IATA L10ICAO L101

Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

Lockheed

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Lockheed's widebody trijet built with advanced technology.

First flight

1970

Category

Wide-body jet

Seating

250–400 passengers

Range

4,963–9,653 km (variant dependent)

Engines

Three Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofans (two underwing, one rear fuselage)

Status

Retired

The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar is a wide-body, long-range trijet airliner developed by Lockheed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It entered service in 1972 and was designed to compete directly with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, featuring seating for up to around 400 passengers and sophisticated onboard systems. The L-1011 was notable for its advanced avionics and engineering, including an automatic landing system (autoland) and a unique center engine arrangement embedded in the rear fuselage with an S-duct intake. It was powered exclusively by Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofan engines, a dependency that became financially problematic when Rolls-Royce entered bankruptcy in 1971. Lockheed produced 250 L-1011s before ending production in 1983, never achieving the sales volume needed for profitability. The type was eventually retired from major airline service, with the last commercial operators phasing it out by the early 2000s.

Notable operators

Major operators included Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, TWA, Air Canada, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific.

Notable facts

›Only 250 aircraft were built, making it a commercial failure for Lockheed despite its engineering quality.
›The Rolls-Royce RB211 engine bankruptcy in 1971 delayed deliveries and contributed to Lockheed's financial difficulties.
›Featured one of the first fully automatic Category IIIC autoland systems in commercial service.
›The center engine uses an S-duct air intake, allowing a straight tail fin without a large engine nacelle bulge.
›The L-1011 program led Lockheed to exit the commercial airliner market entirely after production ended in 1983.

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This profile is provided for general information only. Specifications may be inaccurate or vary by variant/operator — verify with the manufacturer before relying on them.

Encyclopaedia

The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The airliner has a seating capacity of up to 400 passengers and a range of over 4,000 nautical miles. Its trijet configuration has three Rolls-Royce RB211 engines with one engine under each wing, and a third engine center-mounted in the rear fuselage with an S-duct air inlet on the top of the fuselage. The aircraft has an autoland capability, an automated descent control system, and available lower deck galley and lounge facilities.

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