engine failure forced it to land in Manston..2002
Just caught up on this thread, as I was looking for information about the remaining TriStar fleet. This comment caught my attention.
'Duane Egli tried to convert ex LTU TriStar D-AERP in the same way. It sat on the ramp at Ostend forever, stripped of an interior. LWA Engineers tried to install some sort of bulkhead using H-beams from a local DIY-store, painted zinc-chromate green to give it an aviation appearance. It left somewhere in 2002 to be scrapped in Opa Locka, not before an engine failure forced it to land in Manston... I guess these "converted" pax aircraft just don't make it as decent freighters'.
It was not the freight 'conversion' that caused the engine failure, but leaving the aircraft parked in Ostend for a long time with little or no engine preservation procedures. This will always be a problem for A/C that are parked up (or abandoned) for a long time with no preservation of the engines.