60 Years Ago Today
 

It was sixty years ago today that the Lockheed Electra II made its maiden flight. Ansett-ANA's VH-RMA came along a bit later but she's still going strong with Buffalo Airways and indeed she was flying yesterday.

http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/electra-188/vhrma3.jpg

Great pic of a great aircraft. Another great Lockheed design spawning the mighty P-3 line..

I remember the Ansett Electras serving the Australia - Port Moresby - Lae air route. If was before the wing problem was fixed and once in the cruise the inboard engine power was reduced to avoid (I believe?) harmonic oscillation in the main spar.

They finally became a magnificent aircraft, serving many years in passenger and finally freight operations.

I recall one old Ansett captain suggesting they were only 5 minutes slower Sydney - Melbourne than a Boeing 737.

My first ever flight was on an Ansett ANA Electra in 1958 if memory is correct ..on the red eye Perth Melbourne ..I think first class was down the back, could be wrong about that though...I seem to remember sitting over the wing as a 9 year old, I thought it was magic :):)

Probably right... my first flight at 2 months old in 1965 was on a Qantas Electra Mk IV from MEL to PER.
Right about First Class I meant, Mum and Dad tell me that First Class was down the back in the Constellations too... probably something to do with most of the noise being forward as opposed to rearward as is the case now with jet aircraft.

Flew to New Zealand on an Electra in the early '60s. Teal I think. It was a long way!

And exactly 50 years ago Harold Holt disappeared.

About 8 or 9 years later I was an apprentice electrician in Melbourne and we wired Ansett's jet engine test cell at Essendon airport, I well remember on my lunch break walking down to the tarmac in my overalls and climbing into Electra's,Viscounts, F27's, DC3, Convairs and anything else that was parked there..the good old days,no one ever questioned me and there were no asic or any other ID cards required to access the tarmac.
All that fired me up to start my pilot training, did it for another 50 years..:):):)

I recall one old Ansett captain suggesting they were only 5 minutes slower Sydney - Melbourne than a Boeing 737.

.. and, MEL-LST, the jets had no show of winning the sector race.

July 08, 1961. Essendon - Sydney, 54 minutes, Captain G. J. White. VH-TLA. TAA.

That's 423 kts downwind!

I'm sure there's more!

Currently sitting in a motel room on King Island, a P3 just flew past low over the coast line whilst I was reading this post. :ok:
Beautiful sound.
Regards RW

Flew the Electra’s military cousin, a mighty machine, only just being retired. The stubby wings and huge props on both types were a sight to behold. We called the P3 ‘the big grey and white Kingswood’.

So much power it was easy to forget an engine had been ‘loitered’.

1965 I flew jump seat Melbourne to Sydney in the Electra, departed after a 727 landed Sydney first by less than 1 min. Great flight.

A magnificent machine- truly a thoroughbred. The story of the structural problems tearing wings apart is an interesting story and well described in "The Electra Story". Well worth reading if you can obtain a copy.

Basically the gyroscopic effect exerted by the 13'6" prop in turbulence could not be dampened by the engine mounts and exerted a twisting force on the wing that increased until the wing snapped. Hence the initial fix by reducing airspeed to around 400 mph max.

After stiffening the eng mounts the Lockheed test pilots flew the aircraft at increasing speeds and turbulence until finally flying at vne in severe turbulence over the Sierra Nevadas with the prop attach bolts slackened off.

End of problem. I dips me lid to those guys!:D

Emeritus

Ah, the lady we all loved. I spent 10 years in Wombat Sqn.
Four (air) screws beat two blow jobs any day!
Manducat Radices Floria.

Man’s aeroplane.

Thanks for posting that great photo Fris B Fairing.

Casper

If you google "Manducat Radices Floria" the first hit is this PPRuNe thread! Drill a bit deeper and it is revealed that it describes the dietary habits of said wombat. I'm a bit slow today.

Casper, if you are not already on this list please shoot me a PM.

Ansett Electra Crew

There is a very good yootoob video of an Air Atlantic Electra engine start. Lovely to watch but they could have washed it more often!

... and for passengers, particularly young ones, there were postcards with pictures of the aircraft in the seat pockets.

And flight deck visits for kids and the crew would complete and sign souvenir cards with altitude speed etc. I had a couple from the mid '70s trans Tasman flights on Kiwi DC-8's.
Didn't even need passports in those days. How times have so changed... :-(

I've still got one somewhere. I will hunt it out and post a pic when I find it.