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To: PAR35

I have never seen a L1011 cargo plane.

The L1011 wasn't doomed because of the EA crash. It was doomed because Lockheed had to compete against the DC-10. There was no room for both, and when Airbus came out with the widebody A300 and Boeing came out with the widebody 767 (both of which had 2 engines and a 2 person cockpig), the writing was on the wall for Lockheed.

Lockheed's only jet was the L1011, the Electra did well for a prop (one hell of a plane) but Lockheed missed the boat, they should have made a 2 engine 150 seat plane. When the L1011 was being sold, it was before the oil shock. PSA bought 2 L1011's to fly from San Diego and LA to San Fran, that only lasted about 9 months, the fuel costs were too high.

It was a good plane, but, at the wrong time, and it knocked Lockheed out of the passenger market.


65 posted on 02/15/2006 9:17:12 PM PST by Central Scrutiniser (Women hold grudges, guys hold keggers.)
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To: Central Scrutiniser
the Electra did well for a prop (one hell of a plane)

They eventually got it right, and as the p-3 the basic structure is still in service, but early problems (crashes caused by wings falling off during flight) with the Electra and dealing with those kept Lockheed out of the first generation of jets. They had nothing to compete with the 707, DC-8 or 880. They tried a comeback with the 1011, but it was an uphill battle because they didn't have a family of planes to offer. If you bought Lockheed, you were going to have to also shop Boeing or Douglas, who could offer package deals with DC-9s or 727s/737s.

As for the comfort of the plane, I had originally liked them when they were new, but the last flight I took on one (1992) was miserable. There was no individual air control for each seat, and cabin air circulation was inadequate for the flight. I never flew Delta transatlantic again.

78 posted on 02/16/2006 10:30:02 AM PST by PAR35
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