-tac-tac" sound when they are windmilling.
Then a complete walkaround inspection and cockpit pre-flight preparations and checklists are carried out with lots of technical details explained by the narrator. The L-1011 cockpit provides the best panoramic view of all widebody jets with large and curved windshields.

A quick peep of the FESC (the electronic bay as it is called on the TriStar) is also shown.

Finally we have a successful start-up of the engines filmed from inside and outside where we can hear the typical and amazing low-frequency sound from those RB211-22B engines. First they started up #2 engine as it's nearer from the APU and you will have less pneumatic energy losses along a shorter duct. Then they open the crossbleed valves and slightly advance the #2 power lever in order to have more pneumatic pressure to get #1 and #3 engines into life. This is a very usual procedure for starting up the TriStar engines and that I saw many times when I worked for LUZair.

Take-off is filmed with simultaneous dual perpectives: one from inside the cockpit and a RH wingview from the cabin.
After cleaning the wing, the crew tries to engage the autopilot. And then the first difficulties start to come up. The autopilot 'A' handle switch is completely stuck in the OFF postion and autopilot 'B' always trips OFF shortly after being engaged. The brave crew of this aircraft decides to proceed with flight and handflies the L-1011 until a cruise altitude of 27.000 feet, demonstrating the recognised handling and aerodynamic qualities of the TriStar. Somewhere during their cruise the crew resets some pitch and roll C/B's and autopilot 'B' becomes operational. We can ear someone saying "Now we can relax, who wants a Martini?"!

But they were wrong... Suddenly engine #1 oil pressure reading gauge in the Flight Engineer panel shows zero and they have to cutoff the engine to avoid damage to it. With so many adversities happening and that are normal for an aircraft that was in storage for so long, it's amazing to see how this experienced crew handles the situation without any sign of stress. They decide to return back to Bangkok and fortunatelly now they have the help of the autopilot. If you couldn't see the instrument gauges in the front panel you could never say they were flying with a wing engine out. However, final approach and landing is perfectly handflown by the captain and he achieves a really smooth touchdown. With one engine reverse inop and perphaps due to the assymetric braking, the brakes of one main landing gear became hot and captain decided to taxi-in with idle reverse on engine #2.

What was intended to be a delivery flight happened to be a fantastic test-flight which Air Utopia had the luck to record with their cameras.

Everyone that's ever been involved with aircraft [L-1011] has a special place for it in their hearts and it's gonna go down in history as one of the classic widebody transport of all time

In my case I really do miss it. Today Airbus may build the A380 and other great aicraft. They're still too small when compared with the TriStar!

With a running time of 115 minutes, I really would like to thank Air Utopia for this great production. I have some other L-1011 cockpit DVD's but this is clearly the best insight view of the TriStar I have ever seen.

Air Utopia's Trailer

If you are interested you can easily order your examplar from Air Utopia website:

http://www.airutopia.com/

News from several TriStars all over the world

2009-03-20T23:12:00.019Z

Barq Aviation has recently bought all three airworthy L-1011-500's from ATA Airlines which went bankrupt in April of 2008. These aircraft (MSN 1220, 1229 and 1238) were in storage since then at Victorville Air Base (VCV) and are now being readied to fly towards their new home and owner somewhere in the Middle East as we can see in this photo. Barq Aviation also owns MSN 1230 (ex-N194AT)
The only active L-1011 left in the FAA registry is now N140SC from Orbital Sciences. This aircraft is supposed to be modified into a -200 standard (currently is a -100) in order to get RB211-524B engines which still have technical support from Rolls Royce and from some MRO shops
CS-TMR (MSN 293B-1241) from LUZair, currently stored at Victorville, seems to be listed for sale
CS-TEB (MSN 293B-1240) from euroAtlantic is finally getting its modified engines installed and being prepared for return to service. Together with CS-TMP from LUZair, these are the last portuguese TriStars left

EDIT: in fact, there is still another active N-registered L-1011: N388LS from Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Thanks to visitor Howie for the correction.

TriStar EFIS cockpit upgrade for Royal Air Force

2009-02-01T17:10:00.011Z

Here is a clear picture of what it looks like

The IS&S Flat Panel Display System (FPDS) is an easily installed cockpit upgrade for the Tristar L1011 aircraft. The Primary Flight / Navigation Displays are designed to replace the existing EADI and EHSI display, altimeter, airspeed, vertical speed indicators. The Engine Instrument Display System (EIDS) is designed specifically as a low-cost upgrade of the Tristar engine instrument cluster, replacing primary and secondary engine indicators.
This easily retrofitted replacement system is compatible with the existing cockpit configuration. It provides all existing primary flight, navigation, engine related parameters, hydraulic indication, and flap and trim position indicators using five (5) AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays) in lieu of over 73 LRUs. Its unique design concept permits accelerated modification of graphic display formats, and as importantly, rapid certification.

Full article here.

This mod is supposed to be done by Marshall Aerospace.

Lockheed first proposed an EFIS cockpit in 1981 when they installed and tested this design in their prototype msn 1001.

L-1011 EFIS cockpit, 1981

However, it never went into production.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 01/09

2009-02-01T14:51:00.009Z

CS-TEB can be seen in front of TAP's Hangar 5 (LIS/LPPT) standing without all its engines. These are going under modification according to IP5 AD.

euroAtlantic CS-TEB - under maintenance
euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped
LUZair CS-TMP - stored at Aqaba (AQJ); still waiting for C-check
LUZair CS-TMR - stored at Victorville; future unknown; photo here

CS-TMP ferried for C-check

2008-11-15T22:21:00.007Z

Today, CS-TMP from LUZair was ferried to Aqaba (AQJ) in Jordan where the aircraft will be waiting for a maintenance slot before going to Amman / JorAMCo in order to perform a C-check there.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 11/08

2008-11-11T23:42:00.005Z

euroAtlantic CS-TEB - active in Hajj operation for Med-View Airline (op start 9th Nov 2008)
euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped
LUZair CS-TMP - active to be ferried to Amman for C-check
LUZair CS-TMR- stored at Victorville

Royal Air Force to keep TriStars until 2015

2008-11-10T20:23:00.005Z

Marshall Aerospace is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £97m contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to sustain the Royal Air Force’s Tristar fleet. Under Tristar Integrated Operational Support (TRIOS), the UK MOD and Industry will provide integrated maintenance, engineering and supply support to the RAF’s fleet until 2015.

Source: Marshall Aerospace

HS-AXF back on the road as S2-AET

2008-08-26T01:19:00.010+01:00

MSN 193A-1012: This old boy delivered in 1972 to Eastern Airlines and converted in 1987 to a freighter plane (-1F) , left Bangkok (DMK) last 11th August towards Dhaka to start a cargo operation between Dhaka and Dubai.

The aircraft was previously operated by Thai Sky Airlines and now it seems it will be flying for RAK Aviation (UAE) under Zoom Airways' (Bangladesh) AOC. HS-AXF was recently re-registered S2-AET.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 08/08

2008-08-15T17:02:00.008+01:00

The Airworthiness Certificate of CS-TEB was finally issued this month and the aircraft recently operated a flight for Aer Lingus between DUB and JFK. CS-TEB was stored in LIS since its arrival from AUH, in April of this year.

euroAtlantic CS-TEB - active
euroAtlantic CS-TMX - scrapped
LUZair CS-TMP - active
LUZair CS-TMR- stored at Victorville

CS-TEB active again

2008-04-16T21:31:00.010+01:00

After long term storage at Abu Dhabi due to waiting for some important structural repairs, CS-TEB finally landed today at Lisbon!

A short and successful test-flight was accomplished previously last 12th of April, in Abu Dhabi.

Here is a photo of this beauty after landing in Lisbon under the pouring rain. Welcome home again CS-TEB!

CS-TMX the end has come

2008-04-16T20:36:00.010+01:00

Last 10th of April CS-TMX msn 1206 was scrapped for good! After being cannibalized from all its reusable parts, the cutting machines left this once great machine in thousands of pieces.

The last owner of the aircraft was euroAtlantic airways and some of the parts were saved to keep their L-1011 CS-TEB flying.

The last flight of CS-TMX was done in June of 2006 and since then it was stored at LIS airport.

(photos via Manuel Morais)

Fleet Updates

2008-02-02T19:54:00.004Z

CS-TMX, msn 193H-1206, euroAtlantic airways

Still waiting for the axe in front of TAP's Hangar5 (photos taken on 1st February 2008)

OD-ZEE, msn 293B-1239, Globejet Airlines

Spotted still parked at VVI (Santa Cruz Bolivia) on January 8, 2008
Factfile updated

CS-TEB, msn 293B-1240, euroAtlantic airways

Still stored at Abu Dhabi. To return soon.

CS-TMR, msn 293B-1241, LUZair

Finishing C-check works at Victorville

TL-ADW, msn 293B-1242, Privilege Jet

Seen at Jeddah during last January, doing Hajj flights; new name "Farah"
Suffered a tire burst during take-off: Africa-Bound Pilgrim Plane Aborts Takeoff
Factfile updated, including a photo taken on 6th January 2008

XT-BRK, msn 293B-1243, Kallat Elsaker

Seen at Jeddah during last January, doing Hajj flights; new name "Mabruk"
Factfile updated, including a photo taken on 1st January 2008

CS-TMP, msn 193H-1248, LUZair

Leased to Meridian Airlines (Nigeria) from 24th November until 14th December 2007
Operated Hajj flights between cities of Abuja, Minna, Kaduna and Kano (in Nigeria) and Jeddah
In December also operated some flights for TAAG and Blue Panorama
Leased again to Meridian Airlines from 1st January until 22th January 2008 for Hajj outbound phase
Factfile updated. The number of flying hours and cycles of this aircraft was also updated
Aircraft is now at Amman for maintenance

List of all L-1011s spotted by me at Jeddah during Hajj:

CS-TMP, LUZair
9G-BSM, Air Charter Express
TL-ADW, Privilege Jet
XT-BRK, Kallat Elsaker
N194AT, Med-View

N194AT @ Jeddah

B707 record was broken: 25 years of L-1011 in Portugal!

2008-01-15T14:02:00.004Z

15th January 1983

CS-TEA

25 years ago, arrived in Lisbon the first L-1011-500 for TAP Air Portugal. Since then, the type has been continuously in operation in Portugal. Until today 8 L-1011s were registered in Portugal and 7 of them belonged to TAP. TAP phased-out the type in 1997, but some charter airlines kept the TriStar flying in Portugal until today. These days, only CS-TMP from LUZair is flying (old CS-TEG at TAP) but the fleet will hopefully grow up again with the return in service of CS-TMR and CS-TEB.

With 25 years of operation in Portugal, the TriStar is now the longest time jetliner in this country after the B727 which operated from 1967 until 1993 (TAP + Air Columbus).

Kallat Elsaker's L-1011 fleet with new reg. numbers

2007-12-05T10:14:00.000Z

OD-MIR (msn 1246) and OD-JOE (msn 1243) recently bought from Globejet Airlines are now respectively XT-RAD and XT-BRK.

See photo at Airliners.net.

Their factfiles were already updated.

MSN 293B-1242 changes registration number

2007-12-01T20:55:00.000Z

Privilege Jet Airlines' TriStar 500 YK-DLC has now become TL-ADW. Privilege Jet's website is active again although under construction.

www.privilegejetairlines.com

MSN 293B-1242 factfile's will be updated as soon as possible.

Globe Jet sells their L-1011 fleet

2007-11-17T20:27:00.001Z

Kallat Elsaker Air, a libyan operator, has bought OD-MIR (msn 1246) and OD-JOE (msn 1243) from Globe Jet.

The most beautiful plane in the world

2007-11-13T08:23:00.003Z

Did you know that...

2007-11-04T18:56:00.002Z

1. Pan Am was the first airline to operate the TriStar 500 with extended wingtips/active ailerons, in 1980?
2. The first TriStar 500 models delivered to British Airways in 1979 did not originally have the wingtip extensions? They were retrofitted later.

3. The extended wingtips/ active ailerons were first installed and tested in the L-1011 prototype (N1011)?

N1011 - standard lenght TriStar - with active ailerons

You can read more about active ailerons/active control system here.

TWAHistory.com

2007-11-04T18:41:00.002Z

TWA (now absorbed by American Airlines) was one of the most important airlines in the world. It was also one of the main L-1011 operators.

If you are interested in airline history and memorabilia perhaps you will enjoy spending some minutes visiting this blog:

URL: www.twahistory.com

This site was added to our links' section.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 11/07

2007-11-03T19:59:00.003Z

euroAtlantic CS-TEB - stored at Abu Dhabi, waiting slot for further maintenance works
euroAtlantic CS-TMX - stored at Lisbon, to be scrapped soon
LUZair CS-TMP - active
LUZair CS-TMR- under maintenance at Victorville, finishing C-check works

Globe Jet lost its AOC

2007-11-02T20:08:00.002Z

Lebanese CAA has pulled the rights of Globe Jet Airlines (based in Beirut) to operate. It seems the three TriStar 500 are now in the process of being sold. Those were ex-TAP/Air Transat aircraft:

MSN 293B-1239 OD-ZEE (impounded at Santa Cruz)
MSN 293B-1243 OD-JOE
MSN 193H-1246 OD-MIR

After another transatlantic flight

2007-10-27T12:57:00.002+01:00

TAP long haul fleet

2007-10-21T16:44:00.002+01:00

The past and the present together...

Good old days!

Did you know that...

2007-10-17T06:52:00.001+01:00

Rear doors in the L-1011-500 are 10cm smaller with respect to height?

Arrival @ LIS

2007-10-15T10:36:00.003+01:00

Deplaning... Look how distant the engines are placed from the fuselage

TriStar's dolphin nose! Parked @ F06

Maintenance preparing the aircraft for the next flight

TriStar @ BRU

2007-10-15T09:03:00.002+01:00

TriStar's really nice and huge cabin! :)

Control Tower @ BRU at dawn

Wing view from 30K seat

Looking to the horizontal stabilizer. It has also a considerable span!

CS-TMP: back in service!

2007-10-12T00:48:00.002+01:00

Globe Jet's OD-ZEE

2007-10-09T20:04:00.001+01:00

L-1011-500, OD-ZEE, MSN 293B-1239 was impounded at Viru Viru International airport (Santa Cruz - Bolívia) after LAB ceased its operations, earlier this year. The aircraft is still stored at VVI and its future doesn't seem very bright unless the $4m owed is paid.

Here you can see a photo of this aircraft taken last September. OD-ZEE was the old TAP Air Portugal's flagship with registration CS-TEA.

Factfile was already updated.

Lockheed 2000 Freighter

2007-09-25T05:44:00.003+01:00

This was an old idea from Lockheed to convert some L-1011s to freighter aircraft. However, Lockheed never sold this mod program.

Portuguese TriStar fleet status 09/07

2007-09-21T21:55:00.000+01:00

euroAtlantic CS-TEB @ Abu Dhabi / GAMCO (C-Check)
euroAtlantic CS-TMX @ Lisbon (to be scrapped)
LUZair CS-TMP @ Amman / JorAMCo (A-Check)
LUZair CS-TMR @ Victorville / VAL (C-Check)

L-1011 vs DC-10

2007-09-12T02:53:00.002+01:00

We must be careful when comparing these two aircrafts. The main difference is: when did Douglas have its first DC-10 long-range aircraft? It entered in service in 1971 with DC-10-30 series!

Now the same question for Lockheed, when did it have its long-ranger? It entered in service in 1979! Almost one decade later! Of course Lockheed could not compete in the long range market.
There were sold 199 L-1011 -1,-100,-200 and there were sold 138 DC-10-10 and DC-10-15. Now this is a fair comparison!

Why long range version of the TriStar was delayed? Well, not because RB211 reliability problems or so. Just because its production and development for more powerful versions was halted almost for one year due to RR bankruptcy, which also affected initial sales. It was delayed even further due to overcapacity with the airlines and depressed market. The TriStar 500 could have been ready by 1977 and before that Lockheed studied -250 long range version with same -500 engines, MTOW and fuel capacity. But it never came to a production standard. There are only 6 L-1011-250 which were converted from -1 series in 1986, after end of production!

When TriStar 500 entered in service, it was too late. In early 80's it was facing competition not only from DC-10 but also from 2nd generation and more fuel efficient, two crew man, twin jets.

No doubt the L-1011 was technically superior and safer than the DC-10. However, the DC-10 when compared to the TriStar had a better payload-range having from the beginning a truly long range version.
The L-1011-1 was simply fine for USA coast to coast routes for which it was designed.

Why the DC-10 stayed longer with airlines? Easy. More aircrafts flying, more spare parts, effective technical support from McDonnell Douglas.

Finally, it seems McDonnell Douglas also never made money with DC-10. If it wasn't for KC-10 contract with 60 units built for USAF, which ketp production line opened until 1988, it would also have suffered big losses.

TAP - TriStar 500 cabin in the eighties

2007-08-30T15:44:00.004+01:00

It's amazing the sense of space! It was a very clean and bright cabin.

Globe Jet's OD-JOE

2007-08-02T05:05:00.002+01:00

This other ex-TAP L-1011 is still kicking around! Seen in service at Accra operating for Ghana International Airlines.
See cockpit photo here, cabin view here, and the updated factfile.

Also, OD-MIR (ex CS-TEF) from Globe Jet, has been flying for Fischer Air Polska.

YK-DLC

2007-07-30T20:14:00.001+01:00

Just to announce a little update in the factfile of aircraft MSN 293B-1242, registered YK-DLC with Privilege Jet Airlines.
Thanks to Holger Ludwig for the information about the current status of this ex-TAP L-1011.

CS-TMR is also back!

2007-07-29T06:28:00.002+01:00

After a long wait and storage period at Amsterdam, LUZair's L-1011-500 with registration CS-TMR flew again and landed at Lisbon last 20th of July.

CS-TMR taxiing in front of Hangar 6 after landing at LIS.

Soon, this aircraft will be ferried to California for a C-check.

TriStar500.net - the return!

2007-07-29T05:45:00.002+01:00

As some of you might have noticed, TriStar500.net was put offline last Summer. Lack of motivation and spare time were the main reasons. Also, I was not willing to pay again such a large amount that I was paying for a hosting of 500MB with unlimited traffic. After some reflection I decided to end the story of this site which started in January 2000. However, some friends of mine were shocked with such a decision and tried to help me bringing back TriStar500.net. So, a special thanks must be given to my friends Jorge Diogo and Paulo Correia (AirSim) and to Miguel Blaufuks (simFlight) for providing a new and free hosting to the site.

But motivation was still lacking. And I didn't want to keep the same layout of the site because it was difficult to update. It was only in February of this year that I started working in a new layout and structure of the site. Also a decision was made about changing the site's language version from Portuguese to English.

After a long "C-check", TriStar500.net is now back with a very, very simple design and structure. Just like I wanted. Off-topic sections from the old site were definitely removed and this site is now only about Lockheed TriStar aircraft.

In this associated blog I will post news about TriStars, site's updates and new photos. So, if you are curious about TriStars, keep an eye on it.

Please feel free to post any comments in this blog. It's always nice to hear from you. If you want to contact me via email, please refer to TriStar500.net Contact page.