** TriStar & DC10 **
This is the 31 March '05
Version of this page.
TRISTAR
Continuing Lockheed's inclination for naming their products after
heavenly bodies,
their new three-engined creation became known as the TriStar.
Production of the aircraft
began in 1966 in response to American Airlines request for a
short to medium ranged,
wide-bodied airliner. The L10-11 differed from the Douglas DC-10
in the postioning of
the 3rd engine on the tail. Rather than it being mounted inside a
pod on the fin above the
rear fuselage, the engine was located inside the rear fuselage
fed by a huge air duct
from the base of the tail. The L10-11 and its unique design holds
strong to its reputation
of being one of the safest aircraft in the sky.
By the time the necessary modifications
to the engine were made, Douglas had already stripped Lockheed of
many sales. When
TriStar production ceased in 1984 with the 250th aircraft,
Douglas had already produced
400 DC-10s.
The Douglas DC-10
The Douglas DC-10 evolved from the same American Airlines request
as the
TriStar did. Although the request was for a twin-engined, short
to medium haul airliner,
Douglas thought that a larger, three-engined layout would have
greater appeal. It did. In
1968, American placed an order for 25 DC-10s Series 10 plus
options for 25 more. The
-10 type was officially launched in April 1968 when orders and
options for an additional
60 were received from United. By the time the first prototype
flew in August 1970,
nearly 250 DC-10s had been ordered by 14 airlines.
There were six variants of the DC-10, with the initial DC-10-10
being the most
similar in performance to the TriStar 1. The -15 first flew in
January 1981 and was
designed for "hot-and-high" operations. Not surprisingly, most of
the -15 sales were to
Aeromexico and Mexicana. The most popular DC-10 was the long
range -30. This type
received orders from several major European carriers, two of whom
would later go on to
order the MD-11. The Pratt and Whitney powered -40 was launched
in October 1968. All
-30s and -40s, with the exception of the -40Ds, have longer wings
and an extra main
undercarriage under the centre fuselage. There are also two
freight versions, the
DC-10-30CF and the DC-10-30AF. The -CF is a passenger/freight
convertible while the
-AF is a pure freighter. Both have a large forward main deck
freight door and associated
freight handling gear. The last DC-10 was built in 1989, and
although the type suffered
from several disastrous accidents, it is still popular worldwide.
See where & WHEN Roy used these aircraft on his linked
flights record.
Return to Roy's home page for full
list of books either finished or under preparation.