L-1011 NEWS

(No regular update on this page)

December 2000.
  • This yearīs "TRAJA-GLOGG" will be the fifth anniversary. Same location as always on december 13 from ca 1900 local time.
    November 2000.
  • One L-1011-1 will be scrapped in the swedish city of Soderhamn (ESNY). The city is small and the ex military airfield is now mostly visited by small turbo-props. The L-1011 is, by far, the biggest aircraft ever to land there. The size of the runway and taxiways caused some concern upon arrival.
  • "Ett år i luften - Flygets Årsbok 2001" (see below) is now available in the stores.
    October 2000.
  • An article about Air Ops will be featured in "Ett år i luften - Flygets Årsbok 2001" (swedish book). The article is written by Lund/Hellstrom and the book will be in the stores around november 10.
    July 2000.
  • Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics Centers has formed the TriStar Alliance. It is a support organization for out-of-production Lockheed aircraft, They ensure that their customers receive world class support for the entire life of the TriStar.
    April 2000.
  • The new L-1011 company in Shannon is called Celtic Airways. They have a website at www.celticairways.com.
    March 2000.
  • Novair has a three week contract with Discovery Airlines to fly from New York/ Newark to Nassau and Barbados. Aircraft used is s/n 1241, SE-DVF.
    February 2000.
  • Walter Kuchta in Ohio, USA, is writing a book about Flight Engineers. He need some help, so if you have some information, send him an e-mail on pennyk@nwonline.net
  • Novair will do a two month Haij contract for Air Algerie with one L-1011, s/n 1248, SE-DVI.
  • Air Luxor has bought all three Novair L-1011 (s/n 1183, 1241 and 1248).
  • A new airline is starting up in Shannon, Ireland with 44 L-1011īs (-1, -250 and -500) for cargo and passengers. Read more on PPRUNE and also in this article. If you are L-1011 qualified with an JAA licence, send them a note on fergi.fer@tinyonline.co.uk
    May 1999.
  • Novair`s SE-DTC, which has been stored in Stockholm for some time, may be sold, leased back and operated for charter in England. It is now in Abu Dhabi for a check.
  • South American Aerocontinente may again try to start L-1011 operations. S/n 1013 (-1) and 1215 (-100), SE-DSE and SE-DSD with Air Ops, are now registered P4-JAA and P4-JAB and will undergo maintenance in Roswell, New Mexico.
  • Orient Thaiīs HS-LTA (-1) and HS-LTB (-1) has been re-registered XU-600 and XU-700. They have also added two L-1011īs to their fleet, XU-800 (-1, ex P4-IAH) and XU- 900 (-50, ex N762BE).
    April 1999.
  • Novair will replace their three Tristar 500īs. Replacement aircraft may be B767. Two of the Tristarīs are available immediately.
  • Ex Air Ops SE-DSD left Manchester as P4-JAB on friday april 9. Routing to Roswell was via Keflavik and Gander. An emergency was declared shortly after takeoff due to flap problems but the crew rectified that problem. The airplane had not been airborne since spring 1996.
  • Tradewinds has seased operations with their four passenger L-1011īs. Their L-1011-1 freighter is still flying. Tradewinds has been in financial problem for some time.
    March 1999.
  • Serial number 1246, which has not flown much since fall of 1996 when it was operated by Caribjet (V2-LEJ) for Air India, has been bought by Air Transat. New registration C-FTSW.
  • American International Airways (AIA) suffers from drastic financial problems which lead the airline to reduce its present fleet down to 19 aircrafts and a cut in staff from 2,700 to 1,200 until the end of 1999. The remaining fleet will consist of seven B747 freighters and six L-1011 freighters. Furthermore two DC-8-62 and four DC-8-63 freighter aircrafts will remain in AIA's fleet. All B727 aircraft will be removed as well as the DC-8-50s and passenger L-1011s and B747s. American International will cease any sub-charter services as well as passenger operations.
  • Seaboard Airlines of New Zealand is reported to acquire three ex Delta L-1011 aircraft for operations from Wellington and Auckland to the Australian continent.
  • SE-DSD (s/n 1215), which has been parked at Manchester airport since Air Ops closed down will probably fly again. One rumour says that two engines has been fitted under the wings and the aircraft will be ferried on just two engines, gear down and at low altitude to Manston for scrapping. Registration is now P4-JAB. Another rumour says that it will fly for a south american airline.
    January 1999.
  • Swedish charter airline Novair will receive a third L-1011-500 in the beginning of 1999. The aircraft is s/n 1183 with a previous history with LTU, Rich International and Nordic European Airlines.
  • French charter airline Star Europe has now (december 1998) leased a Tristar 500 from Air Transat. It will be used on longhaul charter from Paris (CDG) to destinations in the French Caribbean, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The aircraft has been leased for two years.
    December 1998.
  • This yearīs "TRAJA-GLOGG" will be held on tuesday december 15. Same location as always.
    November 1998.
  • Novairīs SE-DVI was hit by an airstair at Arlanda airport, Stockholm on november 1st (exactly one year after the airline started up). Repair of the damaged forward fuselage took 1 week. Novair may also add one more Tristar 500 to itīs fleet.
  • Air Atlanta is operating this yearīs round-the-world-trip for swedish TV-lottery "Bingo-lotto". Again, 350 lucky winners will fly around the globe in a L-1011. The aircraft is TF-ABT (s/n 1231) which also has been operated by Air Sweden.
  • Caledonian Airways is again planning to wetlease four L-1011īs from Air Atlanta for the summer season (may 1 - october 31, 1999).
  • Orient Thai Airlines has leased their HS-LTA (L-1011-1) to Merpati of Indonesia. The aircraft is used for international flights.
  • Armenian-based Airwings only Tristar (s/n 1040 with registration P4-IAH) was parked in Stockholm for some time. It has now been flown to the United States.
  • Classic Airways suspended operations on august 20 and is now seeking a new financial deal. Both their L-1011īs are parked at Stansted airport.
  • Chileinter, the Santiago-based L-1011 charter airline, has been in financial problems for a while. The company has now been bought by STAF, an Argentinian cargo airline. ex Chileinters CC-CZR is now being frequently used on STAF passenger charters to Varadero (Cuba), St Marteen, Punta Cana and Porlamar (Venezuela). STAF is now planning to add a Tristar 500 or Airbus A310-300 to operate charters to the Canary Islands.
    September 1998.
  • Caledonian Airways had a tailstrike with a Tristar 100 on the Greece island of Kos a while ago. The aircraft is serial no 1093, registration G-BBAF. The aircraft was not badly damaged as first reported and only minor repair is needed.
  • UPS agreed to an Airbus Industrie offer for the acquisition of used, converted A300B4-200 and additional orders for new A300F4-600 (in July). UPS will not operate L-1011s, DC-10s or B767-200s.
    August 1998.
  • Have a look at this flight tracking page if you want to keep track of a flight in the air. Not all flights are in this database but for example, Novair Tristarīs can sometimes be found when flying for Premiair.
  • Wanna buy your own VIP L-1011? A recent Wall Street Journal ad said:

    VIP L-1011, One owner, 2500 hours, 7000 nm range. Exceptional safety & comfort features, Maintained & operated to a renowned standard. Cabin (refurbished 11/96) & exterior pristine. Asking price: $55 million.

    (The airplane is said to be King Husseinīs private L-1011)

  • American Trans Air, ATA, has signed a Letter of Intent to buy five TriStar 500īs from Royal Jordanian. They will all be converted with an extra set of emergency exit doors like s/n 1183. The aircrafts are to be phased in with ATA over the next 18 months (dec 1999) and are to be used on nonstop flights between the United States and Asia, Western Europe and South America. JY-AGD (1229) went into c-check in Amman, Jordan on July 1. It then left Amman as N163AT for Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge where it will be modified to carry 330 passengers.

  • Just Planes Videos has now released two L-1011 videoīs. One is "Flight in the cockpit 17", a trip to Las Vegas with Royal Airlines.

  • The other one is "Just L-1011`s", a 60 min tape with lotīs of just L-1011īs.

    July 1998.
  • Swedish charter company Nordic European Airlines went out of business in mid-february. SE-DSB and SE-DPX has now been completely broken up for spares at Arlanda airport, Stockholm. N501GB, ex SE-DVM, is now in storage in Roswell, New Mexico.
    June 1998.
  • A new operator may start up in Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • Serial no 1145 (ex SE-DPM with Air Ops and G-CEAP with Caledonian) which has been parked at Gatwick for some time has found a new home with Classic Airways. New registration is G-IOIT.
  • Air Lanka will replace their L-1011īs with A330īs. First Airbus will arrive in late 1999. Air Lanka fleet consist of 2 -500īs and 2 -100īs.
  • Check out this new site about the L-1011.
    May 1998.
  • The rumour that Orient Thai Airlines is out of business is not true. The company ceased scheduled operations in january but continue to operate charter in the region with itīs two Tristarīs.
  • Last mission for SE-DPX (serial no 1091) was to be a "filmstudio" for swedish popsinger Eagle-Eye Cherryīs latest hit "When mermaids cry". The video was shot inside the aircraft at Arlanda airport in Stockholm, Sweden. As Captain you can see swedish popsinger Mauro Scocco and swedish former Miss Universe Yvonne Ryding can be seen in the cabin. The video has been shown on swedish TV as well as on MTV Europe.
  • New L-1011 operator Airwings is using a Tristar -1. The airplane was seen in Stockholm in the beginning of May on a ferryflight between Roswell, New Mexico and Yerevan, Armenia.
  • Britannia Airways has leased a Tristar 100 from Air Atlanta for the summer.
    April 1998.
  • NASA is conducting the Adaptive Performance Optimization experiment aboard Orbital Sciences Corporation's Lockheed L-1011-100. The Adaptive Performance Optimization project is designed to reduce the aerodynamic drag of large subsonic transport aircraft by varying the camber of the wing through real-time adjustment of flaps or ailerons in response to changing flight conditions.
  • Chartavia purchased L-1011-200F s/n 1158 from Fine Air in december 1997 and will lease the freighter to British newcomer Ocean Airways in march 1998. Furthermore, it is known that Ocean Airways plans to add a second L-1011 plus two ex Aer Turas DC-8-63 freighters, the first of which is due for delivery in march as well.
  • Interlease Aviation Group assigned the following registrations to the five ex Gulf Air Tristar 200īs acquired in january: s/n 1201 N75AA (ex A40-TA), s/n 1203 N104NL (ex A40-TB), s/n 1056 N900D (ex A40-TV) and s/n 1140 N926VA (ex A40-TZ). The fifth aircraft, s/n 1223 A40-TT, might be scrapped due to corrosion - this is under study - so, no registration has been assigned to date.
  • TradeWinds Airlines commenced charter operations on february 15, 1998 with a revenue service Boston-Montego Bay with its first L-1011-200 (s/n 1201, N75AA). The first pax L-1011 (s/n 1141, N826CR) was officially handed over to the airline by Interlease on february 12, 1998 at Greensboro.
    March 1998.
  • Some numbers on airframe hours and cycles:
    The long fuselage L-1011 with the most hours on the airframe is serial no 1080 (TWA, -50) with 71 299 hours (21 963 cycles). Most cycles has serial no 1088
    (Delta, -1) with 36 126 cycles (70 255 hours).
    Among Tristar 500 (short fuselage) serial no 1166 (Delta) has most hours with
    82 676 (13 129 cycles) and serial no 1179 (BWIA) has most cycles with 18 218
    (51 618 hours).
    Itīs clearly seen that the -500īs make longer flights with less cycles.
    February 1998.

  • This funny note was seen in London-Heathrow magazine "Skyport".....
  • Another swedish company, Novair, is expanding. More crews are getting hired and at least one more -500 will join the fleet.
  • Interlease Aviation has purchased Gulf Air's five L-1011īs. Intention is to lease 4 and possibly all 5 to Tradewinds this year. One may be converted to freighter. Tradewinds plans for the future is said to be 10 Tristarīs at the end of 1998.
  • A new Peruvian carrier, Peruana de Aviacion S.A, is being formed by a joint venture between former Faucett pilots and the american lessor Air International. The carrier has three former TWA and Rich International L-1011-50īs on order and are now training crews in Miami. Operations are expected to commence in March with Hajj contracts and then charters South America/Caribbean.
  • Air Atlanta is getting more Tristars. Serial no 1016 (ex N11004) has been bought from TWA via Fortis Aviation. There is also a rumour that Air Atlanta will buy serial no 1231. That aircraft, a -100, has been parked in the Arizona desert since 1993 when itīs previous operator, Air Sweden, went out of business.
  • A new L-1011 VHS-Video is available from IHF International Historic Films in Chicago, IL, USA. The video features a 42 minutes Lockheed promotional film documenting the TriStar's development, early production and flight testing (1971).
  • A book by Philip Birtles, L-1011 "Tristar", will be published in march this year.
  • Another Tristar book will be part of the Great Airliners Series in the future. Author Jon Proctor welcomes information via E-mail
  • A new L-1011 operator, Chileinter, is now in the air. They will operate between Santiago and Cancun, Punta Cana and Margarita. Future plans also includes Miami. Their first aircraft is leased from Royal Airlines and new registration is CC-CZR (L-1011-100, s/n 1069, ex C-FTNK). A second -100 will follow (s/n 1058, ex C-FTNI).
    January 1998.
  • "Traja-beer" on tuesday evenings at Pub "Grodan" in Stockholm.
    Nothing organized, just be there.
    ("Traja" is short for Tristar in swedish.....)
  • LAM Mozambique is flying Tristar again, a -500 (s/n 1240) has been leased from Air Madeira. That aircraft has been flying for Air Portugal as CS-TEB and for Caribjet as V2-LEO.
    December 1997.

  • Airliners No 49 is now out for sale. It features a salute to the L-1011 Tristar, including an in-depth study of Lockheedīs wide-body jet plus a first-hand report on TWAīs final day of L-1011 flying. Interesting reading and lotīs of pictures of L-1011īs from all over the world. A must for everyone who likes the L-1011.

  • In October 1998, there will be a high-quality CD-ROM program on the Lockheed L-1011 featuring the complete history of the L-1011 (from first specification in 1966 to the present) containing comprehensive historical photo materials as well as several more options like a multi-functional production list data base, comprehensive technical tables, numerous high-quality pictures and video animations. More info about this CD, "Lockheed L-1011 TriStar" by Daniel Gonzalo Fischer, published by Franke Electronic Publishing, Lindenweg 31, 32351 Stemwede, Germany will be available here in the future.

  • A nice picture of Novairīs SE-DVF made the front cover of the november 1997 issue of "World Airline Fleets News".

    (World Airline Fleets News, phone +44-181-751 3317.)

  • TBG Airways will receive a second L-1011 in december. The aircraft is a -1, ex TWA N31014 (s/n 1036).
  • ex SE-DSE (s/n 1013), which served with Air Ops before beeing flown down to Aero Continente (as P4-JAA) in Peru late 1996 has now been flown to Roswell, New Mexico for storage.
    November 1997.
  • Tradewinds, which are now operating one L-1011 freighter, will start passenger service with one additional L-1011. The aircraft is s/n 1141 which flew as N788DL for Delta, new registration N710HV. A second passenger L-1011 may follow.
  • Air International, a new american L-1011 operator is starting up soon. They will operate one -1, two -50 and one -100, all ex Rich International.
  • Canadian Air Transat will get one more Tristar 500. It is serial no 1239, ex CS-TEA (Air Portugal), which was leased to LAM Mocambique for some time. Itīs due for delivery this month (november). Air Transat has also acquired a -100 from TWA. Ex N81028 (s/n 1108) is now registered C-GBBS.
  • More Tristarīs to Sweden: Nordic Europeanīs -500, SE-DVM, arrived to Stockholm on october 30 and Novairīs -500, SE-DVF, arrived the day after. Both aircrafts are now in service.
  • TBG has been flying for Iberia for several months but that contract has now been ended.
  • Nordic European Airlineīs Tristar 50, SE-DPX, left Sweden on october 18 for a three-week trip around the world. All 350 passengers has won their tickets on a swedish TV-show. Routing is Gothenburg-Cairo-Sharjah-Phuket-Singapore-Alice Springs- Sydney-Papeete-Easter Island-Santiago de Chile-Iguazo Falls-Rio de Janeiro- Cap Verde-Las Palmas-Gothenburg. The aircraft returned to Gothenburg on november 7.
    "no date"
  • One of Deltaīs Tristarīs (N729DA) has been damaged by a runaway catering truck. The truck hit the aircraft at an estimated speed of 20-30 mph and repairs are estimated to take 50 days.
  • Angola Airlines is replacing itīs leased Tristar 500 with a Boeing 747- 300. The Tristar has been returned to Air Portugal (TAP) for a C-check and repainting. New operator is Novair.
  • British World Airlines is operating one L-1011 under the name "Classic Airways". Registration is G-IOII (!) and itīs base is London/Stanstead.
  • Armenian Airlines is considering leasing a 1011 for a service to Los Angeles.
  • TWA has ended it`s Tristar service. The 'official' last day of service was september 2, but some flights were operated september 3 also, mostly for positioning of equipment. TWAīs last flight with a Tristar was TWA 840 LAX- JFK. TWAīs plan to keep two Tristarīs (s/n 1015 and 1066) airworthy seems to have been scrapped. Many of the other TWA Tristarīs will continue to fly for other operators.
  • Rich International will have an "Aviation Auction" september 10-12 in Miami, selling everything from DC-8īs to forklifts. Some L-1011 spares, equipment and tools are listed among the goods.
  • Gulf Air has taken more of their previously parked aircraftīs back into service. They are now operating three L-1011īs.
  • A South African freighter company is said to be looking for widebody freighters, possibly DC-10 or L-1011.
  • Two new Tristar operators are "Fine Air" and "Kampuchea Airlines". Fine Air is an American freighter company. They have recently added an ex Million Air L-1011-200F to itīs fleet of 15 DC-8-50F/60F. The L-1011 is s/n 1158 with registration N851MA. Kampuchea Airlines is operated by Orient Thai Airlines. They are using one 1011-1 (s/n 1055) with registration HS-LTA.
  • Serial no 1030 is now beeing broken up for spares in Bournemouth, England. It was Air Ops of Europeīs first aircraft (SE-DPV) and when that company was closed down it continued to fly for TBG (EI-TBG).
  • A new Swedish charter operator is Nova Airlines. They are flying for Swedish tour operator "Apolloresor" with two L-1011īs and one wetleased A320. Their base is Stockholm and destinations for the winter is Thailand and the Canary Islands. Plans for the future is to operate two A320`s by their own together with the Tristarīs.
  • New portuguese airline "Air Madeira" will start to operate between Portugal and Canada in november this year with an ex TAP Tristar 500. More destinations in North and Central America is a possibility as well as a second Tristar from TAP. The first Tristar will be serial no 1240, ex CS-TEB (TAP) and V2-LEO (Caribjet).
  • Delta will end itīs Tristar operation by the year 2001/02.
  • TWA took N11005, serial no 1017, out of its storage in Kingman, Arizona for about 8 weeks due to technical problems with a Boeing 767.
  • American International Airlines (Kalitta) is now operating several L-1011 freighters together with two L-1011īs in passenger configuration. The pax aircrafts are N108CK and N109CK.
  • Charter carrier Sun Pacific International is considering adding an L-1011 to itīs fleet of four Boeing 727īs.
  • Million Air has presented a training schedule to the FAA, trying to resume operation again.
  • Royal Airlines will phase out itīs fleet of L-1011īs after the 1997 summer season.
  • Rich was grounded at the end of 1996 by the FAA.

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    This page was last updated on december 13, 2000.
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