Lockheed L-188 Electra

Lockheed L-188 Electra
A Lockheed L-188 Electra from PSA in the 1960s
Type:	Four-engine turboprop machine
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Lockheed Corporation
First flight:	December 6, 1957
Commissioning:	January 12, 1959
Production time:	1957 to 1961
Quantity:	170

Freight version of the Lockheed L-188 Electra of the Austrian Amerer Air

The Lockheed L-188 Electra is a four-engine turboprop - aircraft for passenger and cargo transportation on short and medium distances. It was the only large American passenger airliner with a propeller turbine drive and was built by the Lockheed factories in the USA from 1957 to 1961 .

development

The first project studies for the L-188 Electra began in the mid-1950s when two of the leading US airlines, American Airlines and Eastern Air Lines , needed such an aircraft type to replace the Douglas DC-6 and the Lockheed Constellation family signed up.

The experience gained with the construction of the military transporter C-130 Hercules in use with large payloads on short runways meant that Lockheed also provided propeller turbines for the drive of the new model. Lockheed proposed in 1954 American Airlines under the type designation CL-303 a shoulder -wing aircraft propelled by four Dart or Eland engines ; but this project turned out to be too small. The low - wing aircraft CL-310 , which was to be equipped with four Allison PTL turbines , did not meet the airline's requirements either. In January 1955, American Airlines finally gave a detailed oneSpecification is known to which the Lockheed works responded with an enlarged version of the CL-310 , which was given the new type designation L-188 and the name Electra 11 . American Airlines placed an order for 35 aircraft, followed by Eastern Air Lines for forty. When the first of two prototypes (N1881) made its maiden flight on December 6, 1957, there were already 144 orders in the order books.

The second prototype (N1882) flew for the first time on February 13, 1958. Another aircraft (N1883), called the third prototype, followed on August 19, 1958 and served as an aerodynamic prototype for the P3V-1 Orion (later P-3) the United States Navy . All three machines were powered by Allison 501-D13 engines, each with a takeoff power of 3,750  WPS (2,756 WkW), a civil version of the military T56 engine that was installed in the Hercules. On August 22, 1958, the L-188 was granted air traffic certification, so that in October of the same year the first series aircraft with the designation L-188A could be delivered to American Airlines and Eastern Air Lines.

The L-188A was followed by the L-188C with a take-off weight of almost 1,400 kg and increased fuel capacity. The improved Allison 501 D15 engines were installed as propulsion.

Based on the Electra, the P3V Orion was developed, which was renamed the P-3 in 1962 and is still in use today.

story

The Electra represents - like the British Bristol Britannia , Vickers Vanguard or the Soviet Tupolew Tu-114 - the highest level of development of propeller-driven commercial aircraft : thanks to the turboprop drive ( gas turbines instead of piston engines drive the propellers ) it reached cruising speeds of more than 600 km / h with low fuel consumption and ranges of over 4,000 km. Nevertheless, it became a commercial failure, as jet aircraft for medium- haul flights (such as the Boeing 727 and theConvair CV-880 ) were available. So only 170 copies of the Electra were built.

The Electra was offered in the medium- range version L-188A and in a version called L-188C (unofficially Super Electra ) with an increased range. The L-188A has a maximum takeoff weight of 51,257 kg and is designed for route segments up to 4,400 km. The maximum take-off weight of the L-188C has been increased to 52,665 kg; the pattern can serve route segments of 5,600 km.

The last two Electras produced completed their maiden flights in June 1961 and were delivered to Northwest Airlines shortly afterwards. It was serial numbers 1142 and 1144. The last delivery was on August 25, 1961, serial number 1147 to Trans Australia Airlines.

A total of 170 Electras were built with the prototypes. 115 units of the L-188A were produced, 55 of the L-188C. Production of the Electra ended in the summer of 1960.

For the US Navy , 647 copies of the Lockheed P-3 Orion variant were made as a submarine hunter and sea ​​reconnaissance aircraft . This means that production of the basic pattern was maintained until April 1990. Another 107 aircraft were built under license by Kawasaki for the Japanese Navy .

Soon after commissioning in January 1959, three Electra fell victim to mysterious crashes between February 1959 and March 1960, in which a total of 162 inmates were killed and only eight (in one case) survived.

In the spring of 1960, these accidents led to the FAA restricting the maximum speed . The cause of these mysterious accidents turned out to be insufficiently constructed engine mountings, which did not adequately dampen the vibrations of the turboprop engines. These vibrations could then be transferred to the wings, whose structure could not withstand them in the long run. After extensive reinforcements had been made to the engine nacelles and wing structure of all aircraft, the speed limit was lifted again in January 1961. By then, however, Lockheed had lost a lot of money and customers had lost confidence in the type.

Operator and use

A Lockheed L-188C of the Canadian company Air Spray on the apron at Red Deer Regional Airport. The approximately 12,000 liter extinguishing tank can be seen under the fuselage

Cockpit of a Lockheed L-188C Electra

In the US, most of the planes went to major airlines such as Eastern Air Lines (35 L-188A and 5 L-188C), American Airlines (35 L-188A), Northwest Airlines (18 L-188C), and National Airlines (14 L-188C) 188A). Other brand new copies were acquired there from Western Airlines (12 L-188A), Braniff (9 L-188A and 1 L-188C), Pacific Southwest Airlines (1 L-188A and 3 L-188C).

Foreign deliveries were made to the Dutch KLM (12 L-188C), the Australian Qantas (4 L-188C), Ansett (3 L-188A) and Trans Australia Airlines (3 L-188A), Garuda (3 L-188C) and Tasman Empire Airways from New Zealand (3 L-188C) and Cathay Pacific (2 L-188A) from Hong Kong.

On January 12, 1959, Eastern began using the new aircraft type on the routes from New York to Miami and Montreal, followed by American on January 23, 1959 on the New York – Chicago route. The Australian Ansett-ANA was the first foreign customer to receive the Electras it had ordered in March 1959.

Northwest Airlines received the first L-188C. The Dutch KLM was the only European airline to order the L-188C and the first aircraft (PH-LLA “Mercurius” ) was put into service in December 1959. The Electra remained in regular service with KLM until 1969 before it was replaced by the Douglas DC-9 .

The Brazilian company Varig used a total of 15 Electras in regular passenger service, mainly on the “Ponte Aerea” between the airports of Rio de Janeiro / Santos Dumont and Sao Paulo / Congonhas , both of which are very close to the city center. The last ones were decommissioned in January 1992. Reeve Aleutian Airways was the very last airline to use passenger variants of Electra until it went bankrupt in December 2000.

From the mid-1970s, most Electras, around 100, were converted to pure cargo aircraft with large loading bays. Of these machines, called L-188AF or L-188CF depending on the series, around twenty are still in use today (as of January 2014) in the USA and Canada (e.g. Buffalo Airways ). In Europe, the British Atlantic Airlines was the last operator of this aircraft type (until April 27, 2013).

Air Spray , a company specializing in fire fighting, operates (as of March 2015) nine L-188 Electra modified for fire fighting. They carry extinguishing tanks under the fuselage (see picture).

Used machines were also operated in Europe by various airlines, mostly as freighters. These included Channel Express , Falconair (passenger version) and Falcon Aviation (both Sweden), Fred Olsen (Norway) and Iscargo (Iceland).

Incidents

There have been 59 total losses of this model since it was put into service, in which a total of 1037 people were killed: Examples:

• On February 3, 1959, an American Airlines Lockheed L-188A Electra ( aircraft registration number N6101A) crashed 65 of the 73 people on board when the pilots made a too steep approach to New York's La Guardia airport and the aircraft about 1500 meters ahead the runway flew into the East River . This was the first total loss of an Electra.

• On September 29, 1959, a Braniff International Airways Lockheed L-188 Electra (N9705C) broke apart in midair on a scheduled flight from Houston to Dallas . The accident was caused by vibrations in the propellers . All 34 occupants were killed (see also Braniff International Airways Flight 542 ) .

• On March 17, 1960, a Northwest Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra (N121US) broke up in midair on a scheduled flight from Minneapolis to Miami . The accident was again caused by vibrations in the propellers . All 63 occupants were killed (see also Northwest Airlines Flight 710 ) .

• On September 14, 1960, the main landing gear of an American Airlines L-188A Electra ( N6127A ) brushed against an unmarked levee just before the runway at New York-LaGuardia Airport. All 76 inmates survived; the machine has been irreparably damaged.

• On October 4, 1960, an Eastern Air Lines L-188A Electra (N5533) had an accident after taking off from Boston Airport (Massachusetts, USA) due to a bird strike that had led to the failure of two engines. Of the 72 people on board, 62 were killed.

• On June 12, 1961, a KLM L-188C ( PH-LLM ) coming from Rome flew four kilometers from the runway into a hill that is only 60 meters higher than the airport, approaching Cairo International Airport. The machine was on its way to Karachi and Kuala Lumpur. 20 of the 36 inmates were killed.

• On May 3, 1968, a Braniff Airways L-188A (N9707C) on a flight from Houston to Dallas near Dawson , Texas , crashed during a severe thunderstorm after the crew had initiated a 180 ° turn shortly before. The machine got out of control due to the extreme turbulence; during the interception attempt, it was overloaded at 4.35 g , whereupon it broke apart. All 80 passengers and 5 crew members died in the accident.

• On August 9, 1970, the right inner engine of an L-188A of the Peruvian LANSA (OB-R-939) failed during take-off at Cusco Airport . After taking off, the machine got into a steep incline and fell from a height of about 100 m. Of the 100 inmates, 99 and two people died on the ground.

• On December 24, 1971, an L-188A on LANSA Flight 508 (OB-R-941) broke airborne due to structural failure after the aircraft entered a thunderstorm. The machine was struck by lightning, which caused a fire in the right wing. 91 of the people on board died, the only survivor was the 17-year-old German passenger Juliane Koepcke .

• On August 27, 1973, an L-188A of Aerocondor Colombia (HK-777) was flown into a mountain about 12 kilometers southeast of the destination airport Bogota-Eldorado . All 42 inmates were killed.

• On October 30, 1974, a Lockheed L-188 Electra of Panarctic Oils (CF-PAB) was flown against the icy sea at Rea Point Airfield in the Canadian Arctic shortly before landing. Two crew members were able to save themselves before the machine went down in the Arctic Ocean. The other 32 occupants of the machine died (see also Panarctic Oils flight 416 ) .

• On July 10, 1975, an L-188AF Electra freighter of the Aerocondor Colombia (HK-1976) suddenly turned to the right shortly after taking off from Bogota-Eldorado airport, sank back and crashed into a Douglas DC-6 of the Aerocosta (HK- 756) . Both planes caught fire and were destroyed. Two of the four crew members on board the Electra were killed.

• On November 18, 1979, the pilots of a Lockheed L-188CF (N859U) operated by Transamerica Airlines on the flight to Nellis Air Force Base reported an electronics failure on board, which also affected the cockpit instruments. The machine got into an uncontrolled attitude and went into a steep descent. When attempting to intercept the aircraft, it broke in midair due to structural overload. The three crew members were killed in the accident (see also Transamerica Airlines flight 18 ) .

• On January 8, 1981, an engine failure and a defect in the associated generator were found on a Lockheed L-188 Electra operated by SAHSA (HR-SAW) at La Aurora Airport . The passengers disembarked and the captain decided to fly the machine with only three engines to Tegucigalpa for repairs . Shortly after taking off, the machine crashed into a residential area in Guatemala City and went up in flames. All six crew members - the only occupants - were killed and 38 people were injured on the ground. It turned out that another generator had failed during the initial climb, and the machine was incorrectly trimmed (see alsoAir accident involving a Lockheed L-188 Electra of the SAHSA ) .

• On January 21, 1985, the pilots of the L-188C with the registration number N5532 , which had started for a charter flight of Galaxy Airlines from Reno Cannon International Airport to Minneapolis , perceived a vibration. During the reverse curve which they flew to on the traffic pattern to return to the runway, the aircraft crashed in coated condition from two minutes after the start, this is obviously due to inadequate monitoring of the instruments due to lack of coordination of the crew. The vibration emitted by an unlocked flap of the ground launch deviceThe investigation also made it more difficult for the pilot to recognize the noticeable effects of an excessive flight condition; the Electra did not have a stick shaker or warning sound that could have warned the pilots in a stall. Of the 6 crew members and 65 passengers, only one survived the crash.

• On December 18, 1995, 141 of the 144 people on board died in the crash of an L-188C operated by the Congolese Trans Service Airlift ( 9Q-CRR ). The plane was on a flight from Kinshasa-Ndjili Airport to Angola and was overloaded by at least forty people when it crashed in Lunda Norte Province in northern Angola. This is the crash of this type with the most fatalities (see also the flight accident of a Lockheed L-188 Electra of the Trans Service Airlift ) .

• On February 9, 1999, all seven occupants of an Air Karibu (9Q-CDI) L-188A chartered by the Congolese armed forces for fuel, live ammunition and bombs from Kinshasa-Ndjili Airport to Mbandaka diedto transport. The aircraft, which was overloaded by six tons, suffered damage to engine no. 3 shortly after take-off, which then had to be switched off. The captain attempted to return to the airport, but the plane lost altitude and control was lost. The machine crashed about three minutes after taking off. A decisive factor in the accident was the fact that an underqualified crew was used: Since no first officer was present, the flight engineer performed the duties of the first officer and a ground mechanic performed the duties of the flight engineer (see also the flight accident of a Lockheed L-188 Electra Air Karibu ) .

Technical specifications

Parameter	L-188A data	L-188C data
crew	3 + 4
Passengers	74-98
length	31.80 m
span	30.18 m
height	10.25 m	9.77 m
Empty mass	26,037 kg	25,878 kg
Max. Takeoff mass	51,257 kg	52,665 kg
Top speed	721 km / h
Cruising speed	652 km / h
Service ceiling	8655 m	9150 m
Range	4458 km	5567 km
drive	four Allison Turboprop 501D-13 (2800 kW each) or 501 D-15 (3022 kW each)	four Allison Turboprop 501-D15s (4050  WPS / 2977 kW each)
propeller	four-leaved

See also

Related developments

• P3V Orion
• Lockheed CP-140 Aurora
• Lockheed P-7

Types with comparable role, configuration and era

• Bristol Britannia
• Vickers Vanguard
• Tupolev Tu-114
• Canadair CL-44
• Ilyushin Il-18
• Antonov An-10
• Antonov An-12
• Vickers Viscount

literature

• Antony L. Kay: Turbojet History and Development 1930–1960, Volume 2: USSR, USA, Japan, France, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Hungary. Crowood Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-86126-939-3 .

• David G. Powers: Lockheed 188 Electra. World Transport Press, Miami 1999, ISBN 1-892437-01-5

Web links

Commons : Lockheed L-188 Electra  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Information, Pictures and Production List
• airliners.de: Lockheed L-188 Electra
• Historic Airlines & Airliners: Lockheed L-188 Electra (with numerous color photos)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ p. 127 top right
2. ↑ Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion. Aeroflight.co.uk, July 31, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
3. ↑ David G. Powers: Lockheed 188 Electra. Pp. 52-94. Miami 1999.
4. ↑ Lockheed L-188 Electra accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 12, 2017.
5. ^ Accident report L-188A N6101A , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on September 13, 2016.
6. ↑ accident report L-188A N6127A , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 26 November 2017th
7. ↑ accident report L-188A N5533 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 22 October of 2019.
8. ↑ accident report L.188C PH LLM , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on May 15, 2017th
9. ↑ Aircraft Accident Report L-188A N9707C of the National Transportation Safety Board of 19 June 1969 (English, PDF 4.15 MB), accessed on 20 December 2018th
10. ↑ Accident report L-188A OB-R-939 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 14, 2017.
11. ^ Accident report L-188A OB-R-941 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on September 13, 2016.
12. ^ Accident report L-188A HK-777 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 3, 2019.
13. ↑ accident report L-188PF CF-PAB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 2 2020th
14. ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 21, Circular 132-AN / 93 (English), pp. 161-180.
15. ↑ accident report L-188AF HK-1976 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 13 of 2019.
16. ^ Accident report DC-6 HK-756 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 13, 2019.
17. ^ Accident report L-188CF N859U , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 7, 2020.
18. ^ National Transportation Safety Board: Aircraft Accident Report Galaxy Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Electra-L-188C, N5532, Reno, Nevada, January 21, 1985 - NTSB / AAR-86/01, February 4, 1986
19. ↑ accident report L-188C N5532 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 9 of 2019.
20. ^ Accident report L-188C 9Q-CRR , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on September 13, 2016.
21. ^ Accident report L-188A 9Q-CDI , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 1, 2020.