From a long-time DL employee on another website:
FAREWELL TO THE L-1011. DL employees, retirees and guests will bid farewell to 28 years of L-1011 TriStar service when the last aircraft leaves the fleet July 31. Everyone is invited for one last look at DL’s final L-1011, ship 728, from 6-10 p.m. Tue., July 31, in Bay 10 at the TOC in Atlanta. This
milestone in aviation history will be commemorated by allowing DL people to sign the aircraft exterior for a $1 donation to Habitat for Humanity.
Commemorative posters will be on sale for $5 dollars, benefiting the Delta Heritage Museum, and Flight Station will have a selection of historic L-1011 merchandise. Posters are also available at the museum offices between Hangar One and Hangar Two at the G.O., and will be on sale during the
ceremony Tuesday night at the TOC.
Rolls-Royce has commissioned an original oil painting that will be presented to DL that night.
Gate ceremonies also will take place in Orlando when the last L-1011 revenue flight, 1949, departs at 2:15 p.m. EDT, and at ATL when it arrives at 3:45 p.m. EDT. The aircraft will depart for desert storage in California at 10 a.m. EDT Wed., Aug. 1, carrying more than 200 DL employees who bid for the privilege in an auction to benefit United Way.
Celebration Schedule:
July 31
11:35 a.m., DL349 departs ATL
12:59 p.m., arrive MCO
1:30-2 p.m., local MCO celebration and commemoration at terminal
2:15 p.m., DL 1949 departs MCO
Champagne will be served during the commemoration flight with Delta passengers.
3:45 p.m., arrive at ATL, retirement washdown
4:15 p.m., gatehouse activities for retiring L-1011 Captain Randall L. Schmoyer
4:45 p.m.-6 p.m., aircraft cabin cleaning, tow to TOC
6 p.m.-10 p.m., Ship 728 on display at TOC for Delta employees and retirees, Lockheed and Rolls Royce guests. For a one dollar donation to Habitat for Humanity, participants can sign the aircraft exterior.
Aug. 1
10 a.m. EDT – Depart ATL for Victorville
12 p.m. PDT – Celebration in Victorville for Delta and Southern California Aviation Co.
Link to the L-10 "Retirement Home"
www.scaviation.com (
http://www.scaviation.com)
Delta operated a total of 70 L-1011 aircraft in 28 years, although the maximum in service at one time peaked at 56 in 1991. Delta is the only major airline to operate all four variants of the L-1011 – the L1011-1, the L-1011-200, the L-1011-250 and the L-1011-500. The aircraft were powered with
Rolls-Royce RB211-22B and RB211-524B4 engines. Seating configurations varied from 241 for the L-1011-500 to 302 for the L-1011-1.
The first Delta TriStar rolled off the assembly line in Palmdale, Calif., Sept. 7, 1973.
First delivered on Oct. 3, 1973, Delta’s original L-1011s went into revenue service Nov. 15, 1973 with 39 passengers from Atlanta to Philadelphia (ship 702).
Two TWA L-1011s were leased temporarily in October 1977 to supplement Delta’s fleet of 21 TriStars.
The aircraft flew its first transoceanic Delta flight, Atlanta-London Gatwick, on April 30, 1978.
An L-1011 inaugurated Delta’s first transpacific service, Atlanta-Portland-Tokyo, on March 2, 1987.
Other notable inaugurals flown by Delta L-1011s include:
DFW-Honolulu, Dec. 14, 1984
Atlanta-Honolulu, June 1, 1985
Portland-Seoul, Dec. 15, 1987
Portland-Taipei, July 1, 1988
Portland-Bangkok, Dec. 15, 1989
The last new L-1011 was delivered to Delta in May, 1983 (Ship 741).
Ship 726 was lost in a weather related accident Aug. 2, 1985 at DFW.
In addition to new aircraft, Delta acquired L-1011s from Pan Am, United, Air Canada and Eastern from 1984-1991.
Delta’s last transoceanic L-1011 flight was Nov. 30, 1998, Vienna to Atlanta.
Delta’s last Hawaii service with L-1011s was March 31, 2001.
Delta flew L-1011s to a total of 79 domestic and international cities.
Delta’s last L-1011 scheduled commercial flight was flight 1949, Orlando-Atlanta, July 31, 2001
[ 30 July 2001: Message edited by: The Guvnor ]