Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (N507PA)

A trip back in time.

Too bad that McDonnell Douglas had to gobbled up by Boeing... MB created a lot of great airplanes..F15, F18, this DC 10, Dc7, DC4, etc...all we have now is Boeing being the only game on the block...

Someone's going to have to tell Wes . . . .

(Lockheed also built some great airplanes!)

I think this is the L1011-500 variant, shorter fuselage and longer range than the other L1011 variants.

I got to fly on an L-1011 once, back in the 80s, I'm sure it was Delta. Of course, back then, it was all about comfort and service, and even though I was a budding aviator I never gave a thought to how safe the airplane turned out to be, even as a crew member on Lockheed C-130s, LOL. Nobody who's ever flow an L-10ll has a bad word to say about it, and that's something. I guess they just priced themselves out of the market, from what I understand. Too bad. Much better looking than the DC-10/MD-11 as well, and easier to land, I hear a DC-10 can be difficult.

Our 1st trip was on one of these aircraft back in 1992 Manchester to Florida.

I remember hitching a ride on a Hawaiian Airlines L-1011 in '87. SFO was experiencing some heavy fog and many aircraft were diverted to SMF. The next morning I had a puddle jump flight scheduled from SMF to SFO to catch my bi-weekly SFO-IAD flight. SFO was still marginal and the puddle jumper United A/C and crew weren't certified for the weather at SFO. United worked a deal with Hawaiian to take their passengers to SFO. Before the doors closed the captain came on and said that if the weather was still No-Go at SFO they would continue on to HNL, so if we weren't comfortable with the odds we could get off now. Hmmm, snow in Wash DC or Sun in Honolulu? I stayed aboard crossing my fingers for a "good" outcome. Unfortunately, the second approach was successful at SFO and I had to bid adieu to my beach plans. Such is life. The United DC-10 to IAD was uneventful.

Tks for all comments my friends, Best Regrds