Six of the RAF’s fleet of nine Tristars are tankers as well as transports. As well as refuelling RAF aircraft, they regularly provide this service to other nations, as herewith a Royal Air Force of Oman Jaguar.

All six ex-British Airways Tristars are converted with in-flight refuelling equipment to supplement the VC10 fleet. Two of these are the K.1 variant and lack the cargo door present on the KC.1 aircraft. Tristar ZD949 was repainted with the low visibility markings a few years ago and remains in this scheme while at Marshalls Aerospace. It will be the first to be fitted with a glass cockpit.

Tristar ZD950 is one of four Tristar KC.1s in use with the RAF. Originally delivered to British Airways in April 1979 as G-BFCC, it was sold to the RAF in 1983. The KC.1 is the only variant with the large cargo door on the port side.

One of the last remaining white RAF Tristars is ZE705, a C.2 variant. This former Pan Am aircraft, along with one other C.2 and a C.2A, are used purely as transports.

During the last couple of years, all but two Tristars have received the grey colour scheme. This is the only C.2A, ZE706, in RAF service and differs from the C.2 by having a slightly different avionics suite.

Three of the fleet are pure transports, which can carry 266 passengers. This is one of only two remaining Tristars in the white scheme, as the RAF has progressively been painting the fleet grey.

A receiver's-eye view of an RAF Tristar extending its refuelling hose. As the Tristar is not equipped with wing tip refuelling pods, it has two centreline hose drum units. Only one is used at any time, with the second as a back-up.