Lockheed L-1011
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The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was the third widebody passenger jet airliner to enter operation, following the Boeing 747 and the Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed manufactured a total of 250 TriStars. As of 2006, approximately 40 remain in service with charter airlines and military operators.
Development
In the 1960s, American Airlines approached Lockheed and competitor Douglas with the need for an airliner smaller than the 747, but still capable of carrying a large passenger load to distant locales such as London and Latin America from company hubs in Dallas/Ft Worth and New York. Lockheed's response was the L-1011 TriStar. The design featured a twin-aisle interior, low noise emissions, improved reliability, and efficient operation. American Airlines opted instead for the Douglas DC-10, although it had shown considerable interest in the L-1011. American's intent in doing so was actually to convince Douglas to lower its price for the DC-10, which it didBoyne, Walter J., Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. St. Martin's Press: New York, 1998, p. 354..
Without the support of American, the TriStar was launched on orders from TWA and Eastern Air Lines. Although the TriStar's design schedule closely followed that of its fierce competitor, the DC-10, Douglas beat Lockheed to market by a year due to delays in powerplant development. Rolls-Royce, the maker of the TriStar's RB211 turbofan engines, filed for bankruptcy, halting L-1011 final assembly. At that point, it was too late for the L-1011 to change engine suppliers (the other two are General Electric and Pratt & Whitney). The British government would not approve a large state subsidy to restart Rolls-Royce operations unless the US government guaranteed loans previously provided to Rolls-Royce by Lockheed for the extensive engine contract. The US government agreed to a loan guarantee, and the money to revive Rolls-Royce was borrowed from American banks.
Designed for a maximum seating of 400 passengers, the TriStar utilized a new engine layout: in addition to Rolls-Royce turbofan jet engines on each wing, a third engine was located dorsally below the vertical stabilizer. Manufactured in Lockheed facilities in Palmdale, California, the TriStar faced brisk competition with the Boeing 747 and, even more directly, the Douglas DC-10 (later McDonnell Douglas MD-11), which it closely resembled. The TriStar had a better safety record than the DC-10, and Trans World Airlines heralded the TriStar as one of the safest airplanes in the world in some of its promotional literature in the 1980s when concern over the safety record of the DC-10, which was flown by most of its competitors, was at its peak. However, the DC-10 outsold the TriStar nearly two to one, partly because of the TriStar's delayed introduction and the lack of engine choice. The TriStar only offered the Rolls-Royce RB.211 engine while the DC-10 offered both Pratt & Whitney and General Electric engines.
The prototype first flew on November 16, 1970. The crew for that flight was H. B. Dees (pilot), R. C. Cokeley (copilot), and G. E. Fisher (development engineer). The first TriStar was finally delivered to Eastern Air Lines on April 26, 1972.
Lockheed bribed the Japanese government to subsidize ANA's purchase of L-1011s. The resulting political scandal led to the arrest of Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei. Within Lockheed, board chairman Daniel Haughton and vice chairman and president Carl Kotchian resigned from their posts on February 13, 1976.
Lockheed needed to sell 500 planes to break even. Failing to achieve profitability in the civilian airliner sector, the TriStar was Lockheed's last commercial aircraft. American Airlines had played Douglas and Lockheed off each other, driving the prices of both planes down, and the end result was Douglas' merger with McDonnell and Lockheed's departure from the commercial aircraft business.
Service history
Civil aviation
Civilian operators of the Tristar included Aer Lingus, Air Atlanta Icelandic, Air Canada, Air France, Air Transat, Air Lanka, All Nippon Airways, Arrow Air, American Trans Air, British Airways, British Caledonian, BWIA, Cathay Pacific, Court Line, DAI Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, Fine Air, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia Airlines, LTU, National Airlines, Orient Thai, Pan Am, Peach Air, PSA, Royal Jordanian, Saudi Arabian Airlines, TAAG Air Angola, TAP Air Portugal, TWA, and United Airlines (acquired in the Pan Am buyout).Delta Air Lines was the type's largest customer. Cathay Pacific eventually became the largest non-US operator of the type by acquiring many of the Eastern Air Lines examples when Eastern Air Lines went bankrupt, operating as many as 21 aircraft.
However, most major airlines have retired the type from their fleets. Cathay Pacific retired its L-1011 fleet in October 1996, replacing the fleet with Airbus A330-300. TWA withdrew its last TriStar from service in 1997. Delta retired its TriStar fleet in 2001, replacing them with the Boeing 767-400ER.
The L-1011 still sees use by smaller start-up carriers, particularly in Africa and Asia. Thai Sky Airlines began service in 2004 with a fleet of three TriStars. But most of the civilian L-1011s are being sold for scrap.
Military operation
The TriStar has also been used as a military tanker and cargo aircraft. The Royal Air Force has nine aircraft of four variants. The aircraft are ex-British Airways and Pan Am L-1011-500s. Two of the aircraft are designated TriStar K.MK 1s and are pure tankers. Another four are KC1s and can be either tankers or cargo aircraft. The two TriStar C.Mk 2 models and the solitary TriStar C. Mk 2A are pure cargo aircraft. The C2A differs from the C2 by having military avionics and radios. The RAF's TriStars were bought in the immediate aftermath of the Falklands War to bolster the long range capability of the RAF in the transport and tanker roles. All of the aircraft serve with No. 216 Squadron, based at RAF Brize Norton.
The aircraft have seen service in many recent conflicts. Two were deployed to King Khalid International Airport, near Riyadh in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War as tankers, with the rest used for transport between the Persian Gulf and UK. The two aircraft deployed received nose art naming them Pinky and Perky. During the 1999 Kosovo War, TriStars deployed to Ancona in Italy, again as tankers, with four aircraft involved. TriStars joined VC-10s in the AAR role for Operation Veritas (Afghanistan), during which they provided aerial-refueling for US Navy aircraft. Their most recent wartime role was again over the skies of Iraq. The RAF deployed four TriStars during Operation Telic, to an as-yet-undisclosed location.
The TriStar is expected to remain in service with the RAF until the end of this decade, when it is scheduled to be replaced by the Airbus A330 MRTT under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme. The Airtanker consortium, lead by EADS, won the FSTA contract in January 2004. However beginning in April 2004 there have been continuing rumours about the fragile state of the contract negotiations. This culminated in an ultimatum by the UK's Defence Procurement Agency, delivered to EADS, demanding a reduced price for the aircraft. With continuing doubts over the FSTA programme Marshall Aerospace, responsible for the conversion of the RAF's original TriStars, have offered to buy and convert some of the large number of surplus commercial TriStars. This would give the UK a much needed increase in capacity (with the upcoming retirement of the VC-10 fleet) at a fraction of the cost of the £13Bn FSTA project.
Accidents and incidents
- The 1972 crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 in the Everglades (the subject of Hollywood movie, The Ghost Of Flight 401).
- Saudia Flight 163 crashed in 1980 due to fire in the rear cabin.
- In August 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed while approaching Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The crash killed 8 of 11 crew members and 128 of the 152 passengers on board as well as one person on the ground.
- On July 30, 1992 Trans World Airlines flight 843 aborted takeoff shortly after liftoff from JFK en route to San Francisco. The airplane came to rest, upright and on fire, on grass-covered soil, about 290 feet to the left of the departure end of runway 13R. There were no fatalities among the 280 passengers on board the airplane, but there were 10 reported injuries that occurred during egress.
Trivia
- The L-1011 TriStar's internal Lockheed model number is actually L-093.
- The TriStar's number 1011 is pronounced "Ten-Eleven".
- In the early 1970s, Eastern Air Lines nicknamed the L-1011 TriStar "The WhisperLiner" or "WhisperJet".
- The main visible difference between the TriStar and DC-10 is in the middle/tail engine; the DC-10's engine is mounted externally for more power, while the TriStar's engine is integrated into the tail through an S-duct (similar to the Boeing 727) for improved quietness and stability.
- There has never been a crash of an L-1011 due to mechanical failure.
- The L-1011 was the first widebody to receive FAA certification for Cat-IIIc autolanding, which approved the TriStar for completely blind landings in zero-visibility weather. In theory it could even taxi to the gate in zero visibility if the airport was properly equipped.
- Technologically the L-1011 was considered to be largely ahead of its time. In addition to the Cat-IIIc autolanding capability, it had a unique Direct Lift Control (DLC) system which allowed for smooth approaches when landing; four redundant hydraulic systems (the DC10 and MD11 had only three); it also utilized a unique "autoclave" system for bonding fuselage panels together. This made the L-1011 extremely corrosion resistant.
- In the early 1990s, Orbital Sciences began to use a converted L-1011-100 named Stargazer to launch Pegasus rockets into orbit around Earth. This venture effectively rendered the small Scout rocket obsolete. [link] [link] This aircraft was also used in support of the X-34 program.
- NASA performed aerodynamic research on Orbital Science's L-1011 in 1995. [link]
In popular culture
- An L-1011 was used as a substitue for a 747 in close-up shots in the television series The A-Team episode "The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing" (Season 1, Episode 13). The landing gear gives away the plane's true identity.
- An L-1011 was featured prominently in the 1992 motion picture Passenger 57.
- In the ABC television series Lost, the set piece of the crashed plane was a retired L-1011, although it was supposed to represent a Boeing 777. The plane, which formerly served for Delta Air Lines, was cut apart and barged to the filming location in Hawaii.
- In The Langoliers TV mini-series by Stephen King the airline "American Pride Flight 29" is an L-1011
- InRevenge of the Pink Panther,Clouseau,Cato,and Simone travel to Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific Airlines L-1011 Tristar flight.
Variants
L-1011-1
The L-1011-1 was the first production model of the L-1011, designed for short and medium-range flights. This type was purchased by Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Eastern and other operators with regional trunk routes requiring a widebody aircraft.
L-1011-100
The L-1011-100 first flew in 1975 and featured a new center fuel tank that increased the aircraft's range by nearly 1,500 km. It was purchased by several airlines with longer-range routes, such as TWA and British Caledonian.
L-1011-200
The L-1011-200 was introduced in 1976. Although otherwise similar to the -100 model, the -200 uses Rolls-Royce RB.211-524B engines to improve its performance in hot and high-altitude conditions. Gulf Air used -200 models to replace its aging Vickers VC-10 fleet.
L-1011-500
The L-1011-500 was a longer-range variant first flight tested in 1978. Its fuselage length was shortened by 14 feet (4.3 m) to accommodate higher fuel loads; it also utilizes the more powerful engines of the -200 series. The -500 series was popular among international operators and formed most of the L-1011 fleet of Delta and British Airways.
Specifications
| L-1011-1 | L-1011-200 | L-1011-500 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | |||
| Type | Widebody Jet Airliner | ||
| Passengers | 273 | 304 | 244 |
| First flight | November 16, 1970 | October 16, 1978 | |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed-California Co. | ||
| Dimensions | |||
| Length | 177 ft 8 in (54.2 m) | 177 ft 8 in (54.2 m) | 164 ft 2 in (50.0 m) |
| Wingspan | 155 ft 4 in (47.3 m) | 155 ft 4 in (47.3 m) | 164 ft 4 in (50.1 m) |
| Tailspan | 71 ft 7 in (21.8 m) | 71 ft 7 in (21.8 m) | 71 ft 7 in (21.8 m) |
| Height | 55 ft 4 in (16.7 m) | 55 ft 4 in (16.7 m) | 55 ft 4 in (16.7 m) |
| Wing area | 3456 ft² (321.1 m²) | 3456 ft² (321.1 m²) | 3541 ft² (329.0 m²) |
| Weights | |||
| Empty weight | 224,579 lb (101,867 kg) | 231,600 lb (105,052 kg) | 232,749 lb (105,573 kg) |
| Max. takeoff weight | 430,000 lb (195,000 kg) | 466,000 lb (209,000 kg) | 496,000 lb (225,000 kg) |
| Max. payload | 84,393 lb (38,280 kg) | 89,400 lb (40,551 kg) | 89,718 lb (40,695 kg) |
| Powerplant | |||
| Engine | 3 Rolls-Royce RB.211-22 B | 3 Rolls-Royce RB.211-524B | 3 Rolls-Royce RB.211-524B |
| Thrust | 42,000 lbf (187,000 kg) | 50,000 lbf (220,000 kg) | 50,000 lbf (220,000 kg) |
| Performance | |||
| Cruise speed | 495 mph (796 km/h) | 484 mph (779 km/h) | 484 mph (779 km/h) |
| Range | 4,610 mi (7,419 km) | 4,610 mi (7,419 km) | 6,340 mi (10,200 km) |
| Cruise altitude | 33,650 ft (10,260 m) | 34,000 ft (10,360 m) | 33,000 ft (10,060 m) |
| Service ceiling | 35,000 ft (10,670 m) | 36,000 ft (10,970 m) | 35,000 ft (10,670 m) |
References
- Yenne, Bill, Lockheed. Crescent Books, 1987.
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