RAF Tristar's Back In Service

[Martin43]

Apparently an American company has bought six and will use them to refuel UK, US and NATO aircraft. Looks like it will be much the same as Omega Air Tanker do. Great news that we'll see them.flying again!

http://www.pr.com/press-release/620065

[Slinky1989]

Looks like they'll be taking the ones that are stored at Bruntingthorpe. Not everyday that something flies OUT of there!

[perdu]

This one didn't look as if it would need a lot doing to it

Edited by perdu on Wednesday 3rd June 12:30

[texaxile]

Don't suppose they're ex Gulf Air Tristars are they?. I used to travel on them to Oman in the mid to late 70's and onwards. Great memories , the toilets at the rear, passively smoking 200 duty free Bensons on the way home at the age of 7, the high pitched whine noise of the lift and seeing 2 engines attached to the wing of one of them, but one wasn't working apparently.

I also recall standing on the Tarmac at LHR, 8 years old and holding the hand of a Stewardess after we were all made to identify our luggage before take off, and accidentally touching her "boob". (I think I got the apostrophes right there).

[Boatbuoy]

I think the RAF fleet was comprised of ex-BA and Pan-Am machines. I seem to remember that ZD953 still had the BA motifs on the window surrounds when I flew on it.

[yorkshire]

Yes the KC1 and the K1's which were the tankers are ex BA aircraft and the C2/2A were ex Pan Am, they still had the Pan Am leaflet holders on them.

[EskimoArapaho]

I've got a vague recollection of flying in one of these to the Falklands.

First ever flight in the mid '80s, so I have no idea if it was noisy, civilised, or what. (Poor Mum went earlier and had to do the second leg of that trip in the back of a Hercules!)

[HoHoHo]

When I was a youngster we used to fly these in and out of Saudi, it was either this or a DC10 owned by Swiss Air and there was no way I'd get into one of those (they are probably OK now, but at that time they had a nasty habit of killing people )

Lovely aircraft, very distinctive sound on take off and of course there was a lift to play with if you got bored during the flight

[PAUL500]

My god don't tell my ex wifes barrister, they will claim I have now sold the one they said I owned in court, that was apparently stashed in my single garage along with a collection of valuable Ferrari's!.

I kid you not, said Tristar was even listed in the judges decision notice on the asset separation list!

The clown did not have a clue what a Tristar even was, but had been scouring the net trying to find dirt on me and stumbled across some pistonhead threads of mine talking about the RAFs Tristars being scrapped.

[onyx39]

HoHoHo said:

DC10 owned by Swiss Air and there was no way I'd get into one of those (they are probably OK now, but at that time they had a nasty habit of killing people )

I flew a BA Dc10 to and from Houston in '96, was convinced I would die.

[Z06George]

I never realised DC10 had such a bad rep, I flew on a few Northwest ones many moons ago and found them fine.

[wijit]

We flew in a Tristar with Caledonian years ago. Bets flight I ever had. When did they last fly?

[onyx39]

wijit said:

We flew in a Tristar with Caledonian years ago. Bets flight I ever had. When did they last fly?

Do you mean the RAF ones (which was last year I think) or civilian?

[onyx39]

wijit said:

We flew in a Tristar with Caledonian years ago. Bets flight I ever had. When did they last fly?

Do you mean the RAF ones (which was last year I think) or civilian?

[StonetheCrows]

I flew on holiday on the Pink and Yellow Courtline Tristars in the 70's to Spain, and the Comet now at Duxford although when in was with Dan Air. I am old....

[yorkshire]

The last RAF Tristar flew on 25 March last year in to Bruntingthorpe It was ZD951, which was a K1 tanker. Sad day, with a few beers in the crew bus on the way back to Brize.

[V8LM]

wijit said:

We flew in a Tristar with Caledonian years ago. Bets flight I ever had. When did they last fly?

How many did they have? I flew on a BCal DC-10 in the late 80s. Noisy thing. And 10 hours late 'cause it broke down on the way to Manchester.

[cailean]

Ahhh used to cross the Atlantic a lot of BWIA's Tristar 500s from Trinidad BW900 / 901. Great memories and aircraft. A friend was a pilot on them and stories I used to hear of flying them.

[J4CKO]

We went on our Honeymoon on a Delta Tristar, my dads mate worked at the airport and scored us and upgrade to First/Business or whatever it was, was obvious the plane was ancient, got replaced with 767's not long after.

I love Tri-Jets, everything is pretty derivative these days, planes used to have a bit more variety in the designs, now its two engines on the wings and a tube with a tail, in varying sizes.

[texaxile]

I saw a youtube vid ages and ages ago about a bloke who rescued an RB211 and got it running is his back garden. Took shedloads of work but he was very committed and recorded the result.

ahh...found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM7ksfRVF70