Ex RAF Tristars August 2018
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Ex RAF Tristars August 2018
Sorry for the poor quality, lousy weather coupled with the fact they they were quick grabs through the car window as stopping was frowned upon, but I knew some in here would like to see the old girls, the VC10 is ZA147 and plans are afoot to move her to display at St Athan I believe, anyway on with the photos. Bigger views on Flickr
Tristar ZE705 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar ZD951 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar ZD948 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar N705CS by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar N405CS by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar 948 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar ZE705 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar ZD951 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar ZD948 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar N705CS by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar N405CS by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
Tristar 948 by Tony Taylor, on Flickr
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oooh, they aren't half big buggers!
Apparently only 4 TriStar ever carried the probe and they were removed in the early 1990s.
ZD949 Pinky
ZD950
ZD951 Perky
ZD953
From
http://www.216squadronassociation.or...rom%20F540.pdf
ZD949 Pinky
ZD950
ZD951 Perky
ZD953
1991
Aug - policy raised to remove fuel probes to save fuel and reduce noise
Aug - policy raised to remove fuel probes to save fuel and reduce noise
http://www.216squadronassociation.or...rom%20F540.pdf
Thank you for posting those Nutty! The TriStars were often poorly managed and undersold by the hierarchy of RAF. A great pity that they will probably end up scrapped at Brunters? The exploits and achievements of those aircraft with 216 Sqn run to far greater depths than the simple resume quoted from the association link. I do hope that some way of saving one of the tankers is found. At the very least, a full nose section back to the front doors should be professionally prepared as an indoor exhibit for Cosford. 
OAP
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Ex-Adj of 216 regrets the passing of the Comet 4. 
(Her, not me)
(Her, not me)
The first one taken over from BA by the RAF (we were told it had very few airframe hours logged being ex 'BOAC' fleet rather than ex 'BEA' fleet) came into Farnborough from Heathrow, still in BA colours and night stopped. Next day the crew enjoyed themselves doing low passes along the runway to enable the Farnborough 'boffins' to map its IR signature, then it departed to Brize.
Chevy, The RAF TriStars were all L1011-500, the hot-ship with RB211-524, reduced length, longer wings and increased MTOW to 233T. The ex BA RAF ones were all fairly new and, were modified as the tankers, with MTOW 249T.
OAP
OAP
One was scrapped a year or so back - any idea why that one got the chop when these were saved pending a sale?
Or were more scrapped out of the fleet of 9?
Or were more scrapped out of the fleet of 9?
What happened to the proposed sale of these aircraft to an American company which was to operate them as tankers. ?
Not sure we ever had them as BOAC aircraft, thought they were all introduced to “ BEA” when BEA. Paid Lockheed to remove , at great cost, the INS systems which were not required for short haul ops. Later they were used for long haul, when , guess what, INS was needed !
Or so the story went !
DG.
Not sure we ever had them as BOAC aircraft, thought they were all introduced to “ BEA” when BEA. Paid Lockheed to remove , at great cost, the INS systems which were not required for short haul ops. Later they were used for long haul, when , guess what, INS was needed !
Or so the story went !
DG.
I vaguely recall BA long haul or BOAC 'inherited' them through a takeover but didn't really want them as they were rather committed to the 747 so they got rid of them without using them too much.
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I think some may have been acquired by BA when they bought British Caledonian.
[QUOTE=RetiredBA/BY;10256442]
They currently plan to use 3 of the Tristars as tanker / transports and 3 as spares sources.
The company submitted a bid for a DoD contract in late-June 2018 and if successful it should be announced by end-September. I don't know what the nature of the bid was - I presume it was to provide additional services over and above those provided by Omega which only has one DC10-40 and 2 x B707-320 in its fleet.
What happened to the proposed sale of these aircraft to an American company which was to operate them as tankers. ?
Tempus Applied Solutions completed acquisition of the following 6 aircraft earlier in the year - announced March 12, 2018: https://www.tempus-as.com/media-press-release-L1011.php
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1157 - RAF ZD948 - FAA N304CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1164 - RAF ZD950 - FAA N405CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1165 - RAF ZD951 - FAA N309CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1174 - RAF ZD953 - FAA N705CS
RAF C2 - Lockheed MSN 1186 - RAF ZE704 - FAA N507CS
RAF C2 - Lockheed MSN 1188 - RAF ZE705 - FAA N703CS
Tempus already has a number of DoD contracts for "special mission" aircraft: https://www.tempus-as.com/fly-bespoke-services.php
Tempus Applied Solutions completed acquisition of the following 6 aircraft earlier in the year - announced March 12, 2018: https://www.tempus-as.com/media-press-release-L1011.php
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1157 - RAF ZD948 - FAA N304CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1164 - RAF ZD950 - FAA N405CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1165 - RAF ZD951 - FAA N309CS
RAF KC1 - Lockheed MSN 1174 - RAF ZD953 - FAA N705CS
RAF C2 - Lockheed MSN 1186 - RAF ZE704 - FAA N507CS
RAF C2 - Lockheed MSN 1188 - RAF ZE705 - FAA N703CS
Tempus already has a number of DoD contracts for "special mission" aircraft: https://www.tempus-as.com/fly-bespoke-services.php
They currently plan to use 3 of the Tristars as tanker / transports and 3 as spares sources.
The company submitted a bid for a DoD contract in late-June 2018 and if successful it should be announced by end-September. I don't know what the nature of the bid was - I presume it was to provide additional services over and above those provided by Omega which only has one DC10-40 and 2 x B707-320 in its fleet.
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OAP
As Onceapilot says, the -500s were all 'bought' as BA aircraft (Older -1 were BEA orders) for South American routes. There are various stories as to why they were sold, the most recurring one that it was a balance sheet excercise prior to privatising BA. The deal for the 6 aircraft was about £50m (The Pan-am a/c were ~£20m each). BA then leased a couple of -500s a year or so later.
ZD949 (The mid life crisis a/c with the glass cockpit) was scrapped at Marshalls in 2014, as was C2A ZE706. ZD952 was scrapped at Kemble, also in 2014
ZD949 (The mid life crisis a/c with the glass cockpit) was scrapped at Marshalls in 2014, as was C2A ZE706. ZD952 was scrapped at Kemble, also in 2014
Last edited by Davef68; 25th Sep 2018 at 10:27.
As Onceapilot says, the -500s were all 'bought' as BA aircraft (Older -1 were BEA orders) for South American routes. There are various stories as to why they were sold, the most recurring one that it was a balance sheet excercise prior to privatising BA. The deal for the 6 aircraft was about £50m (The Pan-am a/c were ~£20m each). BA then leased a couple of -500s a year or so later.
ZD949 (The mid life update a/c with the glass cockpit) was scrapped at Marshalls in 2014, as was C2A ZE709. ZD952 was scrapped at Kemble, aslo in 2014
ZD949 (The mid life update a/c with the glass cockpit) was scrapped at Marshalls in 2014, as was C2A ZE709. ZD952 was scrapped at Kemble, aslo in 2014
C2A was ZE706.
OAP
A rumour in the early 1980s was that ba binned its TriStars due to some bean counter noting that the engine fuel flow rate was greater than for the 747. Hence the TriStar went and the 747 stayed in service.
Only after the decision had been made did someone point out that the TriStar had one less engine than the 747, so the total burn rate was actually less....
Only after the decision had been made did someone point out that the TriStar had one less engine than the 747, so the total burn rate was actually less....