Did anyone in here ever fly the Lockheed TriStar Airliner?
Posted by ITrCool@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 126 comments
I just finished watching a documentary on the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and how it rivaled but failed to win against the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10.
It was apparently superior in quality, comfort, engine control and efficiency among other things. However its flaw is that it entered the market waaaaay too late, giving the DC-10 plenty of time to dominate the market for medium-body tri-jet airliners.
I’m just curious: Did any seasoned/retired pilots in here fly the TriStar while it was available? Apparently some airlines did purchase some of these planes but not to a huge extent compared to the DC-10.
hellholegolf@reddit
Safest airplane ever to fly.
OwenBland@reddit
The 747-8, A380, A220, 717, C909, C919 are safer than the L-1011.
ItsKlobberinTime@reddit
The A340 would like a word with that statement.
Federal-Property1461@reddit
The A340 is also still on the ground as it as 5 APUs
snacktivism@reddit
The A340-200 and -300 are the only aircraft to ever suffer a bird strike from behind.
OwenBland@reddit
Where the L-1011 failed was the lack of a center landing gear. Without it, it was limited to a maximum takeoff weight of just 510000 lbs, and that was the later variants. Most variants were capped at 430000 lbs. It couldn't carry much more than a Boeing 767. Meanwhile, the DC-10 and MD-11 had MTOWs of 580000 lbs and 630000 lbs respectively, while having more volume. This allowed them to carry significantly more payload on longer distances.
ComprehensiveRow4347@reddit
L1011 from India-Madras MAA to LHR. Airport closed due to Fog but we landed - Full Autoland. The guy who opened the plane gate "only plane which landed due to Autoland ". Had to be given a Hotel room so I could leave for DTW when LHR opened
Ornery_Year_9870@reddit
Yeah, once. TWA was flying a TriStar between Albuquerque and St. Louis. I was on a morning flight which included a very nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, hash browns and good coffee all served on proper china tableware. I remember looking out of the window enjoying this breakfast and sipping my coffee and thinking, this is a really, really nice ride. This was in 1985 or so.
I_like_cake_7@reddit
That’s cool. A widebody between STL and ABQ would absolutely never happen these days.
Spirit_jitser@reddit
When they were new, UAL 787s were running short domestic legs, like DEN to IAH. It was mostly for familiarizing the crews with the plane though.
ms_dr_sunsets@reddit
Delta used them for SLC-PHL in the late 90's. I remember flying them a few times coming back from grad school to visit my family for the holidays.
Such a nice ride in those planes. I miss them.
LeastInsurance8578@reddit
You wouldn’t get a narrow body these days either
MozzieKiller@reddit
Shocking that it happened in 1985!
Echo___Charlie@reddit
I grew up flying from ABQ to JFK on TWA and making the stop in St. Louis on the L-1011. It was an amazing aircraft and I loved getting the plastic tube headphones to listen to the built in audio. As a kid, it was too cool to have the controls on the armrests and a projector for inflight movies. The food was great too!
Own_Engineering7460@reddit
Flew regularly Doha-London-Doha in the early eighties. Often on flight deck during take-off and landing. Biggest flight deck on any aircraft then. Had champagne breakfast downstairs once going to Sri Lanka. Best sounding engines ever, Rolls Royce RB-211.
SeaMareOcean@reddit
Surprised nobody has mentioned ATA yet. I think they were the last US-based operator of L1011s up until their bankruptcy in 2008. TriStars is how I would get to and from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Inevitable_Cook_1423@reddit
I flew the TriStar for ATA. I flew many missions to the Middle East during the second Gulf War. It was a very interesting airplane to fly, and the flying with ATA was some of the most interesting and challenging flying a civi airline pilot could do. The flights from the Middle East back to the states were so much more enjoyable than the ones taking you guys to the sand pit.
justlurkshere@reddit
There are some interesting trip reports of chartered ATA flights to Africa avd other places on a Norwegian aviation forum.
kc_dal@reddit
Yeah, one of my first flights ever was on a Hawaiian L-1011. I remember sitting on my dad’s shoulders and loving the engine in the tail. I thought the rear was cool with the U-shaped lavatories, knowing the engine was above us.
Ofc, the engine was not above us, but rather right behind the bathroom.
I know you’re asking for pilots, but a bunch of people didn’t get the memo. 😆 Had to join the L10 love fest
FRICKENOSSOM@reddit
I have 3500 hrs on the Tritanic. AMA
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
What was your overall impression of the plane, compare to flying anything else, such as a DC-10, or a 737?
FRICKENOSSOM@reddit
Mostly good but unnecessarily complex. It had direct lift control or DLC. On landing the spoilers would come up to a null position of 7deg. If you pushed the yoke forward the spoilers would come to a maximum of 14deg to increase the rate of descent but pitch wouldn’t change. Just the opposite if you pulled back on the yoke. This was actually a good feature. It made for rock solid approaches and lots of greaser landings. One bizarre feature was the soft altitude hold it had in cruise. It would wallow up and down 200 ft to try and reduce power changes. It would never be allowed today due to RVSM.
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
Interesting! What was your longest route flying those things?
Also, what was probably the WORST flaw/feature/thing you hated about that plane?
FRICKENOSSOM@reddit
I flew it from Frankfort Germany to LAX. About 12 hrs. 3 pilots no breaks.
The worst thing about the 1011 was that because it was so complex it broke a lot. Getting it off the gate was the hardest part.
Carlito_2112@reddit
I have as a kid. Even though I was 7, I was already hooked on aviation, and I knew exactly what it was. I remember exclaiming to my mom, "wow, a Lockheed L-1011!!!". Evidently the captain heard me, and asked my mom if it was ok if I came up to the flight deck (we were still parked at the gate).....no, my name is not Joey, and no, he did not ask me if I like movies about gladiators.
The captain asked me what else I knew, and I remember being able to accurately identify most of the primary instruments in the instrument panel, as well as the other main controls (throttle quadrant, flap levers, gear selector, etc.). I ended up with a pair of wings, and a lasting memory that cemented my desire to become a pilot.
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
That’s awesome!! 😎
It feels like commercial flight back then was a lot more enjoyable compared to the drab corporate experience of today, where domestic flights are basically just busses on wings.
zipzapkazoom@reddit
And don't forget the breaking news of airliner crashes, loud jet engines and the beautiful smell of cigarettes. Those were the days my friend.
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
It feels like it was a love/hate relationship in those days.
Loud planes, more wrecks and risk, smoking inside planes; BUT bigger seats, more lush carpeting and comfort, more luxuries especially for first class passengers (including piano lounges!!), nicer meals, etc.
Pros and cons
zipzapkazoom@reddit
My favorite part about the good old days was flying on a non-us airline and politely asking the flight attendants if I could visit the cockpit shortly before descent. if i got lucky i got land there. I've landed on a 747 into Vancouver, 727 in Medellin, Chicago, and Monterrey.
PozhanPop@reddit
And the nicotine streaks on the underbelly : )
buzzly@reddit
and people would open the window shades and look outside.
css555@reddit
You had more room and better food, but that was it. Back then it was much more dangerous, and more expensive.
Significant_Onion_25@reddit
I've flown on one as a passenger, and it had the narrowest and most uncomfortable seats of any airliner I have ever experienced.
LeastInsurance8578@reddit
You obviously haven’t flown since then!
Significant_Onion_25@reddit
Yeah, It's been a while. Just trying to book flights now makes me want to drive.
LeastInsurance8578@reddit
Well when you do you might want to revise the narrowest and most uncomfortable!
Significant_Onion_25@reddit
The seats on the L1011 were like sitting in a metal crash structure. The arm rests were stationary, and the width of the seat was very narrow. I'm not sure any airline today would have seats that outdated.
LeastInsurance8578@reddit
The width today is about 18” on pretty much any economy seat, and on newer planes the seat padding is way worse as is the leg room, arm rests are probably better but not by much
B-767_Sailing_QRP@reddit
I was a flight engineer on the L-1011. It was an amazing airplane. Smoothest autolands I’ve ever experienced on any airplane. It was all around one of the best planes I’ve been on.
One capt I used to fly with would take the elevator downstairs to have a smoke. And there were also some hook-ups down in that lower galley!
The plane was delayed a couple of years because of Rolls Royce being too optimistic about the development of the RB-211. P&W and GE were too busy to enter the mix on supplying an engine. I think that ruined it.
I have an MD-11 type also and you can see the engineering and quality that went into a Lockheed product. The L-1011 was much better from a pilots perspective than the DC-10.
I think Douglas had a quality at one time, but it was before the DC-10. Then they were always too finance oriented and short of money. Their later products weren’t great… and from what I’ve read it was the MD part of management think that’s been such a disaster for Boeing.
notsleepsherp@reddit
I’m too young too remember but my understanding is the DC-10 was rushed to get into the wide body game against Boeing’s 747. Also, at the time, Douglas had recently been acquired by McDonnell. McDonnell was an aerospace company but not a commercial airplane manufacturer and sought to cut corners wherever it could at the combined company.
Kinda like today’s 737/Max was rushed with ridiculous measures employed to cut corners and stay competitive with the AIrbus 320-Neo.
Lockheed, was an experienced but smaller commercial airplane manufacturer. It took more time and put better engineering into the L-1011.
In addition to the engine supply issues mentioned (probably to ramp up sales after the engine supplier issue) there was a bribery scandal with Lockheed officials allegedly bribing foreign officials in Japan to secure contracts. This affected the whole company and Lockheed got out of the business by the 80s.
ThermiteReaction@reddit
Yes, in the post-war period, Lockheed routinely used bribery their go-to marketing plan. (See also: F-104 Starfighter.)
rpc56@reddit
I had one of those hookups as passenger. It was a charter flight from Le Bourget to LAX. It was stewardess who worked my outbound flight from LAX to Le Bourget on a DC-8. We got along famously during that flight. Nine weeks later she was working the return leg this time on the Tri-Star.
pholling@reddit
Rolls wasn’t just too optimistic, the original RB211 fan was a total failure (carbon composite). Keep in mind carbon composite fan was still a nightmare for GE over 20 years later. Rolls went into Administration and was nationalised. The redesign cost years in time and significant performance loss. While the RB211 was still a good engine it took several generations to get to where it was originally mentioned to be. The -524s on the L1011-250/ and -500s were almost there. It was the advent of the hollow core blade that really got the type going (see RR Trent)
Unfortunately, for Lockheed the L1011 was designed around the shorter three spool design so they couldn’t retrofit the longer CF6-6 or JT9D into the airframe (specifically the number 2).
That said the L10 was the pinnacle of US analog airliner design. The longitudinal flight control system is a thing of beauty.
mcdowellag@reddit
I knew somebody who told the story that in all jet engines there was a hot spot in the gasses, and the engines only survived as long as the hot spot kept moving. Before the RB-211 that always happened, but nobody really understood why. During the RB-211 development that hot spot stayed put, damaging the engine, and because nobody had ever worked out why it moved in previous designs, nobody knew how to get it to move around in the RB-211.
pholling@reddit
I’m not familiar with that issue. The fan issue was intractable for Rolls. They just could not get the CFRP blades to stay intact. It was likely a combo of a lot different factors, and likely partly they were to thin (no wide cord back then).
The RB211 derivatives are now the backbone of RR, but it has definitely been an engine with a lot of painful corners for the company. It bit them again with the -535, and then the Trent1000. That said it seems every modern engine seems to be biting its maker.
Evening-Physics-6185@reddit
The blades were doing well until the frozen chicken test! Ultimately the rb211 has issues with a very inefficient turbine. I believe it was stated at the time it was harder to make it that bad than it would have been to make it good.
pholling@reddit
Generally it is much easier to get good efficiency on a turbine than a compressor. However if it isn’t well sealed you can have lots of issues. I would need to go back to the original schematics to know where they would have likely failed, but there are lots of options.
On a separate but RB211 note, cold startups were a smoke fest.
DardaniaIE@reddit
I recall reading that Rolls had to call back some of their retired designers from WW 2 days to help solve the RB211. What an admission of them being just out of ideas
Evening-Physics-6185@reddit
Yep, Stanley Hooker who did the Merlin supercharger, worked on the early jets then the Pegasus (harrier) and Olympus ( Vulcan , tsr2 and Concorde) among others, came out of retirement and helped save the rb211. He then got knighted for it.
DardaniaIE@reddit
Not much of an engineer though
Evening-Physics-6185@reddit
Indeed! Great book btw.
bschmidt25@reddit
I took one from ORD to ATL (Delta) around 1998. Great plane as a passenger. Comfortable, quiet, smooth. It’s a shame we didn’t get more like it.
Wise_Avocado_265@reddit
I did! British Caledonia December 1986.
kingoflesobeng@reddit
Flew on it.
FastCreekRat@reddit
Flew on them with Eastern and Delta, I think in the early 70's. Remember it as a nice comfortable aircraft.
Oobitsa@reddit
All the time as a kid on TWA between CDG and IAD. Loved it.
FrothytheDischarge@reddit
Yes on Delta from Seattle to Atlanta
HairyDog55@reddit
Just once back from SFO to ATL with my wife. Beautiful smooth flight, very comfortable especially after the previous week it was DFW to SFO on a DC 8-63. Loved the opportunity to experience both airliners!!
DDX1837@reddit
Yep. Many times on Delta. Great aircraft.
MicaTorrence@reddit
Yup. My favorite ride back when they were still flying.
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
The 70s Delta livery is what they showed the most on the documentary!! Those planes looked fantastic back then!!
DCS-Doggo@reddit
Yep.
Was super comfortable to fly in.
F1451Dmenace@reddit
Yup. Once on a now defunct airline called BWIA
Travel_Dreams@reddit
It seems like the L11011 was the best flight as a passenger, smooth, luxurious, and the redeyes would often have center rows available to sleep on.
Every single fucking flight since then has pretty much sucked, until spending the $$ for business-class lie-down seats.
~40-50 year gap to have a decent flight again.
Habsin7@reddit
Air Canada had 6 of them before they were replaced by 767s. Air Transat had some as well I seem to recall. The guys I know that flew them all speak fondly of the plane. Usually people have a complaint or two about flaws on any airplane but not on that aircraft
Pretty1george@reddit
Would you mind sharing a link to the documentary please
NowhereAllAtOnce@reddit
Yep. Eastern Airlines
twright92@reddit
Back in the 1990s, British Airways had a subsidiary called Caledonian which used to operate a fleet of L1011s, as well as DC10s and 757s, from their base at London Gatwick, primarily on leisure charters for tour operators. We flew on them many times when I was a child going on holidays to Spain and Portugal. I even got a few visits to the flight deck and a certificate for doing so. I remember distinctly their smart dark blue livery with the yellow lion emblem on the tail. Unfortunately by the late 1990s they were getting quite elderly and suffered with increasingly poor reliability - we had a couple of rejected takeoffs and a subsequent 14 hour delay in Alicante once due to a technical issue - and were soon replaced by Airbuses by the early 2000s, when Caledonian disappeared altogether. Great planes though.
hercdriver4665@reddit
Lockheed needs to come off the bench and become a third option for new commercial airliners
er1catwork@reddit
Only flew on one 2-3 times. It was my favorite as a kid until I got a ride on The Queen…
sray1701@reddit
Many times on Gulf Air when I was kid back in late 80s. From Muscat to New Delhi, I even have the air plane model plane I bought from duty free.
CoyotesCrusaders@reddit
Yes, one of the best flying aircraft of it's time.
StryngzAndWyngz@reddit
As a passenger when I was 13 years old. Delta, flight from Knoxville to Tampa and the L-1011 was used for the Atlanta to Tampa leg of the trip. I remember being super impressed by the size. Our Knoxville to Atlanta leg was a 727, which was and still is my favorite airliner for looks.
of_course_you_are@reddit
It had a cat III auto land
olizet42@reddit
One of my first flights as a pax went with one.
It was powerful. Engines spooling up to takeoff power. Pilot released the brakes, and we all got a nice kick in the back. It took off in no time.
Nowadays planes accelerate as fast as a reasonably powered car. Boring.
Timely-Discipline427@reddit
My first ever flight back in 1998. Air Transit flight to Frankfurt. YVR-YEG-FRA.
I had never seen a wide body plane in person until that day.
I'll never forget the sight of that monster coming around the corner to our gate. I was terrified because I thought there was no way in hell something that big could get off the ground and up in to the sky.
I honestly think that plane sparked my life long interest jn aviation. I still get excited at the sight of a wide body plane.
meh_whatev@reddit
Damn.. didn’t know Transat had L-1011s
Timely-Discipline427@reddit
Two old Air Canada planes if I recall correctly.
wileysegovia@reddit
Did you mean to type Air Transat?
Timely-Discipline427@reddit
Yes. Thank you for the correction.
Have forgotten all about them since they pulled out of western Canada in recent years.
Maddog067@reddit
I flew on a TWA L - 1011 from San Francisco to Boston
_Wavy_gravy_@reddit
I blew all my frequent flyer miles on a return first class ticket from London (or was it Amsterdam?) to New York, and a TWA Tristar was on the route. This was going to be my first, and as it turned out, only flight on TWA, an L1011, and the only first class trip I’ve ever made, although lots of business class trips. I was excited. As it turned out, and I suppose because TWA was a few years out of bankruptcy and being swallowed up by AA, the experience was a huge disappointment. The plane was very shabby, the entertainment system was non-functional, and I don't recall the food, but I guess it was okay. My GF and me were the only two people in the section, and the service was abysmal. PI kept the cruddy little plastic calculator from the amenities bag for years after. But at least I got to fly an L1011.
batting1000bob@reddit
I have. From Maui to L.A. the now defunct ATA. America Trans Air. I believe it was a back up plane. I just remembered it was like being on a pirate ship, lots of creaking and cracking and very drafty.
RogLatimer118@reddit
We flew a Delta L-1011 from Maui to LAX, redeye, around 1996. My only ride on the type.
incitatus-says@reddit
Not a pilot but as a pax, quite a few times on Cathay Pacific and Air Lanka. Seem to recall them being roomy.
Crazyirishwrencher@reddit
I think in some ways that bird was the love of my old man's life. He's been retired for many years, but he still has his "brain bag" in his closet full of his manuals.
WestSideBilly@reddit
I flew on an L1011 from IND to LAS circa 2002 on ATA airways. I had an entire row to myself both directions, which was especially good for the return since I hadn't slept. The FA had to shake me awake as we were on final.
Did I mention the entire row to myself? Yeah, that airline did not last long.
Nice plane though - sure beat the MDs and CRJs I usually was on back then.
YogurtclosetSouth991@reddit
Air Canada had them as well. I remember getting an entire middle row to myself, flying back to YVR from London.
Good thing, too. The night before the flight I had met back up with a friend who I originally met while traveling in Europe. We went out one last time and ended up back at his place. He rented a closet in house in some vast suburb of greater London. Honestly it was a closet. Deeply hungover I staggered out into the daylight the next morning without a clue where I was. Somehow I had to get to the airport. I wandered around a bit then had the brilliant idea of following some business types dressed in suits. They led me straight to the tube station. From there it was an agonizing but familiar trip to the airport. Glory be to all that is good when I boarded and found out there was about 100 people on the flight. Centre row and straight to sleep. The flight took about 9 hours. It took me another 11 hours to get to central Vancouver Island because of the PSAC strike.
It was a lovely aircraft.
LomaPL@reddit
Flew on them a couple of times as a pax in the 90s.
Zealousideal-Big5921@reddit
Flew on a TAP AIR L1011 from Logan Intl. to Lisbon Portugal, Leaving Logan the plane shook so hard the movie screen mounted aft of the lavatory’s fell off the wall onto us. The pilot chose to continue on and landed in the Azores to inspect the plane. Apparently everything was fine and we continued to Lisbon. We thought it was crazy to continue that far instead of dumping some fuel and returning to Logan
Inevitable_Cook_1423@reddit
I flew it for several years as a first officer. I enjoyed the aircraft. It was fun working with a flight engineer (I also flew the 727). The TriStar had some interesting tech features. The ride was cushy like an old Cadillac. The auto land was excellent, although it was rarely used as all pilots preferred to hand fly it. And it was a joy to hand fly. Some of my fondest memories are of flying the TriStar.
mumOfManyCats@reddit
Flew one owned by Hawaiian Airlines in the 1980s to the Hawaiian Islands.
The flights to and from the Islands were about half full. I remember the flight attendant saying, "Okay, folks--spread out!". DH went to an empty row and slept on the way back.
Loved every minute of it!
MacGibber@reddit
I think I did over 20 years ago, or was it an MD11…hmm I might have to research it a bit now
Known-Associate8369@reddit
Yup, even got to watch out the window as an RAF Tornado refuelled from us as well 🙂
retreff@reddit
Many times on Delta. Back before security went crazy even got a tour of the cockpit while flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
DesdemonaDestiny@reddit
Once. It was TWA.
clpatterson@reddit
I boarded a Delta L1011, we taxied, started takeoff roll, and then the pilot put on the brakes and taxied back to a gate. There maintenance determined whatever warning light came on was going to keep her out of the air that evening. Flew some forgettable pedestrian model the following morning on the rebooked flight.
No_Worldliness643@reddit
What was the doc called?
72corvids@reddit
I did. BWIA had them for the Toronto to Trinidad via Barbados trip. I loved flying on them as a kid as we always got to visit the flight deck, the flight attendants would load us up on snacks (my Auntie Diane was a head steward and my brother and I were a known quantity to staff). We would get off the plane in Barbados, go wander the terminal, and get back on the plane for the last leg to Trinidad.
Yes, I have very fond memories of the L1011!!
Ecstatic_Feature_425@reddit
As a person from the olden days, thank you for your olden days story.
Beahner@reddit
I did get to once as a kid. Surprisingly, it was a flight from Orlando to Atlanta in the early 80s on Eastern.
I had been aware of it as I was raised by a plane geek father that loved the TriStar…..so to get to fly on it even for just about an hour was mind blowing.
slowpoke2018@reddit
Same, was a kid in the mid 80's, flew Delta ATL to Frankfurt. Thing I remember most was how big it was and how loud the motors were compared to other planes I'd flown before
Not a bad time for a first overseas flight!
Beahner@reddit
Yes…this bird made a great sound for its time on takeoff.
A few years back I flew over to Germany and it was on a 330. Large and smooth, but its rumbles don’t match the roar of the TriStar.
828jpc1@reddit
Did they mention that the cargo doors seemed to stay intact on L-1011’s? That was a safety feature. L-1011 and 727 were my favorite trijets. Only got to fly on the 72 though.
jlutt75@reddit
Very funny, I was wondering when someone would mention that.
superdookietoiletexp@reddit
I knew someone who flew L-1011s, 757s, F-14s, and F-8s. Can you imagine?
DullMind2023@reddit
Many times. It was always a joy to fly on. One thing I remember is that it “wagged its tail”; during cruise I could feel the airplane constantly moving back and forth in yaw. But I’m an aviation geek, so normal people probably didn’t notice.
I used to fly from LA to Dayton Ohio for business. The flight made a stop in Cincinnati then continued on to Dayton (maybe 70 miles) at 10k feet- what a view that was!
_Bon_Vivant_@reddit
My dad was on the manufacturing engineering team for that plane. We almost had to move to England when they chose the Rolls Royce power plant, but he moved to a different project before that happened.
seaburno@reddit
My great uncle flew them for Delta. Got to ride on “his” L-1011 for his final flight as a Delta pilot - with the fire engines & everything. That was a lot of fun.
AdSimple9239@reddit
I flew on TWA and Delta L1011’s. My last flight on one was Zurich to Cincinati, many years ago..
Deltas111213@reddit
Flew on them plenty! Great planes to be on. My dad was an operations manager for the 1011 at Lockheed. Was on the last commercial delta flight and the last 1011 flight to the desert
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
Wow!!
It seems they were a joy to fly on overall. A testament to Lockheed’s quality and approach. It’s just too bad it didn’t get a chance at a stronger market offering.
Apparently twin engine jets had been coming out and were already threatening tri-jet existence overall by the time the TriStar managed to get a foothold.
226Drexel@reddit
Yup. Loved that plane. Flew it out of Atlanta several times on Delta.
skapuntz@reddit
I did as a kid, as it’s actually the reason I am a pilot today. Had the chance to do the take off and landing on it in the cockpit. Magic
LPNTed@reddit
I absolutely adored it! I can still hear "Take a chance" ringing into my ears through the plastic tubes!
Spiritual-Junket1817@reddit
I was able to fly on them quite a few times. Mostly on TWA, but also the Delta version. Those were the days when we had L-1011 and 747 service cross country on TWA!
Electronic_Algae_524@reddit
I traveled quite a bit back then and liked the Tri-Star over the DC-10. More room and a smooth flying airplane.
LateralThinkerer@reddit
Passenger here - flew a charter to and from Europe back in the day. It was impressive ... took off, stood on its tail and just went for heaven.
abbot_x@reddit
My late stepfather was L-1011 aircrew, though well after the aircraft's golden years.
I was a passenger on one exactly once.
NewPerfection@reddit
Never flew on one, but I got to see Orbital ATK's (Northrop) Stargazer frequently at KMHV (Mojave, CA).
CV880@reddit
My uncle worked for Delta. We flew on many tri-stars. It’s my favorite plane. One time he took me on board to give me a tour, And the flight attendants took me down on the little elevator to the downstairs galley. I was too young to understand what they were telling my uncle. But they were telling him they like to go downstairs “to have fun” .
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
The eh…Mile High Club kind of fun?
CV880@reddit
Yep, and with passengers . 🤭
North_Phrase4848@reddit
Absolutely. Multiple times and enjoyed every flight.
gormar099@reddit
i sadly never did; my father did many times on DL and to this day, still claims it was his favorite aircraft to fly on.
ITrCool@reddit (OP)
They said that the reason the TriStar was delayed so much was two factors: