L1011, is it just me or..........
Discussion
........is this still the best sounding, best looking commercial plane ever? 
(Concorde aside that is)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJWFcpy_kk&feat...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-vHRQ08fU&feat...
I'm sure I flew on one once

(Concorde aside that is)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJWFcpy_kk&feat...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-vHRQ08fU&feat...
I'm sure I flew on one once

I first flew in these in the early 80's (to and from Saudi) and they are a great aeroplane. I remember seeing a burnt out one left on the runway at Riyad Int' Airport as a result of a fire started by a passenger having a cup of tea using a Calor Gas burner in the cabin. Lots of people lost their lives and it was a bit of a mess....
They have a really distinctive sound on take off which as far as I can remember is unique to the Tristar (must be the engines?). I was coming back from Spain about 4 years ago and our BA flight was cancelled which was then transferred to an Iceland Air flight to cover - a L1011 which was a real blast from the past!
Against the DC10, it was head and shoulders above it and a really lovely plane to fly in
I'm sure there are some still in the air but are running out of air time (Eric will confirm I'm sure!).
They have a really distinctive sound on take off which as far as I can remember is unique to the Tristar (must be the engines?). I was coming back from Spain about 4 years ago and our BA flight was cancelled which was then transferred to an Iceland Air flight to cover - a L1011 which was a real blast from the past!
Against the DC10, it was head and shoulders above it and a really lovely plane to fly in

I'm sure there are some still in the air but are running out of air time (Eric will confirm I'm sure!).
Nope....Next to Concorde comes this. 
Vickers finest
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dCRMZuwalTA
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7MzheZGITYQ
Check out the noise on this one.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0H77SBgzA

Vickers finest

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dCRMZuwalTA
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7MzheZGITYQ
Check out the noise on this one.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0H77SBgzA
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 17th May 21:53
Yeah in both forms http://www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/tristar.cfm
Worked the -500's when they were with BA - great crack sliding down the #2 intake chute on your arse !
Worked the -500's when they were with BA - great crack sliding down the #2 intake chute on your arse !
mdotrutherford said:
Yeah in both forms http://www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/tristar.cfm
Worked the -500's when they were with BA - great crack sliding down the #2 intake chute on your arse !
I'm pretty sure BA used 500's on the Saudi run.Worked the -500's when they were with BA - great crack sliding down the #2 intake chute on your arse !
Good to see they are still going strong!
I went to Cyprus in 2005, and was delayed on the way out due to the My Travel aircraft going u/s. However, despite the delay, I was pleased when I heard that we'd be going on a Tristar instead. I'd never flown on one, and with so few in service now, had assumed that I never would. It was great flight, fast quiet and comfortable, and with an A320's worth of passengers on board, there were loads of empty seats. If the old adage that if it looks right, it is right really held true, it would have been the Tristar that succeeded, not the DC-10/MD-11. However, I would still agree with a previous poster that it would come below the VC-10 in the best looking airliner list. The 727 would probably be in the top 5 too.
ETA: The Tristar I flew on was a sister aircraft to the one in the first video above, operated by Euro Atlantic Airways.
ETA: The Tristar I flew on was a sister aircraft to the one in the first video above, operated by Euro Atlantic Airways.
Edited by S7Paul on Saturday 17th May 23:18
Will always have a soft spot for TriStars as back in 1985 I spent a couple of months as a flight test observer on the acceptance trials of the first of the RAF tanker conversions at Boscombe Down.
I was doing my student placement at Boscombe and ended up doing about 10 flights over a couple of months monitoring systems and taking the pilot's comments while we carried out various manoevres - including dropping out of the sky a few times when we checked stall speeds!!
As I remember it took about a mile (vertically) before we recovered from the stall.....
Jeremy.
I was doing my student placement at Boscombe and ended up doing about 10 flights over a couple of months monitoring systems and taking the pilot's comments while we carried out various manoevres - including dropping out of the sky a few times when we checked stall speeds!!
As I remember it took about a mile (vertically) before we recovered from the stall.....
Jeremy.
Now I used to fly in VC10's to Iran in the mid 70's and they are a lovely airplane!
Very quiet at the front and built and designed in the UK and just like the proverbial brick s
t house! I seem to remember they were nicknamed 'The whispering Giant' from memory as they were rather noisy from the outside 
Strange and sad to think all those years ago aged 11+ I was travelling around the world alone back and forth from school, where as today I wouldn't let my children play out of earshot from me......
Very quiet at the front and built and designed in the UK and just like the proverbial brick s


Strange and sad to think all those years ago aged 11+ I was travelling around the world alone back and forth from school, where as today I wouldn't let my children play out of earshot from me......

not sure what it was called possibly de havaland commet? the first jet passenger plane think it had square windows
had a few crashes due to rivets or someting. anyway I always thought it looked a gorgeous plane, loved the way the engines looked in the wings(how sad is that) The plane just looked right
had a few crashes due to rivets or someting. anyway I always thought it looked a gorgeous plane, loved the way the engines looked in the wings(how sad is that) The plane just looked right
Pesty said:
not sure what it was called possibly de havaland commet? the first jet passenger plane think it had square windows
had a few crashes due to rivets or someting. anyway I always thought it looked a gorgeous plane, loved the way the engines looked in the wings(how sad is that) The plane just looked right
The comet was the world's first commercial jet liner, flying for BOAC.had a few crashes due to rivets or someting. anyway I always thought it looked a gorgeous plane, loved the way the engines looked in the wings(how sad is that) The plane just looked right
Unfortunately it had a series of catastrophic failures which were caused by stress cracks due to poor design, by the time everything had been re-designed and fixed the Boeing 707 had taken the lead.
The Comet is still in service with the RAF and is known as the Nimrod. Basically the same airframe but with new engines, wings and avionics. Again, Britain took the lead only for others to steal the show (don't forget we invented the 'jet engine'!)
Edited by mogul on Sunday 18th May 07:48
I've always had a soft spot for the comet,
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYNx0vELSk&feat...
Someone will be along shortly to tell me why its crap
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYNx0vELSk&feat...
Someone will be along shortly to tell me why its crap

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