Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was begun in 1916 by brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead, but its hopes of breaking into the World War I military market came to an end with the war and subsequent cancellation of most military contracts, and Loughead went out of business in 1921. However, Allan Loughead partnered with his former chief designer, Jack Northrop, to relaunch the company in 1926 as Lockheed—the name changed so as to prevent mispronunciation. Once more, Lockheed went under, this time because of the Great Depression, but got bailed out by a group of investors and relaunched for a third time in 1934. This time, it was for good, because Lockheed had already proven that it could turn out quality aircraft: the single-engined Lockheed Vega was used by aviation pioneers such as Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart, giving it instant name recognition, and its twin-engined Electras became the aircraft of choice for smaller airlines unable to afford the larger and newer Boeing 247s and Douglas DC-3s.
Like most other American aviation manufacturers, World War II was a huge boost to the company’s fortunes, as it would produce the Lockheed Hudson (based on the Electra) for the Royal Air Force, the PV-1 Ventura (a development of the Hudson) for the US Navy, and P-38 Lightning fighters for the US Army Air Force. Though Northrop left before the war to form his own company, he was replaced by another of the great American aircraft designers, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. During the Cold War, Johnson’s famous “Skunk Works” would produce the United States’ most secret designs, including the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird, as well as fighters such as the F-80 Shooting Star and F-104 Starfighter.
From a commercial standpoint, Lockheed was always lagging behind the two great airline manufacturers, Boeing and Douglas. It was able to benefit from this, however: Howard Hughes was unwilling to buy aircraft from either of Lockheed’s rivals, and commissioned the design of the Lockheed L-049 Constellation for Hughes’ Trans-World Airlines during the war. The Constellation was one of the truly great airline designs of aviation history, continually expanded from its original, short-fuselage L-049 to the long-range L-1649 Starliner, which was able to fly nonstop transatlantic service.
The popularity of the Constellation led Lockheed to design the turboprop L-188 Electra in the mid-1950s, but a number of fatal accidents due to engine overspeeding led airlines to shy away from the Electra; though its sales eventually more than broke even, it hurt Lockheed’s standing in the airline community. This was in contrast to its military division, which was making huge sales: the L-188 became the basis for the P-3 Orion, arguably the most successful antisubmarine/maritime patrol aircraft ever built, and Lockheed designed the iconic postwar transport in its L-100 design, better known as the C-130 Hercules.
Bolstered by the success of the Hercules, Lockheed in the 1960s was ready to challenge Boeing and Douglas (now McDonnell Douglas) by entering the wide-body airline competition. It was hoped that the huge C-5 Galaxy, designed as a heavy transport for the USAF, would find a civilian market, but this proved to be in vain; however, Lockheed already had another wide-body design, the trijet L-1011 Tristar. Though the L-1011 was a superb aircraft, it was nearly fatally delayed by engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce’s company problems. The L-1011 would go onto a lucrative career, but entered service later than its rivals, the Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The company had also staked too much on the success of the Tristar, and nearly went bankrupt in 1971. The US government provided a bailout, only to have the company rocked by further scandal: it had bribed several Western European governments to accept the F-104 Starfighter, and the Japanese government to buy the L-1011 for All Nippon Airlines. Several government officials were forced to resign worldwide. Lockheed would never produce another airliner again.
In 1995, Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta, a company it already had close ties to (Lockheed Marietta partnered with Martin Marietta to produce the C-141 Starlifter and C-5 transports), forming Lockheed Martin. Due to Martin Marietta having already acquired General Dynamics, this saved both companies: Lockheed Martin, in one stroke, became the second-largest military contractor in the United States, due to its production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter; this was followed by the production of the first fourth-generation fighter, the F-22 Raptor. Today, Lockheed Martin remains at the forefront of military aircraft design, though it does not produce commercial aircraft.
This is the prototype Tristar, N1011, shown in Lockheed's house colors of the early 1970s.. This aircraft first flew in 1970 and remained with Lockheed for its entire career as a test aircraft; it was scrapped in 1986, though the nose was salvaged and is on display in the Delta Aviation Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.
I photographed the nose of the real aircraft in 2019: www.flickr.com/photos/31469080@N07/48046870512/in/photoli...
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was begun in 1916 by brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead, but its hopes of breaking into the World War I military market came to an end with the war and subsequent cancellation of most military contracts, and Loughead went out of business in 1921. However, Allan Loughead partnered with his former chief designer, Jack Northrop, to relaunch the company in 1926 as Lockheed—the name changed so as to prevent mispronunciation. Once more, Lockheed went under, this time because of the Great Depression, but got bailed out by a group of investors and relaunched for a third time in 1934. This time, it was for good, because Lockheed had already proven that it could turn out quality aircraft: the single-engined Lockheed Vega was used by aviation pioneers such as Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart, giving it instant name recognition, and its twin-engined Electras became the aircraft of choice for smaller airlines unable to afford the larger and newer Boeing 247s and Douglas DC-3s.
Like most other American aviation manufacturers, World War II was a huge boost to the company’s fortunes, as it would produce the Lockheed Hudson (based on the Electra) for the Royal Air Force, the PV-1 Ventura (a development of the Hudson) for the US Navy, and P-38 Lightning fighters for the US Army Air Force. Though Northrop left before the war to form his own company, he was replaced by another of the great American aircraft designers, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. During the Cold War, Johnson’s famous “Skunk Works” would produce the United States’ most secret designs, including the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird, as well as fighters such as the F-80 Shooting Star and F-104 Starfighter.
From a commercial standpoint, Lockheed was always lagging behind the two great airline manufacturers, Boeing and Douglas. It was able to benefit from this, however: Howard Hughes was unwilling to buy aircraft from either of Lockheed’s rivals, and commissioned the design of the Lockheed L-049 Constellation for Hughes’ Trans-World Airlines during the war. The Constellation was one of the truly great airline designs of aviation history, continually expanded from its original, short-fuselage L-049 to the long-range L-1649 Starliner, which was able to fly nonstop transatlantic service.
The popularity of the Constellation led Lockheed to design the turboprop L-188 Electra in the mid-1950s, but a number of fatal accidents due to engine overspeeding led airlines to shy away from the Electra; though its sales eventually more than broke even, it hurt Lockheed’s standing in the airline community. This was in contrast to its military division, which was making huge sales: the L-188 became the basis for the P-3 Orion, arguably the most successful antisubmarine/maritime patrol aircraft ever built, and Lockheed designed the iconic postwar transport in its L-100 design, better known as the C-130 Hercules.
Bolstered by the success of the Hercules, Lockheed in the 1960s was ready to challenge Boeing and Douglas (now McDonnell Douglas) by entering the wide-body airline competition. It was hoped that the huge C-5 Galaxy, designed as a heavy transport for the USAF, would find a civilian market, but this proved to be in vain; however, Lockheed already had another wide-body design, the trijet L-1011 Tristar. Though the L-1011 was a superb aircraft, it was nearly fatally delayed by engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce’s company problems. The L-1011 would go onto a lucrative career, but entered service later than its rivals, the Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The company had also staked too much on the success of the Tristar, and nearly went bankrupt in 1971. The US government provided a bailout, only to have the company rocked by further scandal: it had bribed several Western European governments to accept the F-104 Starfighter, and the Japanese government to buy the L-1011 for All Nippon Airlines. Several government officials were forced to resign worldwide. Lockheed would never produce another airliner again.
In 1995, Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta, a company it already had close ties to (Lockheed Marietta partnered with Martin Marietta to produce the C-141 Starlifter and C-5 transports), forming Lockheed Martin. Due to Martin Marietta having already acquired General Dynamics, this saved both companies: Lockheed Martin, in one stroke, became the second-largest military contractor in the United States, due to its production of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter; this was followed by the production of the first fourth-generation fighter, the F-22 Raptor. Today, Lockheed Martin remains at the forefront of military aircraft design, though it does not produce commercial aircraft.
This is the prototype Tristar, N1011, shown in Lockheed's house colors of the early 1970s.. This aircraft first flew in 1970 and remained with Lockheed for its entire career as a test aircraft; it was scrapped in 1986, though the nose was salvaged and is on display in the Delta Aviation Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.
I photographed the nose of the real aircraft in 2019: www.flickr.com/photos/31469080@N07/48046870512/in/photoli...