Aerospace and technology company Lockheed presents “You Have To Get Up Pretty Damn Early To Beat The TriStar — an early 1970s color film promoting the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, a medium-to-long-range, wide-body airliner that took its first flight in 1972 with Eastern Air Lines. Hank Dees, a test and research pilot, greets the viewer starting at mark 00:49 and discusses the flight program in detail as we watch test footage of the aircraft and Dees discusses the engineering and design aspects of the aircraft. At mark 06:04, we see former NASA astronaut and then-Eastern Airlines senior vice president Frank Borman exit a TriStar after flying the aircraft and then address the media while describing its handling as “superior.” We see a view from inside the cabin waiting for passengers as well as the “new uniforms” for flight attendances (mark 08:00) as they strike leggy poses within the aircraft engine for photographers. The film shows us the aircraft at the Paris Airshow and in flight as it continues, as well as ongoing tests including some at Edwards Air Force Base (mark 15:22).
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 (pronounced “L-ten-eleven”) or TriStar, is a medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner by Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The airliner has a seating capacity up to 400 passengers and a range over 4,000 nautical miles (7,410 km). Its trijet configuration has three Rolls-Royce RB211 engines with one engine under each wing, and a third engine, center-mounted with an S-duct air inlet embedded in the tail and the upper fuselage. The aircraft has an autoland capability, an automated descent control system, and available lower deck galley and lounge facilities.
The L-1011 TriStar was produced in two fuselage lengths. The original L-1011-1 first flew in November 1970, and entered service with Eastern Air Lines in 1972. The shortened, longer range L-1011-500 first flew in 1978, and entered service with British Airways a year later. The original-length TriStar was also produced as the high gross weight L-1011-100, up-rated engine L-1011-200, and further upgraded L-1011-250. Post-production conversions for the L-1011-1 with increased takeoff weights included the L-1011-50 and L-1011-150.
Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed manufactured a total of 250 TriStars, assembled at the Lockheed plant located at the Palmdale Regional Airport in southern California north of Los Angeles. The aircraft’s sales were hampered by two years of delays due to developmental and financial problems at Rolls-Royce plc, the sole manufacturer of the TriStar’s engines. After production ended, Lockheed withdrew from the commercial aircraft business due to its below-target sales.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
