I was a flight engineer on the L-1011 in the mid 90's. It is my favorite airliner still till this day. I miss her and am grateful to have had the privilege to be a small part of her lifespan.
i flew 8 different aircraft for the Navy, and everything Delta had from 73' to 99'; this, by far, was my favorite airplane, & the one i retired off... hand-flew like a dream... ❤️👍😊
You Sir, were a few years before my Dad, he flew P-3s in the Navy from '78-85 active duty, then with Delta from 1986-2006. From 1989-1991 he was First Officer on L-1011 and flying P-3Bs with the USNR concurrently. The Lockheed L-1011 was by far his favorite aircraft, and he always said that Lockheed knew better than any to build a pilot's aircraft.
Exactly I recently flew on a 757-3 and the seats pitch was poor and the width was marginal because of the small pitch. The PTVs felt kinda required to mentally feel adaptable.
One of the best built planes EVER. It had great style, (alot of pinache, actually), with form and function. It was an over-engineered, over built plane with plenty of redundancy-well ahead of its time. This plane came from a generation were anything was thought possible. I remember back in 1999 when I moved to ATL, I would RACE to the airport to see these beasts. I was extremely fortunate to work in cabin services for a few months and got to work around them. Not many people can make that claim. So sad to see these planes are gone. Watching this was depressing and saddened me a bit.
+ Stratus. Wow, you must be Stevie Wonders white dwarf tone deaf step brother who is reduced to shining shoes.. Envy is understandable but don't take it out on Cinderella.
electricredo Do you really believe what you are writing? I had the great luck of flying both the DC-10 and the TriStar and although my heart was with the big 10 my brain kept on telling that 1011 was the best. I have flown many aircraft in my carrier and so far none can compare with the Lockheed. It was rugged, reliable and extremely well made. It's automation was far ahead of the other wide bodies and besides it was a beautiful plane from its dolphin nose to the S-ducted number 2 engine. Would I love to fly it again? You bet I would!
At the start of my career as a sheet metal worker, i was working on the L1011, i don't dispute the qualities of the plane, but it had major corrosion issues. We did major sheet metal repairs on them, whole skins change, longerons and frame repair. It kept us busy.
What years were you working on the aircraft? I'm sure by the time they got to later aircraft and the TriStar 500 in 1978, they had ironed out the kinks.
Best commercial aircraft ever built... Had the luck of flying on one a few times. Flew like a dream, and rock solid. Although I like the DC-10 as well, too many parts fell off of them all the time. Man I miss the tri-jets.
The Tristar was the better tri-engine plane compared to the DC-10 from a design standpoint. Sadly, problems with the Rolls Royce meant the plane was delayed, ceding the market to the DC-10, hence driving Lockheed out of the commercial aircraft market.
From a design standpoint it was more complex. This meant it cost more to purchase and costed more to maintain. That’s why you still see tons of DC-10s flying, but very few L-1011s.
Larry Dockery the thing I like about the Lockheed L-1011 was the design of the center tail engine. It was blended into the rail and body. On the Dc-10 it was placed into the bottom of the tail fin a few inches above the body. Bad vibrations or what have ya it looked like it was a disaster waiting to happen - tail fin & engine fly off!
I cannot agree more with many of the posters. This aircraft is one of the most beautiful machines ever constructed. I flew many times on the L-1011. Primarily with Eastern and Delta. I don't remember if ever on any flown by TWA. Sad to see them gone. From what I recall, there was only one still flying. As a flying hospital and that was quite awhile ago.
I was working outside the Rolls Royce factory in Hillington Glasgow when one flew low overhead. All the staff were line up outside to see it, a thank you for the engines. I remember how quiet it was for a big plane, I think about 1969.
If anyone asks why the L-1011 is so special, this film says it all. Mandatory watching for those who truly appreciate what went into this flying dream. Lockheed was so much more advanced than Boeing, Douglas, all of them. It looks beautiful, flew beautiful, performed beautiful. What more could anyone want?!
I remember flying in an L-1011, maybe 1975-76. It was my first flight on a jet and the trip went from Los Angeles to Kansas City. A terrific plane. More often than not, later I found myself flying on DC-10's than L-1011's but the L-1011 was the better plane, (of the two wide-bodies).
This was my favorite aircraft to work on as a Flight Attendent with Eastern Airlines. I flew on these out of San Juan PR where I was based from 1976 to 1981 . Eastern closed the SJU base then I flew on them out of Miami until 1989 got to fly them to South America quite a bit.
I flew on one from Tokyo to Honolulu. Loved it. Man those were the days - 70s theme music, in flight movies, Johnny Carson and the smell of mimeographed algebra tests!
To offer airlines a tri-jet with better performance than the MD-11 had, Lockheed needed a new engine. P&WA being involved with the Boeing 747 and building the JT9D for the 747 said No. GE was asked to build an engine, and since they were developing the CF6-50 for the C-5 transport also told Lockheed No. So Lockheed asked Rolls-Royce if they could build them a new lighter, more powerful engine, and R-R said Yes. To achieve the lighter engine weight R-R was going to use composite fan blades. During final Certification tests, the composite fan blades failed. Nothing that R-R did, could make reliable fan blades. The British Government asked P&WA and GE to lend a hand. They did, and the final R-R engine now had reliable titanium fan blades, which added a lot of weight to the engine. The problem now was that the R-R engine could not meet their guaranteed performance specifications, which meant that for every engine that didn't meet performance specs., R-R owed Lockheed financial compensation. Since there was no hope that R-R could ever meet their guaranteed performance specs., weigh / fuel consumption / thrust, Lockheed would eventually would become the owner of R-R. Since R-R was the Queen's Company, the solution to the problem became; R-R declared Bankruptcy, and was reorganized. Lockheed had an airplane that couldn't compete with the MD-11. Lockheed met their contractual obligations to the airlines who had bought the L-1011, but that was the end of Lockheed's commercial airplane manufacturing.
Im an ex RAF aircraft engineer so know a ‘little” about flight and aircraft. The Tristar should still be made with new engines! This aircraft was vastly superior and SAFER than the DC10 ‘flying coffin’! Today 4 engine aircraft are reaching the end of their useful lives, no longer wanted and frankly crossing an ocean DIRECTLY I would prefer that THIRD engine rather than the ETOPS spec of TWO they get away with? Several twin engine aircraft have had total engine loss, if they had that extra one in the tail.......they would have made it! BUT Rolls Royce screwed the pooch for the L-1011 with delays delivering the engine thus dooming the aircraft 😢 Sad though as the RB211 was more reliable than the DC10 engines....as we know one blew a turbine disc in the tail, draining all the hydraulic systems, resulting in the awful Sioux City air crash The Tristar was the Queen of the skies every day I miss seeing them land at Heathrow where I now work! I flew on the last of these that were bought by the Royal Air Force......what a superb design and a true wide body super jet!
I remember being on an L1011 into Atlanta back in the late 90s and it was just nothing but thick overcast for the last hour of the flight. I was looking out the window to see when we break out to see land and before I knew it I saw runway and we touched down. They really used that "land in zero vizibility" gadget.
First plane I ever went on was a Worldways Tristar from GLW-YYZ. No such thing as in flight entertainment, but we had hot towels, take off and landing sweets, honey roasted nuts, and we had to be rolled off the plane due to the amount of food we were given! Beautiful aircraft.
Liesl76 Done a lot of flying myself. Starting around 1970 till now. When I was younger people dressed in their best clothes and made sure they had bathed prior to going to the airport. Cabin space larger, seats also bigger and more comfortable, real meals were served too. The airlines treated you well to get your loyalty and your repeat business. YYL looks familiar to me, B.C Canada?
I can remember the flight attendants making ceaser salad in the aisle in first class on Continental and having quich lorraine and champaign in coach on Pan Am !!!
IC82Hillford Same here. I had the privilege of flying on one from Barbados to Toronto, Canada. I was only 10 years old, but I can still remember. I was an airplane enthusiast even back then. I believe it may have been an L1011-500.
I flew on the L1011 while in college on Eastern and Delta from O-Hare to Miami. The most comfortable, quite and roomy jet aircraft I have ever flown! Eastern called it the Whisperliner. As I recall, this plane flew at a higher cruising altitude then other aircraft. The DC-10 with that ugly engine on the tail looked like an afterthought. There were double the amount of bathrooms on the L1011. No waiting. The DC-10's were a cramped mess in the center area. Lockheed, make another passenger plane with Rolls Royce Engines!
Have flown on the L-1011 a few times in the 70s and I felt safe and comfortable on it. I have flown DC 10s and always had that fear due to the few accidents in the 70s and especially the crash in Chicago in 1979. One DC 10 which had a good or safe record was the series 40 which Northwest and Mexicana had. Thanks to the technology learned from these two aircraft, along with the 747, we have some amazing aircraft flying in the world today.
The Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 were made from past experience for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas because they've been building jets since the 1950s. The Lockheed Martin L-1011 was Lockheed's 1st jet powered airliner that was more advanced than her rivals.
While still in the Air Force, I flew a DC-10 from Vancouver to Toronto, and an Air Canada L-1011 for the return. The 1011 was the best. I wish they still flew today. Great cabin pressure, quiet engines, and the meal from the lower galley was good too!
I spent too many hours of my life, during the 1980's and 1990's, with an airplane strapped to my butt . I think I've probably flown one of everything that was in service during those years. I was always a "reluctant flyer", but it was a part of the job. The L-1011 was the only plane I actually enjoyed traveling in. I understand they are no longer in use for passenger service. Too bad. This was an absolutely incredible machine.
I took ANA from Tokyo to Kagoshima many times since I was a kid at 70’s & 80’s, starting with B737, B727, L-1011 and B747. L-1011 was the best. Quiet, comfortable and good looking machine
I'm still devastated that Lockheed didn't remain in the passenger aircraft market - granted it's allowed them to be dominant with some spectacular military models, but that almost makes me even more curious about what they would have come up with to compete against Airbus and Boeing. They definitely outdid themselves with the L-1011. I wish I could remember more about these things, I was very young back when I was flying on them with my dad on business trips, I just remember him always making a point of telling me how much more advanced they were and how the pilots always loved them.
Alex Thomas they are back on the civilian market with the civilian version of the latest hercules. so maybe they will make another try with passenger planes in the future.
Good observation Alex.. Your Dad knew his stuff.. Pilots did indeed love them. I have more than 7000 hours on type in both RH seat and LH seat with "the worlds favourite airline" (without a loss of time incident). - we flew them from the mid '70's until 1999 (if I remember) which is about a 25 year service history. We had about 30 on the fleet and the longest single unit was in service for more than 15 years.. That's some service record for a single make/model in a large competitive airline. It was an absolute peach to fly, viceless, quiet and stable with a great performance envelope. IMHO its the best aircraft I ever flew (and that includes the 747 (all variants up to the Dash 8), 777 (most variants) and the like. Well done Lockheed and my thanks !!
I'll never forget the first time I stepped on an L-1011. It was the mid-80's on a delta flight. Even at the age of 7 or 8, I could detect the difference between the L1011 and a DC10. It felt huge, it was supremely comfortable and I felt like a king peering out of the window of such a beautiful aircraft. After that, I always wanted to fly on an L-1011 again. I finally did again in 1994. It's nice to know that so many pilots like yourself liked them as well. I've flown on just about every commercial aircraft there is and I would still pick the L-1011 as my favorite.
I still remember it clearly. My first flight was in April 1979. With LTU, L1011Tristar ("the whispering giant") from Düsseldorf to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. What a great plane!!! The L1011 was far ahead of its time. I miss her.
Can't believe the DC-10 and 747 put this model on ice. Can't stand Boeing with their lack of advanced progress, Lockheed basically had the dreamliner 40yre ago
Wrong. The L-1011 was an overly complicated Rube Goldberg disaster of an aircraft. It used insanely complex mechanical and analog systems to be “advanced”. It was planes like this that convinced Airbus and later Boeing that digital computers could do it easier. Complexity is not something you want in an aircraft. Just look at Lockheed today with the F-35. Sure it’s years ahead of its time. It’s also behind schedule, over budget, and full of teething problems-just like the L-1011 was.
4 года назад
The L1011 was by far the safest and most robust aircraft compared to the death cruiser ten and the 47. Yes it was complicated but calling it a "disaster" is absurd. It was a victim of it's time and the etops rule not it being overly complicated. I've never heard any pilot or pasenger have a bad thing to say about the tristar. So you're wrong lol
I loved to fly on this puppy! I liked when the engines would be that slow groan sound coming up and out of the engine. The engine on top was so hypnotic..
I love how what was a normal/modern soundtrack in the 1970s feels slightly sinister like a horror film in the 2010s. 5:00 onwards. Waiting for the killer to jump out.
Experienced a flight on Tri Star Delta ATL to Fort Lauderdsle in 1981. IT is a spectacular and beautiful planes, give almost anything to fly on one again, as did not appreciate the greatness of this aircraft.
Loved the L-1011. Now I see why McDonnell Douglas panicked and rushed to put the death chamber on the market.. they knew that Lockheed had the better airplane. The DC-10 will go down as a tragic failure and the L-1011 is loved and fondly remembered even to this day. I flew Delta L-1011s multiple times from Denver to Atlanta and it reminded me of a flying living room so comfortable and beautiful. ❤❤❤
What nonsense. Its downfall was that due to RR, it was a late entrant into the wide body field. The market had all of the wide bodies it needed by the time it was introduced.
Lockheed Tristar L1011 hands down. Lot of fond memories non-reving out JFK late at night, city lights below and the feel/hear of those winding RR engines. Or the Delta runs from LA to Hawaii. Good times 80's & 90's. My fav jet of all time. Legendary..... Pure beauty.... that's was the heyday of Commercial Aviation.
During my travels to central america during the early 80s I would fly on the L-1011 back and forth from college in the US. Funny story . Mid flight after food was served they would dim the lights so people could sleep. The L-1-10ll had a bay of restrooms in the back(4 or 5). The young lady I was traveling with and myself decided to join the mile high club in the rear rest rooms. Can't even imagine doing that today ( besides I think it is illegal today ) I have some great memories of this plane
Very pretty bird! Worked on the ex Delta retired ones in late 90’s, removed the engines and avionics and basically all good parts , sadly after all good parts were removed they got chopped up . Most got chopped , some got sold to over seas companies..they had 60,000 + flight hours on them .
One of those programmes where you need to have had an Ounce of Weed in order to appreciate its artistic beauty . Which is what I've just done and it does it makes absolute sense .
I may be misremembering,but i seem to recall the 3 engines were on the tail,it was 40 years ago though,i flew on them regularly from Saudi to London,i have very fond memories of joining a certain club when they took off from Jeddah and it turned into a 6 hour party, thanks to the 4 bathrooms configuration at the rear it was very private.
strange the video does not mention the APU installed on the L 1011 unless it was on the later version...this was a emer back-up for hydraulics & elec systems I believe in theory the APU could have prevented the DC 10 Turkish 981 crash or even Swiss Air flight 111..
Why did Lockheed neglect to develop a long range version of the Tristar early in the program to compete with the DC-10-30? That was the single biggest reason why the crude DC10 beat the state of the art L1011 in sales. Very galling.
Thanks to our cousins across the pond for development of self landing systems technology, starting with the VC-10.🙏🇺🇸👍 1994: Atlanta to Orly/Paris and from Orly/Paris to Atlanta, in a Delta L-1011. Sat in the very far right hand side rear corner and was amazed at how cavernous and smooth she was. On flight back to Atlanta, I had an entire center row to lay down and sleep on...awesome! MD-11, has better lines imho though. BUT, I love all aircraft for the most part.
Passenger: Remember this aircraft from the 90's used by BWIA. Seemed a bit aged but I enjoyed the flights, somehow it felt special and actually nicer than even some brand new from those days. Sorry for Lockheed how things turned out. Big smile for TriStar.
Killed by RR and AA. Kudos to Lockheed for fulfilling their contracts, and to Eastern, Delta and TWA (and smaller airlines) who invested in the L-1011 program.
Interesting how they decided the air frame around the interior. These days it's how many slaves can you jam into the galley. For my money it was a far superior aircraft to the DC-10 / MD11. Wow and 18.5 inch width seats in coach?? ...luxury! 17 is generous these days.
I worked as cabin crew on the Tristar and DC10 so laughed at your comment about galley slaves. I agree to it being superior to the 10, it made it look like a flying tractor! The Tristar was so well designed. The underfloor galley was just huge and a lovely place to work. I flew down the back of 9 aircraft types and nothing holds a place in my heart like the L1011 Tristar.
Scores of people would consider the L-1011 TriStar as an airplane that was perceived to become a technological first, and it was no easy decision at first, or to get it built because the company didn't have too much knowledge on jetliners. We're talking about a company like Lockheed, that has built only prop aircraft before it. When all the smoke finally cleared, and this was brought into a final proposal, the drawing of a "three engine" jet, seemed to satisfy lots of Lockheed executives. Many lead engineers thought at first that they were going to plan on creating something a lot "smaller", but soon realized the offset. Company officials thought more of a wide-body concept, and the L-1011-1 series was born. It was to be able to accommodate 415 passengers in a Luxurious two class layout with 8 abreast seating. The Lockheed L-1011 had only one engine type: the Rolls Royce RB-211 high-bypass turbofan. This engine was created at first, exclusively for the L-1011. This helped Lockheed a plenty because British Airways, was in fact interested in the type, and was considering ordering this airplane, but this didn't come to reality until a few years later. The UK, was very specific of their aircraft to be powered by only Roll Royce engines. It would cost a bundle to create this magnificent airplane, but somehow the Lockheed company came through to impress, and make it a reality. The width of the fuselage was to be 19.5 feet across. (only a half a foot shorter than the 747 fuselage) So the Lockheed brass were really serious in studying a wider cabin on their new airplane concept. The L-1011 excelled nicely on many test flights, and the airplane was brought to interest among some airlines. The competing McDonnell Douglas DC-10, gambled through to impress, and was becoming a successful wide-body three engine airplane itself, but the L-1011, as elegant of an airplane it was, it became a step ahead of a lot of others. Several airlines picked up firm orders for the type, and used it for long-haul operations. Eastern Airlines, which was the launch customer, utilized it's L-1011s for intercontinental service, and TWA later, also used them on similar roles, and besides. The later L-1011-500 "shorter" version was dubbed for ultra-long-range capabilities. It was equipped with a similar width fuselage, and a 375 passenger capacity. This became a really amazing airplane, especially for Pan Am, who firmed up orders for these, and apparently opened up Los Angeles/Tokyo, or something like Miami/Cairo. TWA also became a significant customer for this popular type L-1011, with the launching of some European routes, and then Delta Airlines came through with orders also. All in all, it was a successfully designed airplane that impressed pilots, and flight crews as well. Many passengers loved the TriStar also as it became a luxurious airplane to fly on, like the Boeing 747, and at one time was dubbed the other "Jumbo Jet".
Well you have the DC-10, and the Tristar is one better than the DC-10, but the L-11 doesn't sound right, so they took the 10, put it in the name, and voila, the L-1011 with the RB211 engine. This may not be accurate, but who knows, it just might be true!
Constellations progressed from L-049, 749, 1049 and 1649 for the final model. Then for some reason, Lockheed reversed model numbering for Electra II by using L-188 and then L-1011 for Tristar.
@@aumarigan For some reason, this video was only recently suggested to me and I have been viewing aviation content for many years. So surprised nobody answered before now!
