british airways tristar
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I forgot to mention my surprise at seeing a full page BEA advertisement in "The New York Times" the morning after the first order was announced in August, 1972. I wondered how many people who saw this advert would have any idea what BEA was.
(Thinking about it, the advert may have been a joint effort with Lockheed and Rolls Royce.)
(Thinking about it, the advert may have been a joint effort with Lockheed and Rolls Royce.)
I concur with the remarks about the jump seat. I did one trip from CDG to Heathrow, then later a Larnaca return trip as ATCO Fam Flights.
When the RAF first bought them, the first one was brought to Farnborough to check its IR signature and (possibly) for ECM fit? The IR signature checkout consisted of a number of runs for the boffins along the runway down to about 100ft! Awesome. I think it then went to Marshalls for 'militarisation'.
When the RAF first bought them, the first one was brought to Farnborough to check its IR signature and (possibly) for ECM fit? The IR signature checkout consisted of a number of runs for the boffins along the runway down to about 100ft! Awesome. I think it then went to Marshalls for 'militarisation'.
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Tristar 500
The trouble with the Tristar in BA was that with a large 747 Fleet the 500 only got the routes that for some reason the 747 did .not want
When Royal Jordanian bought the 5 white-tails at Palmdale they used them on Long-haul routes to good effect.JFK- Amman with a full load and Vienna-Miami which I admit could be a bit of a struggle.
I speak as an interested party having flown for BA Saudi RJ Air Lanka and in a small way helped to form 216 squadron RAF
When Royal Jordanian bought the 5 white-tails at Palmdale they used them on Long-haul routes to good effect.JFK- Amman with a full load and Vienna-Miami which I admit could be a bit of a struggle.
I speak as an interested party having flown for BA Saudi RJ Air Lanka and in a small way helped to form 216 squadron RAF
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And, CMB-LHR, 12 hours. Or, DUS-LAX.
Never a problem.
I operate two -500's now, on a somewhat regular basis, and the charter customers seem pleased.
The only problem?
Darn Airboos types keep getting in the way, with their s l o w cruising speeds.
767's, too.
NB.
When DAL retired their last TriStar, I was informed by a DAL exec VP that ( his exact words)...'The L1011 made us more money than any other type'.
DAL should know, as they were the largest operator.
TriStar...often admired, seldom equaled.
Especially for dual/dual CATIIIB.
After (personally) 16,000+ command hours in type, I have no complaints.
Lockheed delivered a fine ship.
Never a problem.
I operate two -500's now, on a somewhat regular basis, and the charter customers seem pleased.
The only problem?
Darn Airboos types keep getting in the way, with their s l o w cruising speeds.
767's, too.
NB.
When DAL retired their last TriStar, I was informed by a DAL exec VP that ( his exact words)...'The L1011 made us more money than any other type'.
DAL should know, as they were the largest operator.
TriStar...often admired, seldom equaled.
Especially for dual/dual CATIIIB.
After (personally) 16,000+ command hours in type, I have no complaints.
Lockheed delivered a fine ship.
The first six Tristars were the definitive BEA order (a prototype came over to the UK with large BEA decals on it prior to the full BA merger), later ones went to BA mediumhaul routes (eg Gulf) for which they were more appropriate.
The -500s must have seemed a good idea at the time for long thin routes but turned out to be too expensive; the probably did not have much resale value and the RAF requirement was too good to miss.
The Tristar later came on its own transferred to the BA charter arm, Caledonian, who seemed to make money in a really competitive market for many years with it.
I took a -500 in the early 1980s on London-Seattle-Vancouver, when BA were just starting to build these two destinations. As always on the Tristar, it seemed to have a stylish cabin interior compared to the rival products.
No I am not just writing that to toady to 411A
The -500s must have seemed a good idea at the time for long thin routes but turned out to be too expensive; the probably did not have much resale value and the RAF requirement was too good to miss.
The Tristar later came on its own transferred to the BA charter arm, Caledonian, who seemed to make money in a really competitive market for many years with it.
I took a -500 in the early 1980s on London-Seattle-Vancouver, when BA were just starting to build these two destinations. As always on the Tristar, it seemed to have a stylish cabin interior compared to the rival products.
No I am not just writing that to toady to 411A
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The first six Tristars were the definitive BEA order (a prototype came over to the UK with large BEA decals on it prior to the full BA merger), later ones went to BA mediumhaul routes (eg Gulf) for which they were more appropriate.
The L-1011 with the big BEA decal, that made the Farnborough trip in 1972, was s/n 1006. A flight test airframe that was later delivered to Eastern as N305EA. Later it was bought by Delta and operated as N782DL.
The first BA L-1011 (from the BAE order) was s/n 1083 G-BBAE. The first BA L-1011-500 was s/n 1157 G-BFCA, currently ZD948.
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I, too, liked the TriStar but have negative memories as well as good ones.
For example, I remember the time when Caledonian stepped in for collapsed Canadian company Nationair (have I got the spelling right?) in summer, 1993. We should have flown Glasgow-Toronto nonstop but had to make an unscheduled stop at Mirabel for fuel.
Hardly the fault of a model not designed for such long distances, I know, but on the return journey the air conditioning wasn't functioning properly and we roasted all the way from Toronto to Manchester and on to Gatwick.
On a more positive note, I recall the time Leisure International Airways sent out an empty Air Atlanta TriStar to collect myself and other passengers on an unoperational A320. I remember being surprised that we were told we could sit wherever we liked. There were acres of free space!
To come back to BA operations, I seem to remember TriStars being used to Far East destinations such as Hong Kong and Bangkok in the late '80s. Can anyone confirm this?
For example, I remember the time when Caledonian stepped in for collapsed Canadian company Nationair (have I got the spelling right?) in summer, 1993. We should have flown Glasgow-Toronto nonstop but had to make an unscheduled stop at Mirabel for fuel.
Hardly the fault of a model not designed for such long distances, I know, but on the return journey the air conditioning wasn't functioning properly and we roasted all the way from Toronto to Manchester and on to Gatwick.
On a more positive note, I recall the time Leisure International Airways sent out an empty Air Atlanta TriStar to collect myself and other passengers on an unoperational A320. I remember being surprised that we were told we could sit wherever we liked. There were acres of free space!
To come back to BA operations, I seem to remember TriStars being used to Far East destinations such as Hong Kong and Bangkok in the late '80s. Can anyone confirm this?
To come back to BA operations, I seem to remember TriStars being used to Far East destinations such as Hong Kong and Bangkok in the late '80s. Can anyone confirm this?
I had the pleasure of flying the last flight (allegedly) from T3 by BA in a TriStar to Bangkok via Bahrain in 1986. SHJ
Last edited by SpringHeeledJack; 25th Dec 2010 at 11:37.
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Confirmed! 
I had the pleasure of flying the last flight (allegedly) from T3 by BA in a TriStar to Bangkok via Bahrain in 1986.
I had the pleasure of flying the last flight (allegedly) from T3 by BA in a TriStar to Bangkok via Bahrain in 1986.
TCF
I was referring to the last BA flight from T3 before they hopped over to T4 at LHR, as i was told by the dispatcher, and not the last TriStar flight on the route 
SHJ
SHJ
We should have flown Glasgow-Toronto nonstop but had to make an unscheduled stop at Mirabel for fuel.
Hardly the fault of a model not designed for such long distances
Hardly the fault of a model not designed for such long distances
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AC operated the L1011-250 Toronto-FRA non stop, both directions, for many years.
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And then there was this of course....
Photos: Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar 1 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
Photos: Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar 1 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net
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Krystal n cips:
The Leads incident, very controversial at Lockheed. If you can get a copy of the AARB report get it its a good read.
They "landed long, fast and were not told the runway was wet". The AARB's finding, "the TriStar had ineffective braking on wet runways".
The Leads incident, very controversial at Lockheed. If you can get a copy of the AARB report get it its a good read.
They "landed long, fast and were not told the runway was wet". The AARB's finding, "the TriStar had ineffective braking on wet runways".
Last edited by glhcarl; 26th Dec 2010 at 17:48.
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glhcarl
Thanks for the reminder. As I recall from reading the report, there was a "terrribly British" remark from the F/O...along the lines of "gosh, don't the red lights come up quickly"....as indeed they do when you " arrive", rather than land, in the way they did. Very lucky..... considering the terrain around Leeds to be honest.
Thanks for the reminder. As I recall from reading the report, there was a "terrribly British" remark from the F/O...along the lines of "gosh, don't the red lights come up quickly"....as indeed they do when you " arrive", rather than land, in the way they did. Very lucky..... considering the terrain around Leeds to be honest.
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The AARB's finding, "the TriStar had ineffective braking on wet runways".
-1's, -100's, -200's all had OK brakes.
-500's and -250's, because of their higher all up weights, had superb brakes, that would stop the airplane on the perverbial dime, wet or dry runway.
After landing at ZRH with -500 some years ago, we noticed another airplane enter the runway, downfield, without an ATC clearance.
Getting on the brakes, big time, was required, and the tower remarked....'we've never seen a large jet stop so fast.'
I suppose I wasn't precise enough here; my comment about "The first six Tristars were the definitive BEA order" was referring to the first six of the BA Tristars (BBAE to BBAJ), not the first six overall, although they were delivered after the BEA/BOAC merger into BA was consummated. Later ones were called off directly by BA.
Last edited by WHBM; 27th Dec 2010 at 13:11.
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Depends on the specific model.
-1's, -100's, -200's all had OK brakes.
-500's and -250's, because of their higher all up weights, had superb brakes, that would stop the airplane on the perverbial dime, wet or dry runway.
After landing at ZRH with -500 some years ago, we noticed another airplane enter the runway, downfield, without an ATC clearance.
Getting on the brakes, big time, was required, and the tower remarked....'we've never seen a large jet stop so fast.'
-1's, -100's, -200's all had OK brakes.
-500's and -250's, because of their higher all up weights, had superb brakes, that would stop the airplane on the perverbial dime, wet or dry runway.
After landing at ZRH with -500 some years ago, we noticed another airplane enter the runway, downfield, without an ATC clearance.
Getting on the brakes, big time, was required, and the tower remarked....'we've never seen a large jet stop so fast.'
There are "currenty" five (5) different L-1011 brake assemblies approved for use on the L-1011.
o Two (2) are for Delta aircraft only, without tempature sensors. (1) for -1's and one (1) for -100's, -250's and -500's.
o One (1) for all other -1's.
o One (1) for all -100's, -200's and -500's, except Delta aircraft and those with aircraft CAA certification.
o One (1) for all CAA certified -100's, -200's and -500's. The result of the Leeds indicent.