The Lockheed L-188 Electra was a medium range airliner powered by four Allison 501-D13 turboprop engines. It first flew on 6 December 1957 and entered service with Eastern Airlines on 12 January 1959.
Most orders came from airlines in the United States, Australia and Netherlands. They were generally retired and sold on to smaller carriers by the end of the 1960s, having been replaced by the new short to medium haul jets like the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727.
Lockheed Electra Video
Following on from last weeks video on the Douglas DC-10, this week we head over to Burbank, California for a look at the Lockheed Electra. Below is a colour promotional film from Lockheed dating from 1960 and running for around 17 minutes.
In the beginning, some records set by the Electra are outlined, followed by excellent air to air shots of the Electra’s various airlines operators. Next, there is a segment on the production line.
The film covers the first flight, and then a world tour of the aircraft. What I enjoyed is how it specifically mentions the early vibration and noise issue in the cabin which was rectified by tilting the engines up by three degrees.
Also note that the aircraft doors slide up into the fuselage and that there are automatically deployed steps, both pretty unusual features at the time.
How About One More?
Another colour video from Lockheed was produced for the Electra, this one from 1959. It is much longer, running for a little over 30 minutes, but it delves much more deeply into the design. It is well worth a look!
What I really like about this one is how detailed it is, such as showing how Lockheed overcame a lot of the ground service issues compared to other aircraft.
Overall Thoughts
Just 170 aircraft were produced between 1957 and 1961. There were five accidents causing fatalities within the first two years of airline service. Two accidents were due failures of the Allison provided engine mountings, ultimately causing the affected wing to detach from the aircraft.
Lockheed put into place LEAP which stands for “Lockheed Electra Action Program” and all aircraft were modified at company expense. This entailed strengthening the wings, engine mounts and nacelles. The issues were overcome and around ten or so aircraft remain in service today, primarily as aerial firefighting aircraft.
Have you ever flown on a Lockheed Electra? What did you think? Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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My freshman year I was at American University in 1976 and I went home with a friend for spring break and we flew the Eastern Airlines Shuttle to LaGuardia. The shuttle was a no reservation service that guaranteed u a plane every hour. The first two groups boarded a 727 but about 50 of us were left over and they rolled up an Electra. It was the first prop I had flown and while louder than the pure jets, I thought it was a nice ride. It was a sunny, clear day and a great flight. This may have been one of the last years Eastern flew the Electra.
Oh wow, you really lucked out on that one! I doubt they were around too much longer after that either, so nice work. Great to hear you had a good flight on the Electra! Thank you for that!
Was lucky enough as a child to have flown aboard the Constellation, Vickers Vanguard and Lockheed Electra.
I remember the last two but not the Connie as I was 1 year old for that flight.
Especially memorable was the sound of the propellers as the turbojets wound up on the Electra and Vanguard.
Great days indeed….
Very nice! I have only witnessed the sound in videos. That being said, I do remember the sound of the Fokker F27 and the Boeing 707 from when I was a little kid. The 707 was extremely loud on take-off and landing, that’s for sure. Thanks for the comment!
I flew on an Eastern Airlines Electra back in 1965 from Cleveland to Miami with stops in Pittsburgh and Tampa (the flight was in the wee hours of the morning). As an 8-year old, I didn’t know what type of plane it was, but one thing I remembered about it was the sound of the engines at start-up. To me, it sounded like this old vacuum cleaner we once had. And those props looked pretty big (I was in the middle seat near the front). I still have a black-and-white photo of myself and my grandmother (taken by my aunt and uncle just before we boarded) with the plane behind us. Slept through most of that flight; woke up when we landed and the engines were shutting down at Miami International. My grandmother didn’t like that plane at all, and neither did I (we went TO Cleveland on an Eastern DC-8; obviously, I liked that one better). I never knew about the accidents until years later when I read about the Braniff (September 1959) and Northwest (March 1960) Electra mishaps. After the modifications were made, I read that it was a pretty good airplane; pilots who flew it loved how it handled. That caused Boeing, I believe, to hire an engineer from Lockheed to design the same hydraulic (?) system for the 727. The last Electras I’ve seen were flown by Northwest (1967), Reeve Aleutian, and Evergreen Airlines (80’s, or 90’s, I believe); they were at Sea-Tac Airport.
Great that you got to experience the Electra, even if you did sleep through most of the flight. I can see why you’d have liked the Douglas DC-8 more 🙂 … Thanks for sharing that. I was unaware of the Boeing angle there. Not surprised, Lockheed had a reputation for designing good aircraft (overlooking the whirl mode flaw with this one!). Thanks for the comment!
The Electra is the first airplane I remember flying in (the first was the Lockheed Constellation from NYC to Denver in 1952 but I was too young to remember). In an effort to rehabillitate the reputation of the Electra after the retrofit, Eastern was conducting short flights out of Boston, then around Cape Cod, and back to Boston. Too about 30 minutes. I seem to remember that there was a lounge area under the tail in the very back of the plane.
I think you’re correct, as I do believe there was a lounge area in the tail. Certainly very cool that you’ve been on an Electra… not to mention a Connie too! Very cool 🙂 Thanks for that!
In mid-1964 my mother, two sisters and I flew from Kansas City to Auckland via Honolulu and Suva, Fiji. The first flights were on jets, probably 707’s, but I don’t really remember. The last leg from Suva (Nandi) to Auckland, however, sticks with me as it was on a TEAL (later Air New Zealand) Electra. NZ didn’t start jet service until late 1965. My memory was that the flight was six hours long, but I think it was more likely only four or five hours based on the distance and the Electra’s cruising speed of 385 mph. I still remember how noisy the Electra seemed after the jets, but it was otherwise a comfortable plane. TEAL had three Electras at the time, one of which was destroyed in a training crash in 1965 (no fatalities). I believe at least one of the others is still in service as an air tanker.
Sounds like quite a long trip you had there! Excellent that you flew on a TEAL Electra. I had heard it was noisier than jets inside, which is not too surprising, as all turboprops seem to be. Great information there, I enjoyed reading that. There are quite a few Electra’s still in service in cargo and what not, which is a testament to the good design, despite a few early issues. Thanks for that!
My first flight ever at the age of 17 was on an L-188 in June of 1983, not a week after the accident with a sister aircraft where the number 4 prop came off and sliced through the cabin causing explosive decompression and an emergency landing. It was a 6 hour charter flight on Reeve Aleutian Airways from Seattle to Cold Bay, Alaska. I’ll never forget the noise and vibration of that long flight, seated right next to the starboard wing.
Awesome that you had an Electra as your first flight – in the 1980s! That’s pretty cool all round. Sounds like it was a pretty long flight… I doubt the 1950s era sound proofing would have been as good as today. Thanks for sharing that!
I worked for Western Airlines at their LAX Headquarters in the 1960’s.
I was a Sheetmetal Mechanic and I did a lot of the work on the LEAP modification program (Lockheed Electra Action Program) to mitigate the dangers of wing failures.
I was utilized because I was Young, Thin and Fit Inside the Wings to reach the areas where new and stronger fasteners were required.
The safety of workers was not as regulated as it is today. I would squeeze into the tight confines of the aircrafts wing (that also served as the Fuel Tank) and stay in there for hours doing the modification work. It took so long to wiggle and snake my way to where I had to work that going back out would result in nothing getting done. To help me breath an air hose from the outside air compressor would be stuck in the access opening to help with the fuel fumes. Pockets of wet fuel were always present and breathing the fumes was jut part of the Job. Not a job for anyone with claustrophobia!
I would end up dizzy and nauseous after 4-6 hours of this work but seemed to recover fairly quickly.
In one wing I found tools and an air hose left over from some work probably done when the plane was built!
When I started working for the airlines I was surprised that mechanics didn’t engrave their Names on their Tools but was told “if a plane goes Down you don’t want them finding a tool with Your Name on it!”
Now don’t get me wrong about safety. Western Airlines and all the other airlines I worked for were very Safety minded but the standards of Mechanics Personal Safety were not as regulated as they are today.
I was aware of the LEAP programme that Lockheed instigated to stop the Electra’s falling out of the sky, so I read your comment with great interest. I have heard of engineers using the young apprentices for the jobs where a tight squeeze was required to get at hard to reach areas. I really enjoyed reading that – certainly another era when it comes to personal safety, that’s for sure. I am sure you have tons of stories from your career in aviation!! Thanks so much for sharing this one and stay well!
Thank You !
Let me say the Electra was a great Airplane but it did have unforeseen issues whit wing failures caused by Whirl Mode Flutter of those Big Props and the engines mounted so far forward of the wings leading edge.
That gave the Electra a bad rap in Airline Service. Of course it went on to a Long Life as the US Navy P-3 Orion!
Another factor was that many airlines saw Turbo Prop. airliners as a temporary Bridge from Recip. Prop.aircraft to Pure Jets and chose to wait for the Jets to become available.
People don’t realize that when an Airline takes on Any New (to it’s operations) Aircraft that decisions includes the Pilot Training, Maintenance, Ground Equipment and all the other related things that a new aircraft requires.
It’s not just “Kick the Tires and Light the Fires” when the New Plane is considered.
You are correct, many airlines did see the turboprop as a stepping stone to jets. I think once the jets came on stream, that is what passengers wanted, so many airlines moved to jets very quickly. It meant a shorter service life for the Electra, which was a bit too late, considering the Viscount had been around for years by the time it entered service. Lockheed paid a lot of money to fix the whirl mode for the airlines and after that it became a very safe aircraft. Thanks for the commnet!
Let me share one more story….
While working at United Airlines large SFO Maintenance Base in 1970 as a Sheetmetal Mechanic. I was assigned to the new 747 program. One night I was crossing the 727 Dock (that’s what United called their dedicated hangers) when I heard someone call out “Hey Get That Guy to come help” and realized it was Me being called on!
There was a 727 parked on the ramp just outside the dock and a bunch of mechanics standing around looking perplexed.
The aircraft had just had a #2 (Center) engine change and on startup they found a Problem. They figured out that on installing the engine (#2 was inside the rear of the tail) that they had neglected to remove the taped on cardboard Cover on the front of the Engine!
So Why did the need Me I ask?
Well it goes back to being Young and Skinny. They needed someone to go Down the Inlet Tube and remove the inlet covering!! Either that or Remove the Engine and all the labor involved as well as explaining That to management?
They had brought over a Cheery Picker lift bucket but to put a mechanic up on Top of the aft fuselage to go Down the Inlet tube but none of the group was agile (or young) enough to make the required decent.
The center engine air inlet of a 727 was like a stretched letter S that took in air from the Top of the fuselage and routed it down to the front of the engine.
The Plan was to tie a Rope around my waist and lower me down the duct with a flashlight and a box cutter to remove the covering and the pull me out with the rope!
Just as I started to enter the inlet one of the group shouted out “Don’t slide down because the duct has vortex generators on the walls!” The vortex generators are small winglike protrusions sticking up to disrupt the surface airflow inside the duct. Potentially Painful?
Needing both hands to make the decent I could only hold the flashlight in my mouth (it was pitch Dark down there) and feel for the obstructions on my way down.
I managed to accomplish the job without injury and save a lot of embarrassment to my fellow mechanics.
Was it Fun. No was it just part of being Young and Skinny and working on airplanes. Yes.
This is an excellent story! I somehow doubt that many people have a story of having to go down the S duct to remove a cardboard cover from the front of the engine. Certainly a unique experience, though I can’t imagine it to have been fun. Really enjoyed reading that, thanks so much for sharing. You sound like you had a very interesting career with the airlines!
We lived in several US cities when I was growing up. My mom would take us kids to her parent’s or other relatives often. Most of the air travel memories of those journeys are long gone, but the one ride on an Eastern Electra remains in flashes and glimpses. Short trip. I remember the take off and being pressed against the seat back – I think any craft with four engines will do that to some degree. We sat behind the wing with that big window framing the thin wing with those two huge propellors working away in front of those two relatively small engines.Then on landing the deceleration was really something – smooth and certain that the bird was now going to slow down and stop moving. This series is a delight for reading and contributing – thank you, Flight Detective!
You’re very welcome, I’m glad you are enjoying it! It’s also great that you have flown on a number of the aircraft featured. Thanks again!
I was one of the last people to fly aboard an Electra in regular passenger service. Air California and Pacific Southwest Airlines used to fly them into TVL (Tahoe Valley) airport because the runway was too short for jets, especially given the altitude and high summer temperatures. It was 1979 or 1980 and Air California had a discount fare offer from the Bay Area to Tahoe. I remember how the plane bucked and jumped going through the Sierras. Lots of turbulence as you’re coming down between the mountains. Once deregulation was a thing and they could cross state lines, the service moved to Reno and the Electras were retired. I liked that plane and am glad I had the opportunity to experience flying a full-size prop-driven airliner once in my life.
Awesome that you got to fly on board a Lockheed Electra and that definitely was pretty late in the day. Considering most were out of main passenger service by then, that was a real score. Fantastic experience and something I won’t get to do, unfortunately. Thanks for the comment, sounds like a memorable flight!
I see them flying around everyday here, the US Navy calls them P-3’s. There’s a bunch of the based at NAS Jacksonville.
Yes, they are still in service with the military as the P-3, so you’re correct. Must be good seeing them all the time. Thanks for the comment!
I was lucky enough to fly Eastern’s Electras a few times between Boston and LaGuardia on their air-shuttle. There were 4 of us that were airline geeks in the day of youth fares, and we used to go to JFK a few times a year to spot. We always flew the shuttle to NY, and always flew at peak AM times hoping to catch the shuttle’s backup aircraft. I’m in my 60’s now and can’t recall all the details, but I do remember big comfortable seats, lousy coffee, and watching those Allison’s keep us aloft for 45 minutes. I’ve only flown deHavilland twin otters and Dash series props, as well as the FH-227 when Delta had them, and the Electra obviously blew both of them away – it was built for long distance comfort and it showed.
I love your strategy to fly at peak times in the hopes of getting the Electra backup aircraft. I can totally understand you doing that. I would have loved to have tried the Electra. I’ve flown the ATR-42, ATR-72 and Dash 8 as well – I think they’re the only turboprops I’ve been on board. Great you’ve had the experience, even if the coffee was lousy! 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Again, never got to fly one but I remember seeing the EA ones at DCA, presumably as shuttle back-ups in the mid 70’s. I knew about their shaky start in the beginning but I would have loved to fly on one. Almost did when I was in ANC I thought about flying the Reeve one from ANC to DUT and back but I was too cheap to do it. My Loss.
Yes, I’d say that’s what they were… I’ve seen pictures of the Eastern ones in the hockey stick colours. They’re rear enough now, but we can’t get on every aircraft! 🙂