L-1011

[Publishers]

A couple of things,
1. Far fewer of them in the first place,
2. Maintenance cost was not good--ask Eastern Airlines
3. They were probably more comparible to the -10 and you do not see them being converted. -30 is range over weight-- the thing that makes a freigher.
4. The only thing that they had going for them was volume.

 

[fartknocker]

Did FedEx develop the conversion for the MD-10? Is that just a modernized cockpit for 2 man crew?

I'm not sure if FedEx or Boeing developed the conversion. The link below makes it soud like Boeing offers the conversion.

The MD-10 cockpit conversion involves fitting DC-10s (both current freighters and "new" ex airliner freighter conversions) with a two crew Honeywell VIA 2000 EFIS flightdeck with six LCD screens. The instrument panel layout is identical to that in the MD-11, and pilots can be qualified to fly the two interchangeably.

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_02/textonly/ps02txt.html

 

[Tomct]

Had the PRIVILEDGE of riding the jump seat right behind the Capt. on a Delta flight! What an AMAZING airplane! Talk about FAST! Wish that I could have flown that BAD BOY!

 

[Irishav8r]

I dont think there was ever a factory built cargo L-1011 but I know that there was at least one converted L-10. The old American International Airways flew one (maybe more?) and it was bought by Kitty Hawk.

FYI
N311EA was the first L-1011F. It was an original Eastern aircraft. Cargo door installed in Mojave, CA in the 1989-1990 timeframe and was used by Tradewinds Airlines until a couple of years ago. The company that installed the cargo door went out of business (Owners of the STC) and therefore could not be overhauled(From my understanding). Kalitta(American International) had a few BA acft with a different door (A little smaller) All were conversions, none were built by Lockheed.

 

[Irishav8r]

The 1011 came to the market first and was successful, however, not having another engine selection would soon prove to be it's downfall.
As the 1011 enjoyed time in service with the airlines McDonnell Douglas pushed its DC-10 thru the certification process. Considering the huge political clout California weilded ( and did) they helped speed up the process and forced the DC-10 to market prematurely. There were several DC-10 accidents world wide and caused the fleet to be grounded. The defects were found ( had to do with aft pressure bulkhead I believe) and fixed and the 10 came to the market. Timing is everything as is a little help from your friends.

L-1011's were built in Palmdale, Ca.

 

[hkgorbust]

American Int'l Airways (Later became Kitty Hawk Int'l) operated six ex BA tri-tanics. All were converted by Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge, UK. The RAF also had some (? number) converted as well for cargo and possibly tanker ops.
Those (AIA/KHI) airplanes had an uncommon variant of the RB211, of which spares were not readily available. A more common engine could be installed with significant performance penalties, which was an unattractive option.
As it turned out, KH management had other plans for KHI, which didn't include any of the airplanes or the employees.

 

[belchfire]

I have been around some L-1011 folks and it was a typical Lockheed-a pilot's airplane from what I have gathered.

McD went with Pratt and GE engines. Lockheed committed to the RB-211 which was late on certification (putting the whole aircraft behind the DC-10 on deliveries). Further it was cutting edge for the day. Those systems were one offs on an aircraft that didn't meet production projections so spares are a problem. It can be maintenence intensive and unless you are a real systems technician troubleshooting is a problem...leading to excessive down time. The RB-211 has become a fine engine over time but like the aircraft it was cutting edge and failed to live up to early expectations.

Lockheed made the mistake of treating it's airline customers like a military contract IMHO. Give us some time and more money and we'll get the bugs out...

I've met two types. People that understood it and loved it and people that didn't understand it and thought it was only okay.

With regards to the comments about the DC-10. The DC-10 was the first McD airliner-Douglas Commercial had their hands tied by old man McDonell himself. There are lots of things that probably wouldn't have happend to DC-10's if the Douglas team had been left alone to do what they had always done so very, very well.

There was a point when the Douglas Commercial team flew out to STL and proposed a large twin-something like a 75 or 76. Old man MacDonell himself said and I quote "Kill it."

 

[CopilotDoug]

And my reference to FedEx pulling DC-10-10s out of the desert was based on a few airliners.net photos showing some ex-Hawaiian planes getting converted to the MD-10s this past summer. But I think FedEx took ownership of those planes a few years back.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1150573/M/

 

[bocefus]

US Marshal Service just bought an ex Delta L10