Unlike Douglas, Lockheed approached potential customers for design considerations - Delta 'did' the spare parts kit, Air Canada the Cabin Service centres, others planned the cockpit or the furnishings.
Lockheed pioneered the "S-duct", that inlet to the centre engine which allowed the engine to be installed at floor level - an ingenious and expensive endeavour which Douglas attempted to licence without success. Lockheed planned remote-commanded control surfaces as did Douglas after it, but Lockheed ran the doubled command lines down the sides of the floor while Douglas ran them down the centre. This killed a thousand passengers when the floor collapsed due to Douglas failure to design cargo doors properly haste). The London Times aviation editor chronicled the fiasco as a result of President Nixon's permission to hide US faults from competing Russians.
The beauty of the L-1011 was its aerodynamics design. An innovation was the Direct Lift Control panels which kept the aircraft from 'dipping' its nose to descend (on a landing glidepath when too high) or rearing its head when wanting to rise (when too low). This lack of "nodding" meant a fixed nose-up angle on final approach and made it possible to assure an angle of 12 degrees above the horizon. Since the glideslope beam was 3 degrees Down, this meant that the Pilot could look down 9 degrees to see exactly where the aircraft was bound. 9 degrees was the exact angle of the top of the instrument panel, and the pilot'sd eyes were in a fixed spot in the cockpit by a head-siting device. Thus all the pilot need do was to align the intended touchdown spot with the coaming and adjust the glideslope with the engines. An "alpha-angle sensor" saved staring at the airspeed, and the DLC panels kept the 'plane steady.
Nor was this all! The wings of all aircraft tend to level the plane in "ground effect" - that compressing of the air under the wing as it nears the surface. This levelling effect began at about 50 feet and rotated the plane until the tail came into ground effect. At this juncture, the TriStar was in perfect position to assure a 12 degree noseup flare and an excellent touchdown was possible. Thus landing the 1011 was easier, and in fact an Automatic Approach and Landing was my 'teacher"'! In fact, the TriStar showed me how to land it - not my instructor!
There are too many facets proving the Lockheed L-1011 to be the most natural, competent design ever to have been conceived. Others followed but relied upon digital electronics controls to overcome their deficiencies in aping the qualities of the TriStar. By contrast, the Douglas ship was built in 21 less months than the lordly L-1011 - started nine months late and delivered a year before (or was it the other way 'round?).
I know, I flew the TriStar for 15 years.
--Ferg Kyle - Air Canada
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