Civilian & Commercial Aircraft

Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

Name: Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
Author: Jim Upton
ISBN: 9781580070379

by Jim Upton

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Overview

Lockheed's history with airliners goes back to 1927 with its revolutionary single-engine, six-passenger Vega, followed by the later single-engine Sirius, Altair, and Orion models. In 1934 the all-metal twin-engine model 10 Electra was the fastest airliner in the sky. In 1943 the four-engine triple-tail Constellation made its first flight leading to a series of Constellation models that were produced until 1958. In December 1957 the four-engine turboprop Electra with many advanced features made its first flight which led to a production run of 170 aircraft.

In 1966 Lockheed started work on what would become the most technologically-advanced jetliner in the world, the L-1011 TriStar. Lockheed was able to draw on its technology experience from the development of the triple-sonic high-altitude SR-71 Blackbird and development of the mammoth C-5A Galaxy transport, the C-141 transport, and the Jetstar.