Wind-tunnel work on the Electra was undertaken at theUniversity of Michigan. Much of the work was performed by a student assistant,Kelly Johnson. He suggested two changes be made to the design: changing the single tail to double tails (later a Lockheed trademark), and deleting oversized wing fillets. Both of these suggestions were incorporated into production aircraft.[4] Upon receiving his master's degree, Johnson joined Lockheed as a regular employee, ultimately leading theSkunk Works in developing advanced aircraft such as theLockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
The Lockheed Electra was one of the first commercial passenger aircraft with retractable landing gear to come equipped with mudguards as standard equipment, although aircraft with fixed landing gear commonly had mudguards much earlier than this.[5]
Marshall Airways (Australia) Lockheed 10B in 1970, originally delivered toAnsett Airways in 1937
After October 1934, when the US government restricted single-engined aircraft for use in carrying paying passengers, Lockheed was ready with its new Model 10 Electra. In addition to deliveries to US-based airlines, several European operators added Electras to their prewar fleets. In Latin America, the first airline to use Electras wasCubana de Aviación, starting in 1935, for its domestic routes.
Flight deck of a Model 10A, which has been updated with a more modern instrument panel
Besides airline orders, a number of non-commercial civil operators also purchased the new Model 10.[6] In May 1937,H. T. "Dick" Merrill and J. S. Lambie accomplished a round-trip crossing of theAtlantic Ocean. The feat was claimed to be the first round-trip commercial crossing of that ocean by an aircraft. It won them theHarmon Trophy. On the eastbound trip, they carried newsreels of the crash of theHindenburg, and on the return trip from theUnited Kingdom, they brought photographs of thecoronation of King George VI.Bata Shoes operated the Model 10 to ferry its executives between their European factories.
Many Electras and their design descendants (theModel 12 Electra Junior andModel 14 Super Electra) were pressed into military service duringWorld War II, for instance theUSAAF'sC-36. Many smaller airlines and charter services continued to operate Electras into the 1970s.[6]
1052 – Electra 10A on static display at theNew England Air Museum inWindsor Locks, Connecticut.[24] Originally an XR2O-1 used for transporting high ranking staff by the U.S. Navy, it is now painted in Northwest Airlines colors. At one point it was intended to use this machine for a recreation of the Earhart flight but it was not carried out.[25][26]
1091 – Electra 10A airworthy withIvo Lukačovič atTočná Airport inTočná, Prague.[27] Registered previously as OK-CTB (now N241M), it was one of two owned byBata Shoe Co. in Prague, Czechoslovakia before WWII. At the outbreak of WWII it was evacuated to England, and onward to Canada where it served with theRCAF. After a succession of US owners, it was eventually reacquired by Bata Shoe, and fully restored by Wichita Air Services in Newton, Kansas.[28] Wearing its original colors and registration marks, it was flown back to Prague in May 2015.[29][30]
1112 – Electra 10A on static display at theCanada Aviation and Space Museum inOttawa, Ontario. Originally purchased byTrans-Canada Air Lines as their first new aircraft, it was transferred to the RCAF in 1939, with whom it served for most of World War II. After the war it was operated by a number of private owners. It survived into the 1960s whenAnn Pellegreno between June 7 and July 10, 1967, flew the aircraft on a round-the-world flight to commemorate Amelia Earhart's last flight in 1937. After being acquired by Air Canada, it was restored in 1968 and donated to the museum.[31][32]
1116 – Electra 10A airworthy at theRoyal Aviation Museum of Western Canada inWinnipeg, Manitoba. It was one of a second batch of three Electras delivered to Trans-Canada Airlines. Found in Florida in the early 1980s by a vacationing Air Canada employee, it was returned to Winnipeg for restoration. In 1987 it flew across Canada in honor of the 50th anniversary ofAir Canada – who owns and operates the aircraft.[33][34]
1145 - Electra 10A airworthy with Rob Mackley at Omaka, Blenheim, New Zealand registered as ZK-AFD.[38] Aircraft exLAN Chile,[39] previously registered CC226 'Diego de Almagro', CC-LGN-507, CC-CLG-0005, CC-CLEA-231 and N10310.[40]
Fuel capacity: 194 US gal (161.5 imp gal; 734.4 L) in centre-section leading edges and fuselage
Powerplant: 2 ×Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 450 hp (340 kW) each at 2,300 rpm at 5,000 ft (1,500 m)
^"ELECTRA".Pima Air & Space Museum. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved22 October 2017.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N4963C]".Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved23 October 2017.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N72GT]".Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved23 October 2017.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N1602D]".Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved23 October 2017.
^"L-10 ELECTRA".National Naval Aviation Museum. Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. Archived fromthe original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved22 October 2017.
1 X as second letter is for experimental aircraft or imported technology demonstrators not intended for service,2 Hyphenated trailing letter (-J, -K, -L, -N or -S) denotes design modified for secondary role,3 Possibly incorrect designation, but used in many sources
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Media related toLockheed Model 10 Electra at Wikimedia Commons
