canberraman Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Monday March 24th will be the last operational sorties flown by the Lockheed Tristar in RAF service. 2 of the 4 that remain in service will be flown on a final mission that will include some AAR work and then fly pasts at several airfields with which the type has been associated including Marshalls of Cambridge. The duo are due to take off at around 1030 local and should return in the early afternoon. The 4 that are left are then expected to be flown out of Brize on March 25th, presumably to Bruntingthorpe for scrapping. Can't say I took that much notice of the type during most of its illustrious 30 year service bring an avowed VC10 fan, but its surprising how much more appealing certain aircraft become when you know they wont be around much longer! Mark 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkeEins Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) Can't say I took that much notice of the type during most of its illustrious 30 year service ....I once photographed one ....a gloomy Fairford in the pre-digital era....1991... Edited March 20, 2014 by FalkeEins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob P Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 ....I once photographed one ....a gloomy Fairford in the pre-digital era....1991... Ah, the pink Timmy. That scheme was a surprise. The grey was always quite easy on the eye. Another "classic" gone leaving us with a generation of plastic/carbon fibre. Can I rewind life to the 70's/80's please? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooky56 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Sounds like I'm having a picnic at Cambridge on Monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Really wish I could have access to my photos back in Canada. I recall a RAF Tristar coming in to my hometown's international airport while an airshow was going on in the early 1990s. It wasn't part of the show, but the high visibility scheme was impossible to miss and I did get a couple of good shots of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widow 65 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Ahhh, the end of an era(again). I ve had many memories of flying in this aircraft during my time in the Army. Definitely the highlights were being able to sit on the flight deck during a take off (from Prestwick heading to Louisiana) and a night landing into Kandahar, awesome! Other memories include getting onto the runway then turned back because one of the engines was not behaving, and a birdstrike on the way into Lossiemouth. Farewell my "freedom Bird!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 I couldn't agree more with Canberraman when he said "its surprising how much more appealing certain aircraft become when you know they wont be around much longer!" Here is my tribute to this beautiful aeroplane taken at RIAT last year: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Too big to preserve unfortunately. Can they at least preserve a forward fuselage? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gengriz Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Not my favourite aircraft. This one tried to kill me in Ascension. But it can look very pretty: FredT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Dont know out about the RAF version but I worked on the Courtline ones when they were brand new and always remembered it as a dreadful bit of engineering. Also the post delivery checks would turn up any number of lunchboxes, rivet guns, planks of wood, etc left behind by the assembly workers Stateside. The potentially most serious incident was the when one lost a section of inboard flap while mid Atlantic during delivery. Certainly my least favourite airframe even when viewed through the mists of nostalgia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgpw Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I'm with KiwiDave, As an airport air traffic controller, this aircraft type was "tech" so often. We always allowed an extra 20 minutes to get them airborne, because they took so long to push and start, they just seemed so complicated to get going! My dad was involved with the RB211 programme and remembers how obvious it was that the engine would bankrupt RR, whilst also threatening the L1011 programme. Lovely looking aircraft though, and it was nice to work once it was airborne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Typical,I was involved with a large engine intake repair on one of these last year,took ages and was very fiddely,hardly seems worth all that effort now :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Worked on them downstairs. Never really took to them. Can't say I'll miss them. Big brute too. Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blikkey Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Will miss the Timmy, Tommy and Tammy. It meant leaving the Falklands or some other god forsaken location. Best bit was not a lot a plumber could do on these beasts. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Having suffered the Tristar over the past couple of years all I can say is I won't miss it. I lost count of how many of my colleagues and I lost days of R and R because of them. Voyager seems ok so far, the seats are a bit better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Nice looking though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Ate these the last flying Tristars? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Always thought it was a nice looking brute, shame to see them go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I think the Pegasus launch airframe is still going,and there maybe 1 or 2 still airworthy but If they are I would say their days are shurely numbered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Electric Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 As just mentioned in the 'what's flying over your house' section I saw the last one take off on Monday (according to the Cambridge Evening News). I didn't realise the significance at the time, but wished I had as I'd have gone a mile down the Newmarket Road and seen it closer up! Looked amazing in silhouette from a mile away and instantly recognisible. A very sad day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 As just mentioned in the 'what's flying over your house' section I saw the last one take off on Monday (according to the Cambridge Evening News). I didn't realise the significance at the time, but wished I had as I'd have gone a mile down the Newmarket Road and seen it closer up! Looked amazing in silhouette from a mile away and instantly recognisible. A very sad day! The aircraft you saw at Cambridge (Tristar KC.1 ZD948) was doing a missed approach to Cambridge airport as part of its final operational mission so it did not actually take off from there. I agree though its another sad day in RAF history Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I go to lectures every now and again in Chichester on all aspects of aviation. There was one recently in which the lecturer (who should know about these things) indicated that the RAF really wanted the KC10 but the Treasury were seduced by an offer from BA - who wanted to get rid of theirs - to get the TriStars at a knockdown price. I don't know if this is true or not but is a good tale and you can imagine the Treasury biting BA's hands off to grab the offer irrespective of what the RAF might want. Nevertheless a fine looking aeroplane - and much better looking than the KC10! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 As far as I am aware that is possibly true, especially about the KC-10. The RAF also wanted pods on the wings which the KC-10 could have, but because of the wing type that the Tristar has it could not have them fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English Electric Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 The aircraft you saw at Cambridge (Tristar KC.1 ZD948) was doing a missed approach to Cambridge airport as part of its final operational mission so it did not actually take off from there. I agree though its another sad day in RAF history Mark Ah, sorry! I only saw the climb out, so it looked as if it was a proper landing! Can't believe they'll be broken up instead of mothballed, but saying that, they must be over 40 at least which is a long time for any airliner-based aircraft to keep going! The design still looks remarkably modern for its age though... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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