Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned, 216 squadron, the RAF's sole Lockheed Tristar operator disbanded on the 20th of March.
I'm guessing this also means the end of Tristar service, the aircraft which was only ever based at Brize seems to evoke various feelings towards it but it has to be said that the RAF has had almost 30 years of safe operations from these secondhand BA and Pan Am airliners, including four war zones as well as the Falklands air bridge.

IMO and a lot of other people the RAF should have had the DC10, however BA wanted rid of them and as BA were state owned Im guessing it was at virtually no cost. However we wouldnt have got them if the RAF had got the transport in wanted in the late sixties, the C5.

I don't want to drift of topic, but I have never heard anyone say they preffered the DC-10 to the Tristar, both were available in numbers to the military.
The Tristar had a far better reliability and safety record, was more advanced in systems, better fuel consumption, and probably fairly important to the MoD at the time, British Rolls Royce engines.
The DC-10 was produced in greater numbers, almost 200 more than the Tristar, as it was rushed into service more quikly, and Lockheed withdrew from the large commercial business and concentrated on their by then core military concerns, probaly not bouyed by the early and expensive problems with the RB211 and its effect on early Tristar sales.

Unfortunately I flew in both types over long distances, The Tristar was by far the best from the passenger point of view I found sleep was impossible in the DC 10, a headache overtook you and days after getting off the jet you could still feel the vibration, taste the rancid air and wish you had taken the offer to do the trip on a Herc lying snuggled up in the aircrew's cold weather clothing on top of the cargo.
TED

216 disband on 31 March 2014

The BBC ran an article on 216 disbanding and showed a parade in front of a Tristar on 20 March, double checking Wiki says the same?
Was it just the disbandment parade on the 20th?

A major problem with the Tristar was its weight bearing capability on the ground. The DC10 had an extra strut in the undercarraige so didnt have that problem, apparently at some airports they had to put steel plates under the tyres to take the weight. This meant that 216 very rarely used RAF stations in the UK, which of course mean that the crews got to stay in hotels and subsistence allowance, now if the RAF had got the C5 then there wouldnt have been that problem. Allegedly there was a model of the C5 in RAF markings in CinC Transport Commands office.

A major problem with the Tristar was its weight bearing capability on the ground. The DC10 had an extra strut in the undercarraige so didnt have that problem,

How does having an extra strut in the landing gear reduce the load transmitted to the ground through the tyres? Are you referring to the actual landing impact on the runway or the three point loads transmitted to the ground when the aircraft was static?

As an Air Trafficker at Brize, they never caused me any problems (Tristars). The same can be said about the VC10's too.

Been on them all, Tristar tanker/freight/passenger and the VC10 tanker/freight/passenger. One of the good things about being a controller, you get to go up in them!

Needless to say, I hated Brize after Binbrook.

canberra;143034 wrote:

A major problem with the Tristar was its weight bearing capability on the ground. The DC10 had an extra strut in the undercarraige so didnt have that problem, apparently at some airports they had to put steel plates under the tyres to take the weight. This meant that 216 very rarely used RAF stations in the UK, which of course mean that the crews got to stay in hotels and subsistence allowance, now if the RAF had got the C5 then there wouldnt have been that problem. Allegedly there was a model of the C5 in RAF markings in CinC Transport Commands office.

Early DC-10s did have the extra leg, however, this does not affect the load. The Tristar cannot be compared to the c5 either. Totally different aircraft used in fatally different roles. The RAF would never have got the c5.

Anyway, can we get back on topic as I though this was a thread about Brize and not the Tristar........

For info, it was only the parade last week, 216 disband officially on 31 March