Tristar Air LLC Awarded Refueling Contract

[rh226]

Apologies for this rather late post (from April 2019), but I haven't noticed it posted elsewhere on here

Credit Scramble for the following direct quote (my additions in red)

Tristar Air LLC out Newport News, VA was awarded a multi year contract worth over $121 Million dollars for Aerial refueling for Department Of The Navy, other DOD Agencies and some for FMS customers. The contract will be completed by 2024. No Funds were dispersed at the time but will be on a as needed basis. The work consists of 50% at Riverside,CA,40% at Brunswick, GA and 10% outside the U.S.
Tristar LLC fleet consists of 6 Lockheed 1011 aircraft:

Tail Number C/n
N304CS 1157...….ex ZD948
N309CS 1165...….ex ZD951
N405CS 1164...….ex ZD950
N507CS 1186...….ex ZE704
N703CS 1188...….ex ZE705
N705CS 1174...….ex ZD953

[reaper493]

Wow, that's interesting.

Presume all these are at Bruntingthorpe at the moment?

What kind of work is needed to get them airborne?

Mike

[Philwinward]

Presumes this means that Omega have lost their contract with US Navy.
Phil

[Vulcanone]

No Omega still has a contracts as they bought the Super Hornets over to Switzerland for the Fighter Competition at the beginning of last month. If they ever get away from the UK, extra tanker capacity is a good thing over the pond

[PeteHemsley]

This has been ongoing for years. The fact that the Tristars have been outside for so many years now does not bode well for their future. The aircraft will be subject to C,D checks as well as storage checks which the guys at brunty do not hold the approval for.

I really can't see how the aircraft will ever leave. More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG and use the brunty airframes for spares, which they do have approval for.

[Precinct7]

This has been ongoing for years. The fact that the Tristars have been outside for so many years now does not bode well for their future. The aircraft will be subject to C,D checks as well as storage checks which the guys at brunty do not hold the approval for.

I really can't see how the aircraft will ever leave. More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG and use the brunty airframes for spares, which they do have approval for.

"" More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG "" there are no or ever have been Tristar's in AMARG

to the best of my knowledge the RAF were the only military user of the Tristar
none were built for a military customer , the article quote the c/n's of the aircraft at Bruntingthorpe
so there is no doubt which aircraft they are talking about , 140 million dollars should be able to fix a few things
have no idea if any function checks have been carried on on the aicraft while in store

[mustang5861]

Just wondering if they'll bring in the required expertise from Marshalls at Cambridge to do the work on site?

[2e1var]

I posted a few snaps of the Tristars at Brunty on the FC FB page the other day !

[StrawdogUK69]

Very interesting indeed. I will watch on with hope we see these birds fly again .

[PeteHemsley]

This has been ongoing for years. The fact that the Tristars have been outside for so many years now does not bode well for their future. The aircraft will be subject to C,D checks as well as storage checks which the guys at brunty do not hold the approval for.

I really can't see how the aircraft will ever leave. More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG and use the brunty airframes for spares, which they do have approval for.

"" More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG "" there are no or ever have been Tristar's in AMARG

to the best of my knowledge the RAF were the only military user of the Tristar
none were built for a military customer , the article quote the c/n's of the aircraft at Bruntingthorpe
so there is no doubt which aircraft they are talking about , 140 million dollars should be able to fix a few things
have no idea if any function checks have been carried on on the aicraft while in store

Ok so they are in storage in Arizona, but the point I was trying to put forward was that they'll pull airframes from storage in the USA like they did in 2017 rather than fly the aircraft from brunty

[ColintheCaterpillar]

This has been ongoing for years. The fact that the Tristars have been outside for so many years now does not bode well for their future. The aircraft will be subject to C,D checks as well as storage checks which the guys at brunty do not hold the approval for.

I really can't see how the aircraft will ever leave. More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG and use the brunty airframes for spares, which they do have approval for.

"" More likely to pull Tristars from AMARG "" there are no or ever have been Tristar's in AMARG

to the best of my knowledge the RAF were the only military user of the Tristar
none were built for a military customer , the article quote the c/n's of the aircraft at Bruntingthorpe
so there is no doubt which aircraft they are talking about , 140 million dollars should be able to fix a few things
have no idea if any function checks have been carried on on the aicraft while in store

Ok so they are in storage in Arizona, but the point I was trying to put forward was that they'll pull airframes from storage in the USA like they did in 2017 rather than fly the aircraft from brunty

You seem to be forgetting the minor detail that the airframes at Brunty have had the huge amount of engineering work required to fit the AAR equipment. Remember there are no pods on the thing, just two built in HDUs and the associated ironwork.

I suspect in all reality the contract's been signed 2 years too late. That said, they've only been sat there half the time BA's VC10s were sat at Abingdon.

[the concerned]

Another option is wait as next year the 2 md-11's of the Netherlands airforce will be withdrawn from service.

[Nighthawke]

Presume you mean DC-10 rather than MD-11.

[Mike]

Another option is wait as next year the 2 md-11's of the Netherlands airforce will be withdrawn from service.

They're KDC-10s, not MD-11s.

[the concerned]

Once again 2 posts about the type. I am pretty sure everybody else knows what they are but the point is you have 2 operational aircraft rather than trying to put out of service aircraft back in the air.i hope the P C brigade are ok with this

[Vulcanone]

Nobody has any plans currently to do any conversions with MD11s. Omega hasn't done any (or many) further conversions to the DC10s they own (lost track how many they have)

If you can get a WB-57 that's been in AMARG for over 40 years flying again, and I suspect similar things have been done. a Tristar isn't out of the question.

[flyhellas]

Further news to this, it was reported on August 22cnd that notification, by the Navy, was given to Tristar Air LLC terminating the April 24th Contract to provide air refuelling services.
Looks like the L-1011s will be at Brunty for a good few years yet sadly.