Tristar Fleet

[Gsxr600]

I was wondering how many Tristars are actually left in service now we are down to 2 vc10s and still waiting for the a330 to come up to full strength. I know the RAF started with 6 converted BA airframes and later got a further 3 ex Pan Am which I believe we're only used for cargo. One was lost to a glass cockpit fit that was never completed some years ago, but can't imagine that leaves 8 in service. Have some been canabalised to keep the rest going, and roughly how many are left in service now - presumably these are the last flying Tristars anywhere in the world?

[ACLVC10]

This list should help you.....http://www.airfleets.net/listing/l10-1.htm

If you tab through it there are RAF Tristars listed.

Andy

[Chris K]

As far as I know, the following Tristars are still flying:

Royal Air Force

ZD948
ZD950
ZD951
ZD952
ZD953
ZE704
ZE705

Barq Aviation (Jordan) - not sure if all three are still active

N162AT
N164AT
N194AT

Las Vegas Sands (USA)

N388LS - currently being repaired in Bangkok

Orbital Sciences (USA)

N140SC

[Craig]

As far as I know, the following Tristars are still flying:

Royal Air Force

ZD948
ZD950
ZD951
ZD952
ZD953
ZE704
ZE705

Barq Aviation (Jordan) - not sure if all three are still active

N162AT
N164AT
N194AT

Las Vegas Sands (USA)

N388LS - currently being repaired in Bangkok

Orbital Sciences (USA)

N140SC

What's happened to ZE706?

[petet16]

ZE706 - Shown as stored, at Marshalls possibly.

[petet16]

Although it was still in use in Feb 2013.

[Craig]

Interesting. Seems rather strange that the RAF have stored one of their airliner Tristars, but are hiring an A330 for the Airbridge because of a shortage of Tristars! Presumably down to technical issues?

[Jazz707]

ZE706 ferried Brize-Cambridge on 7/8/13 as RRR903 for storage.

RAF fleet now down to 7 aircraft, following the earlier retirement of ZD949. This was taken out of service in November 2007 to trial the MMR upgrade (glass cockpit) at Marshalls, though the program was later cancelled. Remains at Cambridge for spares use.

[Gsxr600]

Interesting. Seems rather strange that the RAF have stored one of their airliner Tristars, but are hiring an A330 for the Airbridge because of a shortage of Tristars! Presumably down to technical issues?

I find the whole A330 crazy. The cost of buying some more used Tristars from the Bone Yard or DC10's similar to the Dutch KDC10 would have cost a fraction of acquiring A330s. But it all down to politics rather than saving money or common sense I guess.

[Gsxr600]

ZE706 ferried Brize-Cambridge on 7/8/13 as RRR903 for storage.

RAF fleet now down to 7 aircraft, following the earlier retirement of ZD949. This was taken out of service in November 2007 to trial the MMR upgrade (glass cockpit) at Marshalls, though the program was later cancelled. Remains at Cambridge for spares use.

That saga is really bad. Some crazy amount of money spent on installing a glass cockpit. When it was finally completed it was decided not to proceed with fitting out the rest of the fleet. But because ZD949 was now so different to the rest it would never fly again, what a waste of money and a perfectly good airframe.

[petet16]

A bit like the fate that befell XR809, when it was lent to RR to get flight certification for the RB211 it was only about 3 years old, can you imagine the uproar if that was to happen now

[Craig]

ZE706 ferried Brize-Cambridge on 7/8/13 as RRR903 for storage.

RAF fleet now down to 7 aircraft, following the earlier retirement of ZD949. This was taken out of service in November 2007 to trial the MMR upgrade (glass cockpit) at Marshalls, though the program was later cancelled. Remains at Cambridge for spares use.

That saga is really bad. Some crazy amount of money spent on installing a glass cockpit. When it was finally completed it was decided not to proceed with fitting out the rest of the fleet. But because ZD949 was now so different to the rest it would never fly again, what a waste of money and a perfectly good airframe.

Different to the story I heard which was more along the lines of someone not doing their homework properly before hacking the old cockpit out...

[Gsxr600]

ZE706 ferried Brize-Cambridge on 7/8/13 as RRR903 for storage.

RAF fleet now down to 7 aircraft, following the earlier retirement of ZD949. This was taken out of service in November 2007 to trial the MMR upgrade (glass cockpit) at Marshalls, though the program was later cancelled. Remains at Cambridge for spares use.

That saga is really bad. Some crazy amount of money spent on installing a glass cockpit. When it was finally completed it was decided not to proceed with fitting out the rest of the fleet. But because ZD949 was now so different to the rest it would never fly again, what a waste of money and a perfectly good airframe.

Different to the story I heard which was more along the lines of someone not doing their homework properly before hacking the old cockpit out...

Whatever happened the project seems like a massive folly to me. The airframe was quite old by then anyway and not going to be in service for ever, the only benefit was presumably doing away with a flight engineer's station, but for the cost of the fit you'd have to be paying flight engineers in gold ingots! Yet another defence procurement fiasco.

[Jazz707]

October 2006 - Marshall Aerospace is awarded a £22M contract to upgrade the RAF TriStars' avionics and FMS including a 'glass cockpit' as the 'MMR upgrade'. This should have been a relatively low-risk programme as it used elements of the C-130 cockpit upgrade already underway for the RNAF.

November 2007 - ZD949 arrives at Cambridge for the trial installation with a planned completion date of Q3 2008 at which time the second TriStar would begin conversion.

January 2010 - ZD949 finally makes its first flight with the MMR upgrade.

October 2010 - SDSR indicates that the TriStar will start to leave RAF service in 2013; TriStar MMR programme is to be discontinued.

December 2010 - After 100 hours of flight test, ZD949 finally passes MoD review and is due to be back in service in Spring 2011.

2011 - Due to the change in out-of-service date now planned for the TriStar and with the A330MRTT due in service by the end of the year, ZD949 remains at Cambridge in a pristine state under 'storage' and is to be 'reduced to spares' - a euphemism for being scrapped - as it would be too expensive to convert it back to its original state.

[Gsxr600]

OMG, that's a lot worse than I thought.