Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar flew for the first time on 16th November 1970 from Palmdale in California. It was a head-on competitor of the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, which was developed during the same period. Both types have three engines: two under the wing and one in the tail and carry around 300 passengers. The main visual difference is the S-like inlet-construction of the TriStar tail-engine.
Early in 1971 Rolls-Royce went bankrupt, and although it was revived soon, this was a major blow for the TriStar program, which gave the DC-10 an advantage. McDonnell Douglas offered DC-10 customers a choice between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney engines, but on the TriStar only the RB211 was used. Eastern Airlines started operations with the TriStar on 26 April from Miami via Atlanta to New York.
Lockheed built 250 aircraft and the production line closed in 1983. The closure marked the end of Lockheed as a builder of passenger airliners. A small number of TriStars was converted into freighters, but as a cargo plane it was far less popular than the DC-10. Since the year 2000 the TriStar has almost disappeared from the aviation scene.
Lockheed L-1011-1, -100, -200
Several versions of the Lockheed TriStar were built. The TriStar-1, -100 and -200 all had the same fuselage length but were different in range and engine-variants. Conversion resulted in three new versions: TriStar-50, -150 and 250, which were never built new.
Lockheed L-1011-500
The L-1011-500 is a short-fuselage, long-range version, with increased wing span. The first TriStar 500 was flown for the first time on 16 October 1978 and the FAA type certification was issued six months later. British Airways took delivery of its first aircraft on 29 April 1979. A total of 50 was built of this version. Some ex-BA aircraft were converted into transport/tankers for the Royal Air Force and ex-PanAm aircraft into transport aircraft.
Technical Specifications
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