1011 Heaven

[pax britanica]

As there seem to be many Tristar lovers here it was nice to see two inside an hour at LHR this week. The hideously coloured BeeWee version and A Saudia one. In the nice new Saudia clours it looked superb-almost brand new in fact.
As a very very regular long haul pax Im sad to see the end of the Tristars - as nice to fly in as they apparently are to fly.

[The Guvnor]

The Saudi -500 is one of two VVIP aircraft that they have (HZ-HM5 and HZ-HM6). As for the 'Great Grapefruit' livery of the BeeWee L15s ... if you think the outside is bad, wait until you see the inside! :D :rolleyes: :D

[eicjc]

Indeed it is a shame to see the decline of the Tristar gathering pace. Shame about those Air Transat guys finding themselves under the anvil of a big one. I have flown on Tristars quite a bit but have yet [and probably won't at this stage] to actually fly one for real. The sim is a real treat however and I would suggest to any other L1011 lovers out there the you head on down to Bournemouth airport, where European Aviation have two Tristar sims, a 100 and a 500. If you aask nicely aswell the kind fellows in European will let you try your hand at the Kai Tak 13 IGS approach. Fun for all the family.
So long y'all and have fun, and remember DIRECT LIFT CONTROL will be with you. :cool:

[checkhauler]

Hold your breath,...... I heard a new start up is in the works in Scotland with ex-DL L-1011's. Anyone else heard the same rumors?

[4 of 7]

Checkhauler

Naughty, naughty!

[The Guvnor]

:D :D :D

[pax britanica]

actually the saudia wasnt a -500, not sure which mark since I think the others all looked the same-at least to me
but was the full length version

[mutt]

pax britanica

Saudi Arabian Airlines do not operate ANY L1011-200 aircraft at this time. They are all stored pending sale.

Saudi Royal Flight operate 2 L1011-500 aircraft in the full Saudi Arabian Airlines scheme, these aircraft are HZ-HM5/6.

Therefore the aircraft which you are talking about was most certainly a L1011-500.


Mutt.

[pax britanica]

Mutt

Ok thanks for putting me right- I certainlt dont recall seeing the No 2 engine fairing but thenI could have missed it esp with the saudia colour scheme-and sadly so few 1011s not easy to make a quick judgement on length.

Mind you it did surprise me how quickly it got airborne and thus presumeably a light load as a Royal a/c would have.

Looks nice tho ' doesnt it

[AwarePlayer]

Actually Guvnor, the BWee color scheme is not a grapefruit as some wags have said, it is really a stylized version of a "pan" or steel drum.
Trinidad claims to be the source of the only new percussion instrument of the 20th century.
The green color is said to represent the color of the Caribbean sea, and the babysh*t yellow represents the sand of the beaches.

Rumor has it that a female friend of a very senior management officer was paid a prince's ransom to come up with this paint job as part of a "rebranding" exercise that saw L-10s painted, refurbished, and parked.

Similarly, Tobago Express, the new interisland commuter has ended up with BWee's excess green paint on it's Dash 8 and a paint job that once again is said to have been the expensive work of a female "consultant" of a very senior manager.

Ho hum, plus ca change......

[The Guvnor]

AwarePlayer - just be grateful that the bronze (instead of green) livery I saw in the office of the (former) VP Marketing at Sunjet House was never used!

And of course for those that have never had the opportunity (or should that be misfortune?) of having seen the interiors, let me describe them - the sidewalls, bins, ceilings, galleys, toilets etc are done in gunmetal grey; the J class seats are in a tasteful light lime green (similar to the shade on here) vinyl; and the Y class seats are in a puce pink vinyl. At least Maintenance had the good sense to put their foot down and use traditional white for the interiors of the MD80s!!

Of course, it used to be top management's perks to, er, 'check out the talent' when it came to hiring hosties. It's refreshing to see their minority/gay policies mean that not only can they be thoroughly checked out, but they can even be onto a 'nice little earner' when they agree to, um, 'swing the other way' with certain senior lady execs! :D :eek: :D

BeeWee? Caaaaan't fix! :D :D :D

[BRL]

I am sure Air Atlanta had one in and out of Gatwick recently but i havn't seen it about for a while and just 2 days ago I watched a nice one coming in on 26L. I think it had ATA or something like that on it. Havn't a clue where its from. Nice to see them still knocking about though.

[The Guvnor]

ATA = American Trans Air, based in Indianapolis. Another large operator of L1011s is Air Transat.

[FE Hoppy]

You may have seen the Air Luxor 3* operating in and out of LGW. Easy to spot as it has AIR LUXOR on the side.
You will be seeing more of her soon.

[Roadtrip]

ATA runs some beautifully painted Tristars in and out of Hawaii. Great looking airplanes, but I don't see how they make any money with it, especially on the HNL run.

[Dragonspet]

The L1011 is a marvelous aircraft to work on; I had the opportunity to work on the aforementioned Saudi Aircraft at Lockheed prior to their closure in '92- “93. That aircraft had the most sophisticated security system I have ever encountered, top notch and well-kept Aircraft. My next job after the Lockheed closure was ATA in Indianapolis, and what an experience I would probably still be there today, had it not been for the below freezing conditions I had to endure to commute to and from the Airport. Even with the production line closed this, Aircraft will see many years of service before it will be replaced.

[15/15 flex]

ATA have 24, and are the largest operator of the venerable beasty. Doesn't the flt deck seem big when you step back in after a few years on anothe type!! Best 3500 hours of my career.

Pax - the -500 has only 3 doors on each side, vice 4.

[The Guvnor]

... except for the ATA -500s, which had the narrow 4L/R doors retrofitted midway between doors 2 and 3 to comply with FAA regs affecting high density seating.

[mutt]

Dragonspet

That "aforementioned" Saudi L1011 was joined by a 2nd aircraft, they are the last two aircraft off the production line. Expensive toys for the boys......


Mutt :)

[Mooney]

Saw this sitting at Stansted for a short while, looks very good in these colours!

Saudi L1011 (http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=182673)

[ 21 August 2001: Message edited by: Mooney ]

[The Guvnor]

Spot the IR jammers aft of the engine pylons - the late King Hussein's VIP -500 (JY-HKJ) also has them).