The Lockheed L188 Electra In Australian Service

The development of the jet airliner in the US had followed an unusual path with all effort concentrating on the Boeing 707 and D ouglas DC-8 with no offering as yet of a smaller jet transport. Some years later the Boeing 727 and Douglas DC-9 were produced, but this was the reverse of previous trends which had see n airliner families grow in the opposite direction from smaller beginnings.

Lockheed’s proposal in response to the American specification was to design project CL-303 with a high wing and two engines, either the Napier Eland or Rolls Royce Dart. After canvassing the airlines minimal support was received and the idea was abandoned. When in 1955 American issued a fresh specification for a much larger four-engined aircraft to carry 75 passengers over distances up to 2,000 miles, Lockheed eventually responded with their design CL-31O to be powered by the Allison 501D civil equivalent of the T56-A-1 used in the C-130 Hercules transport. Lockheed had earlier offered this project with Darts or Ela nds but Eastern Airlines wanted a larger aircraft with greater range. This 85/90 seat airliner with a 2,500-mile range and 350mph cruising speed seemed to have much promise and when America ordered 35 aircraft in June to be followed by an Eastern order for 40 three months later, Lockheed were duly elated. Construction of the first Model 188 Electra, as the aircraft was now known, began in October 1955 and the initial flight of the first aircraft, aptly registered in 1881 took place at the Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank with a crew headed by the renowned Lockheed test pilot Herman ‘Fish’ Salmon on 6 December 1957. D

uring the construction period, orders had come in at a steady rate and by the time of the first flight, 129 orders and 48 options Were to hand. The future looked quite good and a breakeven. point of 190 aircraft had been predicted. Flight testing went ahead smoothly with the second prototype N1882 first flying on 13 February 1958. In all, four aircraft were engaged in the test programme. Type approval for the Electra was granted by the FAA on 22 August 1958, the first delivery was made on 8 October 1958 and the type first entered service with Eastern on 12 January 1959.

The Electra was available in tw o versions, the L188A or L188C, both powered by the Allison 5010-13 or 13A of 3,750eshp or the 501D-15 of 4,050eshp. The Model 188C had a larger range with a corresponding higher takeoff weight compared with the M odel 188A. Fuel capacity of the L188C increased from 5,450 US gallons to 6,490 gallons and gross weight was up from 113,000lb to 116,000lb. The Electra was a very powerful aircraft with quite a remarkable power loading of 7. 5Ib/esp. This compared with 11. 1lb/hp for the Douglas DC-6B which was in many cases replaced by the Electra. Other interesting comparisons are 7. 78Ib/hp for the North American P-51D Mustang and 6. 16Ib/hp for the Grumman F8F Bearcat. It is no wonder that the Electra had such an outstanding performance. ‘Fish’ Salmon used to emphasise this fact on lightly laden Electras by shutting down three engines and climbing at 1,000ft/ mi n on the remaining engine. How many airliners can do that!

The Electra’s entry into seNice however was not without inci de nt or problems. Very soon after entering service, Eastern lost an Electra i n an accident on 3 February 1959 when it came down i n the East River, New York one mile short of La Guardia Airport while on its final approach. The reason was officially attributed to pilot error. One problem though which did show up early in service was a propeller resonance which caused discomfort to passengers. To combat this, a fix was devised by Lockheed which called for the changing of the incidence of the engine nacelles and by the time these modifications had been made, the cost to Lockheed amounted to US$7m.

But the annoyances caused by the Electra’s resonance to Lockheed were minimal compared to other problems that were to follow. On 29 September 1959, a Braniff Airways L188A Electra on a flight from Houston to New York suffered an apparent in-flight structural failure and crashed near Buffalo, Texas with the loss of all 34 people on board. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the CAB was unable to identify the cause of the accident and they duly concluded that after the elimination of certain possibilities by the application of available evidence, the only factor which remained for which there was s ome known basis was the condition known as whirl mode.

On 17 March 1960, a Northwest L188C Electra crashed near Tell City, Indiana. The similarity to the earlier accident became Apparent when, amongst other factors, the starboard wing was found two miles away from the principal impact area. As a result of this accident, on 25 March 1960 a speed restriction was imposed by the FAA on all Electras reducing the maximum cruising speed from 400mph to 316mph, this being further reduced to 295mph during the period of the investigations.

Following a major investigation by Lockheed in which they painstakingly re-examined all their data and additionally conducted many new tests, the cause of the accidents was determined. It was identified as a weakness in the engine mountings which under certain conditions allowed the nacelles to vibrate so strongly as to bring about wing flexing leading to a failure at the wing root. The CAB report of the Tell City accident stated that the probable cause was the separation of the right-wing as a result of flutter induced by oscillations of the outer nacelles. It also said that contributing factors were a reduced stiffness of the structure and the passage of the aircraft into a zone of severe clear air turbulence.

A modification programme was set in train by Lockheed called the Lockheed Electra Achievement Programme (LEAP) in which Electras were returned to Lockheed for reworking in selected areas. Bracing and stiffeners were added to the engine mounts and additional new supports were installed in the wing while some of the wing skin was replaced with heavier gauge material. Each aircraft took 20 days to modify and the total cost to Lockheed was $25m. In addition to these aircraft, a further 25 late-production Electras had these changes built into them prior to delivery. The speed restrictions on LEAP-modified aircraft were removed by the FAA on 5 January 1961 and all Electras had the modifications carried out by early the following year.

The disquiet caused by the accidents stifled any further orders for the Electra after the speed restrictions were temporarily imposed which was a great shame. Lockheed’s forthright and fearless approach to restoring the Electra’s tarnished image was applauded widely and the aircraft settled down to establish itself as a solid and reliable performer. Production was terminated however at 170 aircraft, far short of the 300 breakeven point which then applied at the time of that decision.

Several major airlines prematurely withdrew Electras from use as the short/medium haul jets entered service in the mid-1960s but they were readily acquired by other operators. They became quite popular as freighters and a conversion line was set up by the Lockheed Aircraft Service Company in 1968 and 40 aircraft were modified. The basic changes carried out in this operation were the addition of one or two cargo doors on the port side of the fuselage and the fitting of a reinforced floor. A 6′ 8″ x 11′ 3″ forward cargo door was a standard change while a 6′ 8″ x 8′ 3″ rear door was available as an option.

At the beginning of this year there were still 84 Electras in worldwide service and of these, 72 were based in North and South America. The three largest operators are Zantop 20, Varig 12 and Cam Air 9. It must have been a bitter disappointment to Lockheed that Electra’s future was so influenced by the white mode problems in its early career, but the fact that so many are still in service 25 years later is proof of the basic soundness of the design, Another sweetener is undoubtedly the success of Electra’s military cousin, the Orion, with over 600 orders received so far and with a future extending well into the next century.

The Electra’s introduction into Australian service was also quite stormy with widely diverging views being expressed by Ansett-ANA and TAA as to which equipment they wanted to Order in the late 1950s. With several years of turbine-powered Viscount experience behind them, TAA felt that the appropriate step was to advance to jet airliners and their thoughts were directed towards the purchase of Caravelles. Ansett-ANA on the other hand, with a piston-engined based fleet, was keen on the Electra and thought that the purchase of jet airliners at that stage was too big a jump to take. The Federal Government and DCA were also of the opinion that the provision of suitable airports and navigational equipment for jets was at that time too costly and opted for the Electra.

Another proponent of the Electra was Qantas who wanted it for secondary routes to support their soon to be delivered Boeing 707s. A final participant in these considerations was TEAL who wanted either DH Comets or the Convair 880 but, because of Australia’s half ownership, were being persuaded to seriously examine the Electra for their needs. It was a turbulent period and no matter which decision was made, it was bound to upset quite a few people.

The Government though held firm and Electras were ultimately ordered by Ansett-ANA, TAA, Qantas and TEAL. Ironically even Ansett-ANA was put out by this arrangement, as they were instructed to give TAA two of the delivery positions they had set aside at Lockheed. Ansett-ANA had originally wanted four Electras and now smarted at having the order cut to two at the government’s request. The eventual outcome was that Ansett- ANA ordered three Electras and a fourth second-hand aircraft was purchased in 1975. TAA ordered three while Qantas and TEAL purchased four and three respectively of the L188C version.

As the deliveries of the first Electras drew near, crew training was underway and the publicity departments worked hard to sell their new charges. The first Electra to arrive in Australia was VH-RMA for Ansett-ANA on 10 March 1959. Some days later on 18 March it operated the first service from Melbourne to Sydney and covered the distance in 1hr 13min. A minor hitch was struck on 22 March when a rise in oil temperature in one engine resulted in an engine shutdown a few minutes after takeoff from Sydney. The aircraft continued on to Melbourne on three engines and the scheduled flight time only had four minutes added to it. At the conclusion of the first month, the Electra had achieved a very high load factor while the passengers generally expressed approval of the aircraft although some people were surprised by the noise and vibration levels encountered forward of the wing. The third Ansett-ANA Electra, VH-RMC, which was delivered later that year included Lockheed’s modification to combat these problems and the earlier aircraft were upgraded when kits were available.

The Ansett-ANA Electras were fitted with 78 seats, 60 tourists and 18 in first class which proved a well-pitched combination to cater for both segments of the market. By the end of the first month, Electraservices had been increased to six return flights a day between Sydney and Melbourne and two a day between Sydney and Brisbane. More importantly for Ansett-ANA, the large and fast Electra was bringing about a reversal of TAA’s lead in the passenger market which had been held for some years. In this early period, Ansett-ANA was claiming 55% of the Melbourne/Sydney airline passenger market which was a cause for concern for TAA. At this time Ansett-ANA had also taken delivery of the first two of four larger Vickers V. 832 Viscounts on order. This combination of Electra, Viscount and the existing DC-6B fleet gave them a capacity advantage over the TAA fleet headed by the smaller V. 720 Series Viscounts. Although TAA had both Electras and V. 816 Viscounts on order there was not much that could be done in the short term to counter Ansett- ANA’s market lead.

During June, TAA’s General Manager Mr John Ryland arrived at Lockheed to take delivery of TAA’s first Electra VH-TLA. This aircraft incorporated the 3o engine uptilt and was promoted by TAA as a Mkil, a terminology which was also to be applied later by Ansett-ANA to their similarly modified aircraft. Other improvements were a 36kt lift in cruising speed, vibration reduced by 63%, lessened propeller stresses and enhanced balance. The first TAA Electra service operated Melbourne/Adelaide/Perth on 4 July 1959, followed by its introduction on the Melbourne/ Sydney/Brisbane route on 8 July.

Electra number two for TAA, VH-TLB, joined the fleet on 26 July and at last TAA had some ammunition to counter the Ansett- ANA onslaught. The TAA Electras gradually enabled that airline to turn back the Ansett-ANA lead and achieve a more equal share of the traffic. For TAA, the arrival of their Electras had come none too soon as the Department of Civil Aviation released figures showing the market penetration made by Ansett-ANA with their Electras.

For both airlines, this period was one of strong development. Although TAA had suffered a setback in its share of the market, both Ansett-ANA and TAA had shown overall strong passenger traffic growth compared with the similar period in 1958. Apart from new equipment to attract new customers, tourist class fares were widely promoted from March and this contributed to the strengthening trend. Growth figures for the early months of 1959 were January up 4. 8%, February 4. 8%, March 11. 9%, April 8. 1% and May 19. 8%.

Ansett-ANA made arrangements to modify both of their Electras with the 3o engine tilt devised by Lockheed. One of their DC-4 freighters was flown to the USA where it picked up two modification kits and a team of technicians from Lockheed. The first aircraft was converted at Essendon and was reintroduced as a Mkll into service on 26 June to be followed soon after by the second Electra. Ansett-ANA tried hard to receive approval to purchase two more Electras but were unable to obtain a favourable response from the Government. In November 1959, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Shane Paltridge, agreed to allow Ansett-ANA to purchase a third Electra. The airline had successfully put its case and part of the argument for the third aircraft rested on the fact that Ansett-ANA had only 14 turboprop aircraft against TAA’s 26. The successful Ansett-ANA approach sparked TAA into further action and they also ordered their third Electra which was put into service in September 1960.

With six Electras in domestic use from late 1960, they provided a fast reliable service around Australia for several years. The only problems faced were the inevitable speed restrictions imposed in 1960 which flowed through after the accidents in the USA and the need to return the aircraft to the USA for the strengthening modifications. A team from Lockheed including ‘Fish’ Salmon visited Australia in July 1960 to consult with the airlines and DCA about the modification programme. Although Lockheed paid for the cost of the modification, ferry costs and loss of revenue were borne by the airlines.

The first Australian Electra to be modified was Qantas’ VH-ECA which departed from Sydney on 13 December 1960 for Burbank and during the first half of the following year the remaining nine Australian Electras were also similarly strengthened.

Various airliner speed records were captured by the Electra in Australia. Amongst these were Melbourne/Brisbane 2hr 9min by VH-TLA on 15 February 1960, previously 2hr 13min by a Viscount. Brisbane/Melbourne by VH-TLA in 2hr 28min on 13 March 1961, previously held by a Viscount in 2hr 40min while VH-TLA grabbed yet another when it covered Melbourne/ Sydney in 54min oh 8 July 1961 which must be considered quite exceptional for a propeller airliner and is faster than the majority of present-day jet services.

Following the delivery of Boeing 727s and later Douglas DC-9s, the Electras gradually became surplus to requirements. The TAA Electras were withdrawn from service during 1970/71 and they were sold overseas in the USA. In Ansett-ANA arid later Ansett service they remained in operation much longer and created a record for longevity of the type with one operator. During 1971/72 they were withdrawn from passenger use and were flown to the USA to be converted to freighter configuration. The success of their freighter use prompted Ansett to purchase another Electra and this aircraft, VH-RMG, was acquired in 1975 and was eventually sold overseas in 1978.

The original three cargo carriers rendered valuable service into the 1980s and both the aircraft and their crews sported the now famous wombat insignia to testify to the nocturnal nature of both men and machines. Regular freight services were flown from Melbourne to Hobart and Launceston and along the east coast from Melbourne to Cairns in addition to general charter use. By the time the last of the Ansett Electras were withdrawn from use in early 1984 they had all amassed impressive operating statistics with over 40,000 landings each and in excess of 51,000 flying hours per aircraft. Their 25 year period of operation with Ansett was really quite remarkable and may not be equalled or surpassed by any other major airliner type to enter service in Australia.

Apart from domestic operations, the Electra had an equally useful career with Qantas. An order for four L188C Electras was placed by Qantas on 1 April 1958 and they were delivered during November and December 1959. Qantas Electra services opened with flights on the Orient Route to Hong Kong and Japan on 18 December 1959 with aircraft set up in a 73-seat all-tourist arrangement. Other routes served were those to Noumea and New Guinea in 1960, New Zealand on 3 October 1961 and to South Africa during April 1963. One of the Qantas Electras VHECD was chartered to TAA from December 1959 arid was returned to Qantas in September 1960 following the delivery of TAA’s third Electra. As the Boeing 707 fleet grew the need for the Electras decreased and they were finally disposed of between 1965 and 1970, sold variously to Air New Zealand and US operators.

Despite its inauspicious beginnings, the Electra gave long and reliable service in Australia. A combination of factors such as the accelerating deliveries of jet airliners and increasing maintenance needs prompted their eventual retirement from service. Aircrew who served on them were lavish in their praise for the Electra while admirers of aircraft cannot help but have been stirred by the sight of that handsome-looking aircraft dragged along by that large 13 ft diameter whirling propellers emitting that familiar growling sound.

They were also noteworthy as the last large propeller aircraft to be used in airline service in Australia. The newer jets may be more comfortable and reliable but those large propliners certainly had an aura about them, didn’t they?