Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Photo. Video. Driving salon.

2014-02-14

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Lockheed L-1011 TriStar

Lockheed L1011 Traistariu (Lockheed L1011 TriStar), often referred to simply as TriStar or L1011, was the world's third largest passenger widebody jet air liner after Boeing 747 и McDonnellDouglas DC10... Like the DC-0, the TriStar was powered by three motors. Lockheed Corporation produced about 1968 L1984s from 250 to 1011. Lockheed withdrew from the commercial air transport market following the introduction of the L1011 TriStar due to lower sales than planned.

History of construction

In the 1960s, American Airlines approached rival companies Douglas (later McDonnell Douglas) and Lockheed for a smaller aircraft than the Boeing 747, but capable of carrying large numbers of passengers over long distances, for example, to Latin America and London from hubs. airports of the aviation company, which are located in New York and Dallas. In general, Lockheed has not been present in the civil airliner sector since the late 1950s due to the difficulties associated with the Lockheed L188 Electra, which suffered several disasters due to wing vibration (flutter) problems early in service. Yet after the difficulties that Lockheed experienced in working on its military projects, the company intended to return to the civil aviation market and for this step the L1011 TriStar became the vehicle. Initially, they intended to create an aircraft equipped with two motors, but later they decided to switch to a scheme that included a third engine.

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar photo

The project envisioned a 2-aisle cabin, low noise pollution (Eastern Air Lines dubbed the L1970 WhisperLiner in the early 1011s), economical operation and increased reliability. American Airlines chose the Douglas DC10, although it showed interest in the L1011. So the aviation company wanted to convince Douglas to lower the prices of the DC10, and in the end it succeeded.

TriStar was released without American Airlines support on orders from Eastern AirLines and Trans World Airlines. Although the TriStar's design schedule was not far behind its competitors, the Douglas DC10 was almost a year ahead of Lockheed due to its propulsion problems. After incurring significant costs in developing turbofan engines for the TriStarRB211 in February 1971, Rolls-Royce filed for bankruptcy. This suspended the final assembly of the L1011, but at that time it was too late to change the supplier of the motors (the alternative was Pratt & Whitney or General Electric). The British government provided a huge government grant to rebuild Rolls-Royce if the US government guaranteed the Lockheed bank loans needed to complete the L1011. The American government agreed to such a step, since Lockheed (which was weakened by these difficulties itself), in case of failure, would completely lose the market for the RB211 engines. Despite opponents, one of whom was Ronald Reagan, then the governor of California, the American government gave such guarantees.

Designed to carry 400 passengers, the TriStar has a Rolls-Royce turbofan engine located under the wings, and a third motor is at the heart of the vertical stabilizer. Production took place at the Palmdale plant in California and Lockheed at Burbank. TriStar faced stiff competition from direct competitors: the Boeing 747 and the Douglas DC10, built in a similar fashion. In the 1980s, during a time of greatest concern about the reliability of the DC10, enjoyed by most competitors, Trans World Airlines advertised the TriStar as one of the safest aircraft in the world. However, 446 DC10s were sold against 250 TriStars - partly due to delays in the manufacture of the TriStar, partly due to the fact that the longer range version of the liner was not initially introduced to the market. Rolls-Royce's spending was tightly controlled under government control, and the firm's efforts resulted in the original TriStar motors, which required significant rework between test flight and commissioning.

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Salon

General Electric, a competitor to Rolls-Royce, quickly developed the CF6 engine, which has more thrust, which made it possible for the intercontinental heavy Douglas DC10-30 to enter the market. The flexibility provided to potential buyers of the DC10, which had a longer range, threatened the competitiveness of the L1011. Rolls-Royce took over the design of the RB211524 high-thrust engines for the L1011-200 and -500, but it took many years of work.

The main external signs of the TriStar difference from the DC10 were the different location of the tail (middle) engine: on the DC10, the engine was suspended above the fuselage, which produced more power, while the TriStar engine was attached in the tail section in an S-shaped tunnel (as on the TU -154 and Boeing 727), which gave increased strength and reduced noise levels. Early variations of the L1011, such as −1, −100, and −150, differed from later models in the type of medium engine nacelle. Earlier nacelles were fitted with a circular air intake, while later models installed a vertical small keel between the top of the fuselage and the bottom of the engine.

History operation in civil aviation

Civil Operators: TriStar, Air Atlanta Icelandic, TAAG Air Angola, AeroPeru, Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air Luxor, Air France, SriLankan Airlines, Air Transat, TAP Air Portugal, Arrow Air, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, ATA Airlines, Caledonian Airways, British Caledonian, Cathay Pacific, BWIA, Delta Air Lines, Court Line, EuroAtlantic, Eastern Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Faucett, Fine Air, Gulf Air, LTU, Iberia LAE, National Airlines, Luzair, Pan Am, Orient Thai, Pacific, Southwest Airlines, Peach Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Skygate, Trans World Airlines, Worldways Canada, United Airlines, Royal Jordanian ,.

Delta AirLines is Lockheed's largest customer. Outside the United States, Cathay Pacific eventually became the largest operator of this type of aircraft, buying out a large number of aircraft after Eastern AirLines went bankrupt with 21 aircraft.

All the big airline companies have stopped using the plane. Cathay Pacific ceased operation in October 1996 fleet L1011, replacing it Airbus A330-300... Aviation company TWA in 1997 ceased flight of the last TriStar Delta Airlines operated TriStar until 2001, subsequently replacing it with the Boeing767-400ER.

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar scheme salon