British Royal Air Force has retired its fleet of Lockheed L-101 TriStar tanker transport aircraft, bringing an end to 30 years of servi...
British Royal Air Force has retired its fleet of Lockheed L-101 TriStar tanker transport aircraft, bringing an end to 30 years of service.
Two Tristar's based at RAF Brize Norton flew their last operational mission on Monday 24th March, an air-to-air refuelling mission over the North Sea before one conducted flypasts at airfields associated with its history.
The Tristar formed RAF's backbone of long range air transport and air-to-air refuelling, participating in nearly every British conflict since it entered service in 1984. The TriStars were acquired in the immediate aftermath of the Falklands War to bolster RAF's long range capability in the transport and tanker roles.
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, is a medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner. It was produced from 1968 and 1984 and the third wide body jet liner to enter commercial service after Boeing 747 and Douglas DC-10. It is powered by three Rolls-Royce RB.211-524B turbofan engines. The third engine with an S-duct air inlet was embedded in the tail and the upper fuselage. It can carry a maximum fuel Load of136,080 kg.
The Tristar is replaced by the Airbus A330-200 based Voyager Tanker Transport aircraft.
