Fly Past

82 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS

LOCKHEED

TRISTAR

1983 TO 2014

T

he Falklands campaign of

1982 revealed the RAF was

sorely lacking in the air-to-

air refuelling department. With

the upcoming retirement of the

Handley Page Victor K.2 fleet, it

became apparent a new type was

needed, and urgently.

The new aircraft would also need

to augment the VC10 as a long-

range transport; especially flying to

and from the Falkland Islands.

SECOND-HAND DEAL

Although a number of aircraft were

considered, the RAF ultimately

opted for a fleet of pre-used

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar airliners.

The TriStar was designed in

the late 1960s as a medium-to-

long-range, wide-body tri-jet to

compete with the Boeing 747 and

McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The

prototype flew on November 16,

1970 and the airliner proved to have

a range of more than 4,500 miles

(7,242km) while carrying up to

400 passengers.

Power came from three Rolls-Royce

RB211 engines, with one mounted in

the tail within an S-duct inlet.

The TriStar offered the RAF the

possibility of a relatively easy air-to-

air refuelling conversion and

could also be used in passenger

or cargo configuration (or

combinations thereof ).

Fortuitously, British Airways

(BA) wished to dispose of its fleet

of L-1011-500 TriStars and the

airline collaborated with Marshall

of Cambridge to offer six airframes

to the MoD. The joint bid was

successful, and an order for the

ex-BA machines was placed on

December 14, 1982.

Marshall Aerospace converted

the TriStars at Cambridge Airport,

with two becoming passenger/

tanker aircraft (designated TriStar

K.1s) and the other four designed

to operate in the tanker, cargo or

passenger role as the KC.1. The

latter differed from the K.1 in

having a large cargo door fitted to

the fuselage.

In the tanker role the TriStar had

additional 100,000lb (45,360kg)

fuel tanks fitted in the baggage holds,

and two Flight Refuelling Mk.17T

Hose Drum Units under the aft rear

fuselage. Even in tanker configuration

a total of 187 passengers could be

flown; this rising to 250 in the pure

transport layout.

The initial order was increased

in 1984 with the purchase of three

ex-Pan Am airframes. These would

be operated as passenger, freight

and aeromedical aircraft and were

designated C.2 and C.2A – the only

difference being the avionics and

265-seat cabin fit.

CARGO FIRST

As they required minimal conversion,

the KC.1s entered RAF service first,

with the type joining 216 Squadron

at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire in

August 1983. Such was the need for

a long-range transport that the first

two aircraft were operated solely in

the cargo/passenger configuration for

an interim period. In May 1985, one

Top right

TriStar C.2 ZE704

originally fl ew with Pan

Am as N508PA and was

named ‘Clipper Bald

Eagle’. It served the

airline for four years

before it was sold to the

RAF and converted to

military confi guration.

ZE704 fl ew until March

2014 when it went to

Bruntingthorpe airfi eld

in Leicestershire for

storage. ANDY HAY/WWW.

FLYINGART.CO.UK

Below

During the fi rst Gulf

War, two TriStars

received temporary

desert pink camoufl age

and were nicknamed

Pinky and Perky. ALL KEY

UNLESS STATED

1918 2018