I loved this plane. When in service by VARIG airlines in Brasil, 30 years, 500,000+ flights without a single accident until retirement.

Very informative video. Amazing what innovative engineering went into the design of this reliable prop jet airliner. It was a shame that the Electra had a rough start in its introduction with the prop speed problems. I live just 40 miles west of Cannelton, IN were the Northwest Electra went down in March, 1960. I was only 1 month old, but remember my parents talking about it. I made the trip to the memorial two years ago. It is a well maintained area and very respectful in remembering those who were aboard that fateful flight. Amazing how quickly they determined the cause and corrected it, but by then the jet age had truly taken hold. I commend the engineers for their well thought ideas that made this a smart aircraft to operate. It is one of my favorite airliners to date. I had the great fortune to fly aboard an L-188 Electra in 1977 on a charter flight from Evansville, IN to Washington National Airport operated by Evergreen International. I so wish that I had video equipment at the time to record that amazing flight. I got to experience a very early morning departure with a night return the same day. My high school science class was allowed to visit the cockpit during the return flight. What a different world it was back then for commercial aviation passengers. It was nice to be served complete meals on each flight. How nostalgic it felt, even back in 1977 with fewer Electras flying at that time. Thank you for sharing this well created video.

I flew this plane in the Navy as the P-3 Orion... built like a battleship. The landing gear speed was 300 knots (!), the Vne was an amazing 405 knots (faster than any jet airliner or private jet flying today) It had lots of power and could stop on a dime with those powerful reversers, and yes, it can stay airborne on only one of the four engines. Sometimes we had upwards of 9,000 to 10,000 hours on those Allison engines before they needed overhaul. Good job Lockheed.

Suitably outfitted, the P-3 could be one hell of a maritime bomber, too. Flew in several as a passenger while in the Navy and came to be pretty impressed. As a CPO, I was assigned to the Tactical Officer's seat and was mindful of the reality of some of the switches and buttons before me. Yes, sir; I definitely was!!

As I write this, the Boeing 737 Max 8/9 are grounded in the US and other countries following two fatal crashes with similarities and we await the definitive cause (s) and solution(s). After two fatal Electra crashes involving separation of a wing during flight, the FAA of that era issued a directive prohibiting use of the autopilot until modified and instituting a speed restriction, among other things. Knowing that pilots were flying Electras near to the barber pole, the FAA believed restricting speed initially to 275 kts and then 225 kts created a satisfactory margin of safety to continue flying, based on engineering calculations. The outcome of discovering and repairing the problem made the Electra flyable up to design speeds - and she was indeed a pilot's plane - Lockheed's timing was off as the advent of smaller jets quashed the turboprop market. Still, the Electra ushered in innovations like hydraulically boosted flight controls (Boeing hired this system's engineer out of retirement to design the 727's hydraulic controls), single point fueling, well organized ramp servicing, maybe the best climate control system ever, fully electric ground operation. A few Electras flew well into the 70s with US legacy carriers, notably with Eastern's Shuttle, and served in other places well beyond that. Some in those days said - they might have been right - the ideal airliner would have been designed by Lockheed, built by Boeing and sold by Douglas.

About 40 years ago my mom called me up and said be at LB airport at exec terminal at 7pm, a plane will pick you up, were doing Thanksgiving at Lake Havasu. I was expecting a Bonanza or 310 to show up. Instead this monstrous 4 enginged beast shows up, that said McCullough International. The terminal person escorted me out past two giant engines and like 12 foot props still running, then in front of the nose, where magically there was a staircase already set up, and only the inboard prop was just spinning down. I boarded, was shown my seat in this huge plane with about 10 other passengers, told to buckle up and less than a minute later we were rolling again. The terminal was close to the runway. We taxied out the 150 yards in about another minute, made a 180 turn and accelerated like it was a Corvette, complete with big roar of the engines. I looked out the window and the ground fell away insanely quick Another 10 seconds and went through some low coastal scud and broke out over the top and the top was all moonlit and kind of slow boiling. Less than an hour later we arrived in Lake Havasu, They held up the corporation dinner til us passengers arrived. The interior of the plane was more plush than plastic with large windows with curtains over them. It smelled slightly musty in there. Liked they should let it sit out in the desert son for a day with the doors open and let the inside bake . I apparently was the last passenger collected and first to be let off on the return trip a few days later. Found out later it was a Super Electra. It was kinda surreal. No standing in line, no checking in. Just go to this small terminal, wait 3 minutes, and get on this big dervishly whirling magic bus, and be in the air less than 5 mins later. It was definitely a noisier ride than a commercial jet, but loud gravelly hum was kind of hypnotizing. About an hour of that would be all I could tolerate

I was the flight engineer for over 8000 hours flying the P-3 Orion what a perfect plane i was also a forigen military sales team member in NAVAIR where this plane sold to over 15 allies what a great plane

My favourite turboprop plane in the world. The Electra is the unsung hero in jet aviation less than 100 were ever made.

It is amazing today they still fly today fighting fires to save people's houses and trees.

I liked the part where the mechanic whistled at the stewardess

This plane was an amazing forward step in technology.

The Electra is a fantastic airplane today. It did have some serious teething problems early on. Turbo-prop aircraft are very fuel efficient and nearly as fast as fan-jet ones. The flying public seems to have an unwarranted prejudice against them. My last prop-jet flight was on a Dornier 328 from Philly (KPHL) to Northern KY International (KCVG - aka Cincinnati Airport) on US Air Express. Fast and smooth. As a kid, I was at KCVG the first time an American Airlines Electra landed there on a revenue flight.

Super Constaletion, When Flying was Fun& Divng Save

The L-188A was a nice aircraft. And this is a very interesting video. They used to hop between Holland and England alongside the F**ker F-27.

I never realized the Electra was such a well thought out design

Thanks for this video. Outstanding.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing it with us :)

A great aircraft.

In the sixties I went on a charter flight in one of those. It took them 45 minutes to start one engine. Then we had to run to get into the plane and fly. Guess my parents were nervous. I wasn’t 👍😎

One of the finest aircraft ever designed. To those that complain it had a bad wing, yes but they fixed it otherwise why are there so many still in the air. I spent several years working on the navy P-3's and alittle time on Zantop L-188's and loved every minute. Maintenance hog? Lol you must of been a lazy ass then if you are a mechanic, which I doubt that's your job, if you hate it leave.

Great aircraft, very complex propellers.

To bad they didn't edit the video to include the design flaw of the engine angle mounts that caused the winds to "flap" off.

Cool, that passengers can embark the plane on one side while the engines are still running on the other! Not quite sure whether this complies with security standards today ;-) Astounding, how many smart ideas where put into this plane. The commercial failure must have been a bitter disappointment for all the engineers who had put so much heart and soul into the development of this aircraft.

The engine mounts were a big big problem. One wonders if the effort to achieve interchangeability went overboard.

sure is a well thought out airplane.probably had lots of legroom and reclining seats

This is very jingoistic, but still not as bad as the pommie effort to promote the Bristol Britannia. However, the poms were the first to bring a successful, reliable and profitable turboprop airliner into public service. The Vickers Viscount began development in 1946 and was available to airlines from 1950, a time when yank turboprop planes were still a design concept. And air lines in the USA also thought the Viscount was great, keeping Vickers' order books healthy until the Electra was ready. Both superb aircraft and although there was some overlap, each served a different need. But to say that one was better than the other would be a wild sweeping statement.

Noisy cabins; had to almost shout to the person to the person next to you for conversation.

Once its bugs were fixed the Electra (and its military version the Orion) were great aircraft, durable too. Two fatal Electra crashes early on sadly put a premature end to the type's airline career. I disagree with claims that, in flight, you almost had to shout if chatting with someone in the seat next to you. In 1970-71, I made three of the 4+ -hour hops aboard Air New Zealand Electra Mk IV's between NZ and Australia. Prop noise & vibration yes, but no effort conversing. Takeoff was surreal; rumble of 4 big Allison turboshafts seemed to quieten slightly as the ship accelerated down the runway. Apparently she had constant-speed props, pilot poured on the fuel and those huge airscrews altered pitch for maximum thrust. In that long-ago era of cockpit visits, the Electra's flight deck was a sea of 'steam gauges' (analogue instruments) with more at the flight engineer's panel. All in all an unforgettable experience. And I still have my Air NZ Junior Jet Club logbook somewhere to prove it. 😄

I tried to watch this video on KZfaq. Video won't play, says I must watch it on KZfaq. I click the 'link' and it still won't play after opening in another tab on Firefox.

American Airlines flew this airplane into the late 70’s.

Sounded like the pilot landed short, before the numbers.

I was just 1and a half years old when this was made and my uncle worked at the bird bank plant (Burbank) . how about that guy oogling the stewardess , today he would be fired for sexual harassment .

This plane was the only badly designed plane lockheed ever made. It had three crashes due to a design fault with the engines and how they were connected to the wing. The wings literally tore themselves off. After those crashes, no airline ordered any more. Lockheed lost a fortune. Then they came out with the L-1011, and they had technological problems with that, and they lost a fortune on that one as well. Not to mention the bribery scandal where they were caught paying off government officials to buy their products. After those two money losing ventures, Lockheed swore off commercial airliners as simply not a good business. They sold 170 Electras, and 250 Tristars, for a total of 420 planes sold over 23 years at a time when commercial aviation was going gangbusters, 1959-1982. That averages out to only 18 airliners per year. They said never again! They have kept their word ever since. Now they just sell over-budgeted, over-engineered stuff to the military.

Nice video, too bad the plane wasn't as good. The wings were a bad design. It was a maintenance hog.

whistling at the fa was sexist pig thingy