Sillibuss: L-1011, Phoenix, and Burgers on the Plane

The Lockheed L1011 Tristar was a milestone aircraft. It was sleek and looked elegant. It had innovative safety features and automated landing system and advanced avionics. It was a widebody 3 engine aircraft with a lower level galley and elevators.

Back in the 1950's Lockheed had bet its future of the Electra 4 engine turboprop. It was a luxurious speedy and powerful aircraft but it was the dawn of the jet age. Boeing introduced the 707 jet and it captivated the world. Douglas and its DC-8 and Convair and its Coronado 880 followed in rapid succession leaving the now passe' Lockheed prop plane with no orders. It was a set back that lasted over 11 years.

Then, American Airlines set out specifications for a three engine jet. At that time Law required two engine aircraft to fly only within 30 minutes of an airport, leaving them forbidden for transoceanic travel. Lockheed saw the opportunity and immediately went to work engineering the Tri-star as it’s financial salvation. The plane was well on its way to certification when Rolls Royce went insolvent and the engine problems delayed Lockheed. Meanwhile Douglas realizing they were behind, stepped up development of its three engine DC-10 and the plane went from paper to flight certification in a unheard of ten months. It had intrinsic design problems that were to plague it. The freight doors had hinge problems that causes them to ter away causing several notable fatal crashes .The electrical and control cables were in the main cabin floor over the cargo hold and when pressure differences caused the floor to buckle, controls world sever making for a irreversible loss of aircraft control. Douglas put great effort into solving the problems . It was, at basic levels, inferior to the Lockheed aircraft, but Lockheed had two major hindrances. First, American Airlines still opted to buy the much cheaper DC-10 and others feel in line hindering Lockheed sales to TWA, Eastern (who bankrupted shortly after) and Delta Airlines. Second design weight became an issue with the reality of heavier load weights than anticipated. The plane was underpowered and slower. I recall early on, when TWA was operating the 1011's to hot climates like Phoenix and Las Vegas, many times high temps would cause the airline to block off seats to allow for a maximum takeoff weight to enable hi temperature take off. In the end the loss of sales caused Lockheed to never recover as a commercial aircraft manufacturer and the Tri-star was the last commercial aircraft they would ever build.

In 1977, TWA wanted to promote it’s new “darling” aircraft and so, as one of their largest accounts, our company was invited to a junket to Phoenix. Also given our business volume, unlike other familiarization trips TWA organized, we were allowed to customize ours as to schedule, hotel, food, etc. So we had accommodation at the small Royal Palms Hotel on Camelback which was privately owned and was a luxury boutique hotel that was having difficulty competing with the new mega resorts being built in Scottsdale. But it was unique property with “casitas” as well as standard hotel rooms . It had a old Southwest vibe with a small golf course attached, gardens, two pools and a nice restaurant with terrazzo called Orangerie. It sat right on Camelback Road with a grand view of Camelback Mountain. We had negotiated rates there and it was offered in our Phoenix travel packages, so we were given Royal reception. The trip featured a jeep tour through the Sonoran desert, dinner at touristy Pinnacle Peaks with a ceiling of cut-off neck ties and a western shoot-out in the cowboy town shopping area , a fabulous sunset dinner seated in carved out areas on the side of the mountain at The Pointe at Tapatio Cliffs, and shopping at the fabulous Fashion Square Mall (where they had a perfumer "nose" to concoct unique scents .

One attraction we were intent on was to see the new first Star Wars Movie “A New Hope” which premiered that May. The hype was tremendous and the crowds unheard of .Given Phoenix heat we decided a midnight showing would be our shot. So did most everyone else. The lines stretched around the block. It was still almost 90 degrees out By the time we neared the front of the line they announced the only few seats available were the first two rows. We took them. So late in May 1977 I sat in the front row of a Phoenix theater tired from the busy day watching this fantabulous film looking up at the screen a few yards in front of me. I left thrilled but with a tremendous neck ache and headache . But we saw it.

Finally going home , we were hungry and not knowing if the airline was serving full lunch we got shopping bags full of Big Macs and fries from McDonald’s on the way to the airport. TWA h ad set up our L1011 with the aircraft’s innovative wonderful feature that allowed for first class seats in the center section to swivel , setting up a luncheon seating around tables they could position on floor mountings. So here we were, seated around three tables for four, with our McDonald’s food. After takeoff Cabin attendants serving drinks came to take our food order. We opted, instead for our McDonald’s, which Cabin staff didn’t mind, as it made their job easier. Other First cabin passengers smelled the burgers and fries and a couple asked if they could have that. Given we had these shopping bags of burgers we said sure, so most of that flight that day had a first class meal of McDonald’s burgers. That story alone made the trip noteworthy. It was another epic journey