Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

Tri Jet

The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was the first widebody airliner to feature an advanced autopilot capable of fully automatic landings in zero-visibility conditions, and remains the only widebody trijet with all three engines integrated into the rear fuselage and tail. Lockheed's ambitious entry into the widebody market flew from 1970 to 2001 in passenger service, competing directly with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 but ultimately losing the sales war due to Rolls-Royce's bankruptcy during development and Lockheed's late market entry. The TriStar earned a reputation for exceptional handling qualities and low noise, with pilots praising its fly-by-wire direct lift control and autoland system—technology ahead of its time. Powered by three Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofans producing 42,000 to 50,000 pounds of thrust each, the L-1011 could carry up to 400 passengers on routes spanning 4,000 nautical miles in later dash-500 variants. Its maximum operating speed of Mach 0.90 and service ceiling of 42,000 feet made it competitive with contemporary widebodies, while its approach speed of around 138 knots reflected the large wing area that gave it excellent low-speed handling. Only 250 TriStars were built before production ended in 1984, making it far rarer than the DC-10's 446 units or the Boeing 747's thousands. Today the L-1011 survives primarily in specialized roles—a handful operate as aerial firefighting tankers and one serves NASA's Stargazer program as a launch platform for Pegasus rockets. The type's sophisticated systems and parts scarcity have made commercial operation uneconomical, but its engineering legacy lives on in modern fly-by-wire airliners. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators over routes.