Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

Stevie,
Thanks very much for your bang up to date info on the TriStars, much appreciated, lets hope that Bruntingthorpe arrange open top buses again this year!?, quite a nice gesture on the part of the organisers for the 2014 events, fingers crossed.
Best regards, Gerry

As its such a large aircraft Im surprised the RAF museum hasnt considered loaning one to the museum at Manchester airport.

An update here regarding the Tristars at Brunty (Courtesy of the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground Newsletter) -

Tristars leaving -

Currently there are 6 Lockheed Tristar aircraftin storage at the airfield. These were originallybrought onto the airfield from the RAF with aview to them being recycled, however thecompany that now owns the aircraft havenow sold on the aircraft as they are goingback into commercial service. The aircrafthave been kept air-worthy during their stayand so these aircraft will be taking off overthe coming month or so. Wherever possible,we will put the dates of their expecteddepartures on our residents only page on ourwebsite so please do keep monitoring this forupdates if you are interested in these aircraft.

I shall update any news on here.

Steve

stevie;159376 wrote:

An update here regarding the Tristars at Brunty (Courtesy of the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground Newsletter) -

Tristars leaving -

Currently there are 6 Lockheed Tristar aircraftin storage at the airfield. These were originallybrought onto the airfield from the RAF with aview to them being recycled, however thecompany that now owns the aircraft havenow sold on the aircraft as they are goingback into commercial service. The aircrafthave been kept air-worthy during their stayand so these aircraft will be taking off overthe coming month or so. Wherever possible,we will put the dates of their expecteddepartures on our residents only page on ourwebsite so please do keep monitoring this forupdates if you are interested in these aircraft.

I shall update any news on here.

Steve

This is a joy!! It is wonderful to think that "Direct Lift Control " will be in the air again. It is a truly genius concept, I am told a dream to fly with, yet a struggle to maintain. Lets hope the new operator doesn't disable it.

Thanks for posting Steve,
Intrigued to find out where the Tristars are bound?, and the first to depart does so on the May 24th Open day!?,......a posibility maybe, a long shot I know!.
Best regards, Gerry

Gerry wrote:

Thanks for posting Steve,
Intrigued to find out where the Tristars are bound?, and the first to depart does so on the May 24th Open day!?,......a posibility maybe, a long shot I know!.
Best regards, Gerry

Interesting feature here courtesy of www.pr.com/press-release/620065 -

AGD SYSTEMS Corporation Announces Capabilities with Addition of Six (6) Tristar L-1011 Tankers for Aerial Refueling, Cargo and Medivac Missions

Former RAF Tristars to take flight again. AGD SYSTEMS will be operating (6) Tristar L-1011 aircraft that were previously in service with the United Kingdom - Royal Air Force (RAF).


West Palm Beach, FL, May 18, 2015 --( PR.com )-- AGD SYSTEMS will be operating (6) Tristar L-1011 aircraft that were previously in service with the United Kingdom - Royal Air Force (RAF). Four (4) of the aircraft are designated aerial refueling tankers with a NATO standard drogue system. The remaining two aircraft are configured for cargo, passenger and medivac missions. The aircraft will operate under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registration-certification and have already been assigned FAA “N” registration numbers.

The former RAF Tristars had entered service in the 1980’s and still remained in exceptional condition being recently overhauled just a few years ago. However, new mandates within the UK government to upgrade the fleet, the Tristars were replaced with the Airbus A330, a commercial program offered by a consortium made up of aerospace companies: Babcock, Cobham, Airbus Group, Rolls-Royce and Thales. The UK program contract awarded the consortium (AirTanker) the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract for RAF Voyager by the Ministry of Defense in 2008. This for the supply of (9) A330 aircraft for air-to-air refueling, air transport and aeromedical evacuation capability, plus associated service and infrastructure for the duration of the contract period up until 2035. The award amount in excess of an estimated £13 Billion British Pounds.

AGD Systems CEO, Mark Daniels was quoted saying, “The (6) Tristar’s were released from service with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (MoD) in March 2014. Following the MoD release, the aircraft are currently undergoing inspections to return them to civilian operation for military contract services, with the first one ready in June 2015. The aircraft will be offered to U.S., UK and NATO forces to support the very same operations and utilization for refueling, cargo, personnel and medivac missions globally.” Daniels further stated, “This capability will put AGD SYSTEMS in a very unique business and much needed service, as more and more military services are being outsourced to commercial companies,” said Daniels.

About AGD SYSTEMS Corporation
AGD SYSTEMS Corporation (AGD SYSTEMS www.agdsystems.com ) is an emerging international company that focuses its business case in the transportation sector providing services to government and commercial industry. AGD Systems recently acquired AeroGroup Incorporated (AeroGroup www.aerogroupinc.com ) AeroGroup has been supporting military pilot training, research and development programs since 1999. AeroGroup was the first civilian commercial company to perform F-16 training programs in the Continental United States for the Dutch Air Force and OCONUS F-16MLU training for the Belgian Air Component. AGD Systems provides assets for military operations under government contracts, including; subject matter experts, consultants, logistics, technology design, testing, development, and research.

Wow, this really shows the madness within our government. Building new aircraft under a PFI, only to allow a private company to buy the old ones in good condition for a 'cheap' price and contract the aerial refuelling work back to NATO and the RAF!

I hope it works out for them and keeps these aircraft flying.

I wonder what life those airframes have got left?

Many thanks Stevie for the AGD press release (post 56), with very few TriStars now operating worldwide spares maybe a problem, unless one or two of the aircraft are to be parted out to keep the rest flying?.

Best regards, Gerry

Here's a few shots I took at Brunty recently -