I rode an Electra in 1960 from Burbank to San Francisco with my grandma and sat at the right window and could watch the prop pitch change. Only 2 airplanes landed at San Francisco due to thick fog. We were one of the two. It was my first time in a plane and I loved it.
johnlouisville Yes, and I sat on the right side directly in line with the propeller and was amazed at how it changed pitch. Later in life when I flew all over the world in my job, I purposely missed AA Flight 191 as I felt a very strange feeling in the pit of my stomach and REFUSED to get on ANY airplane that day. 273 people died in that crash. I have better luck with boats now.....
I remember going to the observation deck at the old Newark Airport Terminal, in N J to watch Lockheed Electra’s land and take off. My dad worked for General Motors Euclid (Terex) Division, and traveled a lot. Great memories! Thanks
Thank God for the Electra and Reeves Aleutian Airline. It served as our lifeline while I was stationed at Shemya AFB from 1984 to 1985. It brought our food, mail and most importantly took us back home at the end of our tour.
When the new domestic airlines United, Frontier, Piedmont, Republic, needed reliable passenger aircraft they converted radial engine Convair 340s and 440s to turbo prop Convair 580s. The engines used were the same Allisons that powered all the aircraft in this video. I logged over 5000 hrs flying Allison powered Convairs for Frontier and Aspen Airways. Beast of an engine!
In the late 80s I saw a Northwest Territorial Electra loose both left hand propellers in flight. It landed safely. Luckily it was a cargo aircraft and nobody was hit with the flying propeller parts that impacted the fuselage.
Had the privilege of flying on the Electra several times in the 60s between New Orleans, LA, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. On one flight I was sitting in a window seat over the wing and the propeller nearest my window stopped. Like a champ, we returned to New Orleans with no problems. The airline put us up in a hotel and we continued the trip the next morning.
I was very fortunate to visit the Lockheed plant at Marietta,Georgia, when I was in the RAF, on the 25th anniversary of the C-130 Hercules in RAF service, fantastic trip and very interesting to see where our Hercules were born, I think the T-56 must be one of the most reliable engines ever produced, certainly in my experience we didn’t have any major failures even when they were pushed to the limit in the gulf war, sandy environment, and very long flights. Thanks for sharing this interesting and informative documentary. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴
"Holiday Airlines" flew Lockheed Electras in the 1960's, and early 70's when I was a kid. PSA also flew them too. I used to see them come in to LAX, and hear the "WOOSH" when they reversed the pitch on the props to slow down. I miss those days when most of the noise from LAX was the sound of droning propellers, and the backing from planes on real steep approaches with piston engines. At night l could see flames flashing when they were backfiring.(Of course they reversed the pitch once they landed 🙂) I lived less than 1 mile east of runway 25 left, I lived in lnglewood, 1 block from Lennox high school at the time. I had a multi band radio that I could listen to the aircraft communications. I loved it. I still listen to aircraft communications.
@Hawkin's Dog, Lockheed had a L-1249 Super Constellation under development, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T34-P6 turboprops, which were similar in type to the Allisons, but it never reached production.
20:50 a pilot's dream, a super connie powered by reliable Alisson D501s replacing troublesome C&W R3350s turbo-compounds. I wonder how would be the performance of a L1649A Starliner turboprop.
As far as I know, there were no plans to use the Allison 501 on the Constellation. The proposed turboprop Constellations were to use the Pratt and Whitney T34-P-6, which produced almost 2000HP MORE than the Allison 501s. These planes were robust performers, with a cruising speed of 430MPH and a maximum speed of 479HP. Performance would naturally be less with the Allison 501, but significantly better than with the original R3350s.
Interesting question indeed. Jet fuel has less energy density than avgas, so a bigger volume and mass is needed to achieve the same range; this means larger tanks and higher MTOW. The weight problem is overcome with more power, but extra tankage is needed. Here's a fine fantasy: a composite Starliner with PWC turboprops such as those on the DHC-8/400 (formerly Bombardier Q400), together with modern props.
The Electra only had one problem, the wings kept falling off. After Lockheed fixed the wing beam, the model went on to a LONG and valuable Navy service career as P-3 Orion long range ASW and patrol aircraft. I have over 2k hours in P-3B and C models. We flew airshows with two engines out... on the same wing. And routinely flew long range ASW missions with engines 1 and 4 shut down for fuel economy because restarts were so reliable.
I have flown on the Electra and thought it was a comfortable plane. Lockheed had a winner but due to the flutter and vibration induced air disasters, it's popularity was greatly short lived. The Electra's story reminds me of the early Comet disaster stories. LA/Burbank to San Francisco in less than an hour was unheard of back in those days. After the bugs were worked out of the Electra, PSA flew them for years to San Diego and SFO without a further accident. The P-3 Orion still flies after 60 years even though it's useful life is about over.
2023: I have flown Electras with American Airlines when I was a kid. My father worked for American. I loved that plane and that Sound! Thanks and Best Regards
I used to fly with my parrents in those plane back in the early 80's. I remember that it is more comfortable than flying in fokker 27. Good old proppeler plane.
A Connie with 4 of those test engines should have gone into production version. It may have still be around. The Saab 2000 is powered by an updated version of this engine in the 4200 shp range, turns q six blade prop. Awesome video!
A turboprop Constellation WAS in the works. But it was powered by the Pratt and Whitney T34-P-6 rather than these engines. With around 5500HP per engine, it was a VERY robust performer. But the plans fizzled, likely due to the expense of building the complex fuselage of the Constellation. The Electra (and its more common derivative, the P3 Orion) used a MUCH cheaper constant cross section tube fuselage.
Excellent aircraft once the wing box and nacelle mounts were fixed. It evolved into a fine aircraft with a even better powerplant system. Yes it had a few problems, what aircraft doesn't but that doesn't explain the hundreds of L-188 and P-3's still out there working hard. It's a testament to a great company and fine design. once you have spent some time working on one like I have you can appreciate the aircraft for what it is. I put it in the same category as the D-3 and the Beech 18 as a stylish workhorse of a plane.
Still flying 56 years after the first one rolled out of the factory. Can't be that bad. It did have issues early on but that was caused by propeller whirl mode.
Commentary conspicuously silent regarding the scene in Britain! One or two statements made about being first, are not strictly true. By 1950, the Vickers Viscount with its Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops was leading the way. Large orders also came from North America for this smooth, efficient and reliable aircraft. But it was limited by its relatively small size. The Poms also pioneered pure jet passenger transport with the Comet. The disastrous failure of the first air frames due to metal fatigue was rectified, and this was of great benefit to Douglas and Boeing, as it could well have been their aircraft that fell out of the skies due to the unforseen fatigue caused by repeated pressurisation and depressurisation of the cabins. Electra - a superb aircraft. Vickers Vanguard - equally superb, but too late on the scene to be competitive with the Electra and 707 and DC8 jets.
+Colin Gantiglew All I see is completely random post with a bunch of unrelated ramblings of various British aviation milestones which proved to be UTTERLY INCONSEQUENTIAL in the long run. Incorrect engineering approaches, form over function, whatever; repeated attempts by many UK companies ended in total failure in both the commercial and military markets for decades now - vickers' attempts / comet included. By the way, Brits didn't "pioneer" anything with the comet, except a death trap! 3 years before the comet's maiden flight, Boeing already had completed and flown (along with all the R&D, etc) the B-47 at TWICE the MTOW and nearly 100mph faster than the comet. This technology (including the podded engines) was simply repackaged into a passenger-carrying airframe (WITH PROPER FATIGUE TESTING) and they never looked back - 10x more 707s were built than comets, Boeing is now a world-leader in civil and military aviation to this day. De Havilland has what... a fat radial float plane in the beaver? I love the Brits (I own two land rovers) and all of aviation including the planes in question here - but I'm not so sure your random patriotic rambling has much of a place in reality.
+sam phi Oh dear! How true; political involvement in aircraft type purchased can be at once sickening, hilarious, ignorant and downright stupid. Case in point - NZ govt. of the day (1960s) wanting the national carrier to buy the BAC1-11 (politics; Mother England and all that) NAC, however, chose the Boeing 737, for the very good reason that it could handle the severely unpredictable wind patterns of Wellington airport more safely than the BAC plane. But government angry at the decision and forced the purchase of a British simulator as "compensation". Politics more important than passenger safety in government's view. But that's outside the scope of the present video of the Electra. Col, NZ "Baby-Boomer" who lived through all of the above!
Colin Gantiglew: You are not fair regarding a good post. The Viscount was very successful for its time, with well over 400 delivered, as were several other civil aircraft, while British military aircraft were second to none, with big export orders in many cases. Unfortunately, the British lacked the capital to fully develop and market their aircraft, and made too many unfortunate choices at the behest of of their national airlines, while the government made even more disastrous decisions in the military sphere despite technical excellence (e.g. TSR-2). Don't forget that much 1940's and 1950's British technology formed the basis for US jet aircraft development, especially in engines. The B-57, and later the AV8B, were adapted British designs which saw long service. The long distance of the US from USSR targets required longer range and bigger bombers than Britain required, hence the technology development head start Boeing got in developing very large jet aircraft. In the end, Europe combined to compete equally with the US in aerospace.
The YC-131C was derived from the C-131 Samaritan, a version of the famous Convair 240/340/440 developed for use by the Air Force as a "flying hospital" and VIP transport. The Convair 580 was a version of the "Convair-Liner" powered by the Allison 501-D13 engine.
Great video. I was in a VP squadron in the Navy and flew all over the Med, North Atlantic and South America in P3-Bs and after the Navy I moved to Alaska and flew to places like Dutch Harbor and St Paul with Reeve Aleutian in an Electra.
I flew on a C-121 from Charleston to the Azores, then to Wheelus in Libya. I missed a sudden plane and after a flew days I flew on a AS-57 of BEA to Malta, and the next day to Rome where I got on a PAA to Istanbul on Clipper Rainbow - DC-7c.
@@tack9571 Rumor had it that the Electra was a sales failure due to the introduction of the Boeing 707, which every airline wanted to buy, cancelling Electra orders. Lockheed is likely to have had severe financial trouble if the Orion project hadn't come along at that time. (I was a P-3C maintenance guy in the USN, so I heard a lot of stories like these- not sure how true they are).
They did. Sadly, they had a harmonics problem that caused the wings to fall off. Even after they fixed it, they were noisy and vibrated like heck. I rode in one back in the day, and well, I preferred the 727 or 707! So did most other passengers, and turboprops went by the wayside pretty quickly. Today they are popular with some commuter airlines. I still dislike the noise and vibration.
***** I wondered about that. I saw those wide three bladed props and thought to myself they had to put out a lot of noise and vibration. The C-133 and the B-36 had the same problem, there's just too much space between the blades. Why didn't they just go to five or even six bladed props?
Hawkin's Dog I think it had to do with synchronization. Google it. There were several crashes early on. The problem was fixed, but by then we were in the jet age.
Lockheed had a L-1249 Super Constellation under development, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T34-P6 engines, which were similar in type to the Allison 501s, but it never reached production.
+John Eddy Both RR and Allison turboprop engines were used to convert piston-engined Convair liners to turboprops. The RR Rda-10 with Dowty Rotol propeller, 2700 horsepower, went on the Convair 240 airframe to make the Convair 600. It made a smooth, quiet (in flight), installation, but had reliability problems early on, and could not haul a profitable load out of high airports (DEN, COS) on warm days. The Allison 501-D13H, Aeroproducts 606 propellers, 3750 horsepower, went on the larger Convair 340/440 airframe, producing the Convair 580. This combination was a winner, providing reliable service to small airports even in the highest mountains and worst conditions. As noted elsewhere, its big shortcoming was noise and vibration from the huge, four-bladed props. I made hundreds of trips on 580's, and sometimes began to feel airsick from the vibration even before takeoff, though I usually slept through the worst of it. I once discovered, protruding from the fuselage top skin of a Convair 580, a hinge pin from the cockpit door that had vibrated up out of the hinge and punctured the interior lining and fuselage skin. Hammer it back down, plug the hole with a rivet, back in business. You could not keep a 580 down, but they were miserable to fly in.
I'm retired now but I held engine licences for the RDA 7 Dart & 501 d13 Allison. Great engines both, enjoyed my time on them + JT8D series. One of our L188's is now with Buffalo Airlines, ex VH-RMA from memory.
+Hopelessand Forlorn, the Rda-10 also powered the Japanese-built NAMC YS-11. To the best of my knowledge it had propellers different from the Dowty Rotols the Convair 600/640 used.
The Electra is still in service too. NOAA Hurricane Hunters, Fire fighting in the West Mountain ranges, and still globally. It was rated to 7G landings. I built a lot of those engines. A very pleasing note from them flying overhead. Sweet sound.
@@johneddy908 Rolls Royce BOUGHT Allison Engines just to get a hold of the Allison turboprop and the AMERICAN Market !!! Facts of history Not the British Bullshit !!!!
Why oh why oh WHY didn't the turboprop Connie not become the queen of the air? That combination of efficient engines and the most beautiful fuselage ever concieved would have worked.
Amen and Amen, I suspect it was too expensive to operate compared with the Dash 50/707. And when you could cut the transcontinental travel time in half to one-third the time, that hurt also. The Connie was the most beautiful design ever, but they did have engine problems, I believe dealing with losing oil, internal pressure problems that required the damaged engine shut-down, etc. someone on here will know the specifics. Those were the days, people wearing their best clothes and behavior, great service, wonderful meals, captains that inspired confidence by engaging with the PA's giving flight progress updates, info on the aircraft as well as dipping a wing so PA's could see the Grand Canyon better, pointing out other sights. Today's pilots tend to fall into the nerdy, techno class, introverted and noncommunicative. There is a classic line-What do pilots use for Birth Control? Answer- Street Clothes. If it doesn't make sense your favorite FA can explain it to you. Just don't tell them the FA part of the joke- What do FA's use for Birth Control? Answer-Nudity
Could not haul enough people when the Boeing 707 came out. Faster, higher, and more range. Connie is one of the most beautiful airplane ever built. Flew from Honolulu Hawaii to California one in 1948 in a Connie.
All the intense testing described here is quite impressive, nonetheless despite all these efforts at least 3 Electras crashed in 1959 and 1960, soon after the introduction of the type, because of faulty design of the engine supports. These mounts were too weak, causing vibrations to the wings, which resulted in structural failure and finally fatal crashes with many fatalties. An extensive redesign followed, but confidence was lost. Insofar there are analogies to the British Comet tragedy. Moreover 59 of the about 170 aircraft built were lost, a rather negative record -although only part of the losses can be attributed to design flaws.
The CV-580 made up the bulk of Frontier's fleet in the late 1960's. Frontier, Allegheny and North Central all had large fleets of the CV-580. I have never flown into Hayden, but when I was in college at CU, I had a good friend who lived in Craig, and drove by HDN many times where the CV-580 provided the only air link of the NW Colorado airport with the rest of the country.
Frontier flew Convairs front Denver to the ski resorts in western and southern Colorado, at least until Continental and Bob Six took over. I was commuting between DEN and SLC, having the pick of 6-8 flights on Western or about the same number with Frontier or the Frontier-Hughes ArWest code share. I hated the old Western 100 and 200 series 737's, they were hellish over the mountains and upon landing the engine reverse would cause all the junk in the shelf above your head to fall. Their stretch 727's were a might fine machine, and if I could get to DEN early, WA had a 720 making the flight, really a fine airframe. More often than not, I took the Frontier flew Convairs and I loved them, but in winter, you often landed in Grand Junction or a number of Western Slope towns to wait out weather at Stapleton, or to top off the fuel. I think the range was such that, they couldn't remain circling in DEN's infamous holding patterns for long, or maybe Frontier took on more cargo, and less fuel to begin with. Nothing was worse than Stapleton when there was weather. I recall that only the shorter East Runway was used when the snow was significant, likely due to wind conditions that made the long north-south twin runways more hazardous. A girlfriend was killed in the 1988 CO DC-9 crash (Denver-Boise) using the north-south runways during a blizzard, of course icing and an incompetent first officer who was in control had something to do with it. Horrible crash, cold, wet, it took forever to discover the crash, since the tower could not see though the blizzard, it was 45 minutes before doctors and rescue trucks got to the scene. Ground personal with CO commandeered a bus used to take employees to their car lots, were first to help, but sadly no one had the equipment to move the crushed aircraft off the PA's underneath, or any way to keep the injured be dry and warm, it took a long time to get simple block and tackle set-ups with all the lumber they could find to get to many. The aircraft had flipped on it's left side after becoming slightly airborne, those in the left seats were buried in seats that had come loose, bodies, sheared off pieces of metal, and fuel pouring out of he broken up left wing. Horrendous
I recall flying out of Turkey on a C119 and from Athens to France on a C-130. We were given pink stuff for our ears. Still, it was really noisy. this was in 1959.
Can it be called an electra, without the triple tail? While I'm sad that I missed the golden era in aviation, I'm glad and excited to see where it will go.
"We are all interested in the future, for that is when you and I will spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future." :)
Flocks of starlings brought an Eastern Electra on takeoff in Boston after the Whirl mode problem was solved, further damaging the aircraft's reputation, but the Electra was an excellent airplane. Passengers insistence on propellerless pure jets, on top of the initial problems with the engine mounts, spelled the lack of subsequent orders. I last flew on an Electra in 1976 on Air California from SNA to SFO. It was a very comfortable airplane for the passenger, vibrationless except on takeoff and very quiet.
@papabearRJ, Eastern used the Electra IIs, marketed as "Super Electras," for the Boston-New York-Washington, D.C. "Air-Shuttle," similar to the Rio-Sao Paulo shuttle in certain respects and the first route of its kind in the U.S. Like the Rio-Sao Paulo service, Eastern had no fatal accidents operating the Electra IIs.
Nice video and it reminds me of the P3 orion used by many of our allies as well as us here in the USA,because it is a versatile type of aircraft and is good to fly on.
Amazing all this testing and they didn’t test for the “F” word flutter It was supposed to fly at 430 mph but after the wings started separating in mid flight they realized they had a major issue the resonance of tge vibration of the engines and the very thin wing were the same thus the metal fatigue began and the wings separated . The wings were very short so thin and short that the plane could not hold altitude with two engines out in fact it could no longer fly. To add insult to injury the Electra was supposed to be launched in 56 but delays pushed that date to late 58 just at the arrival of the 707 It was obsolete at launch then the wings fell off. When the wings were finally strengthened the speed had to be reduced to reduce vibration to below the speed of the DC7B . The Convair was by far a better turbo prop plane and launched several years before the Electra Because the public wanted Jets the changed the name from Turboprop to Prop Jet to get the name Jet associated with the plane
I believe the narrator at the beginning is radio actor Larry Thor. At least it really sounds like him.He was an announcer for various programs and starred in the police drama, “ Broadway is my beat”.
@Bobby Paluga, what is the name of that particular film? From the best of my knowledge, "Flying with Arthur Godfrey," which Eastern and Arthur Godfrey also teamed up on, featured the Super Constellation.
October 4th 1960 electra crashed on takeoff at Logan Airport into Winthrop Harbor. Cause of accident starling birds in the engine. And they tested these engines with a chicken and birds and the engine performed normally??? 62 out of 72 people died strapped to their seats. Most drowned.
@miked202069, @stuartleetv, @jj thompson, eventually they did resolve the "whirl mode" problem. American Airlines, to the best of my knowledge, was the first to introduce the improved version, called the "Electra II," which is what I like to call the turboprop Electra to distinguish it from the piston-powered L-10 Electra.
wings kept falling off, purchased by USN as an ASW ( P-3 Orion) patrol aircraft still in limited use today. (US Customs/DEA and NWS Hurricane Hunter. Wings shortened, engines hopped up.
The C-130 E's where not torque limited with a max TIT of 977 degrees C, The later H models were with engines limited to max 1100 degrees C and they were torque limited for take off. Would not want to twist the engine mounts. Many pilots never reported over temping the engines or over torque.
I can see the engine powering Armed Forces transports because of the advantage over jet engines when you land on poor or poorly maintained runways. Having flown a variety of Convairs, the turbojet works fine there also, but reeeaaallly trying to add some of the advantages of the jet engine to a prop, when the jet engine was becoming standard with Boeing and De havilan, is like spitting into a 150 mph wind, counterproductive, money not well spent. I love the sound, the precise hum of the Electra's four power plants working in harmony, but the disadvantages of the propeller are just too great, IF you don't have to utilize them. Danger to airline service people and PA' s, yes I have a buddy, Jim Boardman, cut too pieces when he was misdirected, coming too close to a spinner, the vibration is still there despite the turbojet, and all the other inherent problems with a prop.
Jan 4th, 1964. My first flight. On a Lockheed Electra, Washington to NY . Age 7, on my way overseas as a child! Aviation is what I want !
The Lockheed Constellation with four T-56s is absolutely beautiful.
Cleaner lines and bigger. Halfway surprised they didn't scrap the Electra and refine that.
@@fawnlliebowitz1772 >>> I have wondered the same thing.
I rode an Electra in 1960 from Burbank to San Francisco with my grandma and sat at the right window and could watch the prop pitch change. Only 2 airplanes landed at San Francisco due to thick fog. We were one of the two. It was my first time in a plane and I loved it.
Great that you had a nice flight but it could have ended badly, as the wing problem with the Electra had not yet been identified or fixed...
johnlouisville
Yes, and I sat on the right side directly in line with the propeller and was amazed at how it changed pitch. Later in life when I flew all over the world in my job, I purposely missed AA Flight 191 as I felt a very strange feeling in the pit of my stomach and REFUSED to get on ANY airplane that day. 273 people died in that crash. I have better luck with boats now.....
I remember going to the observation deck at the old Newark Airport Terminal, in N J to watch Lockheed Electra’s land and take off. My dad worked for General Motors Euclid (Terex) Division, and traveled a lot. Great memories!
Thanks
I love these old films, I'd love to see them restored and re-digitized in HD 4k.
Thank God for the Electra and Reeves Aleutian Airline. It served as our lifeline while I was stationed at Shemya AFB from 1984 to 1985. It brought our food, mail and most importantly took us back home at the end of our tour.
When the new domestic airlines United, Frontier, Piedmont, Republic, needed reliable passenger aircraft they converted radial engine
Convair 340s and 440s to turbo prop Convair 580s. The engines used were the same Allisons that powered all the aircraft in this video.
I logged over 5000 hrs flying Allison powered Convairs for Frontier and Aspen Airways. Beast of an engine!
Jan, My dad and brother were mechanics on 580's for Frontier Airlines
Amazing, new life for those aircraft, and you! ✌
In the late 80s I saw a Northwest Territorial Electra loose both left hand propellers in flight. It landed safely. Luckily it was a cargo aircraft and nobody was hit with the flying propeller parts that impacted the fuselage.
Ahhh. The beautiful feel and the sound of these engines. Like fluid.
Had the privilege of flying on the Electra several times in the 60s between New Orleans, LA, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. On one flight I was sitting in a window seat over the wing and the propeller nearest my window stopped. Like a champ, we returned to New Orleans with no problems. The airline put us up in a hotel and we continued the trip the next morning.
When I was going to flight school in Daytona back in the mid to late 60's Eastern and National were flying these.
I was very fortunate to visit the Lockheed plant at Marietta,Georgia, when I was in the RAF, on the 25th anniversary of the C-130 Hercules in RAF service, fantastic trip and very interesting to see where our Hercules were born, I think the T-56 must be one of the most reliable engines ever produced, certainly in my experience we didn’t have any major failures even when they were pushed to the limit in the gulf war, sandy environment, and very long flights.
Thanks for sharing this interesting and informative documentary. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴
I loved flying in the P-3c baseline! IFT VP-40 & 65
Update II IFT here (VP-44) and loved every minute of it.
"Holiday Airlines" flew Lockheed Electras in the 1960's, and early 70's when I was a kid. PSA also flew them too. I used to see them come in to LAX, and hear the "WOOSH" when they reversed the pitch on the props to slow down. I miss those days when most of the noise from LAX was the sound of droning propellers, and the backing from planes on real steep approaches with piston engines. At night l could see flames flashing when they were backfiring.(Of course they reversed the pitch once they landed 🙂) I lived less than 1 mile east of runway 25 left, I lived in lnglewood, 1 block from Lennox high school at the time. I had a multi band radio that I could listen to the aircraft communications. I loved it. I still listen to aircraft communications.
The US Navy "Blue Angels" team still has a C-130 Hercules in operation as their support vehicle, called "Fat Albert."
@Hawkin's Dog, Lockheed had a L-1249 Super Constellation under development, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T34-P6 turboprops, which were similar in type to the Allisons, but it never reached production.
The superb Allison T-56 engine has continued to power C-130 Hercules, P-3 Orions, E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound aircraft for over 60 years!
Love their unique overhead sound.
Thank you for posting this video. TH-cam: the common man's library for the 21st century.
Hat in the ring. We loved the Electra DCA shuttle backups they were Great all the way to the end.
Did anyone know that the Allison's played a perfect C# on the musical scale?
Your Electra video brought tears to my eyes.
Indeed!!! In taxiing mode however
20:50 a pilot's dream, a super connie powered by reliable Alisson D501s replacing troublesome C&W R3350s turbo-compounds.
I wonder how would be the performance of a L1649A Starliner turboprop.
Now, that would be a Dreamliner to me!
As far as I know, there were no plans to use the Allison 501 on the Constellation. The proposed turboprop Constellations were to use the Pratt and Whitney T34-P-6, which produced almost 2000HP MORE than the Allison 501s. These planes were robust performers, with a cruising speed of 430MPH and a maximum speed of 479HP. Performance would naturally be less with the Allison 501, but significantly better than with the original R3350s.
Interesting question indeed. Jet fuel has less energy density than avgas, so a bigger volume and mass is needed to achieve the same range; this means larger tanks and higher MTOW. The weight problem is overcome with more power, but extra tankage is needed. Here's a fine fantasy: a composite Starliner with PWC turboprops such as those on the DHC-8/400 (formerly Bombardier Q400), together with modern props.
The Electra only had one problem, the wings kept falling off. After Lockheed fixed the wing beam, the model went on to a LONG and valuable Navy service career as P-3 Orion long range ASW and patrol aircraft. I have over 2k hours in P-3B and C models. We flew airshows with two engines out... on the same wing. And routinely flew long range ASW missions with engines 1 and 4 shut down for fuel economy because restarts were so reliable.
The P-3 is a rather cut-down Electra.
I have flown on the Electra and thought it was a comfortable plane. Lockheed had a winner but due to the flutter and vibration induced air disasters, it's popularity was greatly short lived. The Electra's story reminds me of the early Comet disaster stories. LA/Burbank to San Francisco in less than an hour was unheard of back in those days. After the bugs were worked out of the Electra, PSA flew them for years to San Diego and SFO without a further accident. The P-3 Orion still flies after 60 years even though it's useful life is about over.
Connie with Turbo-props. A match made in Heaven.
2023: I have flown Electras with American Airlines when I was a kid. My father worked for American. I loved that plane and that Sound! Thanks and Best Regards
Great historical upload.
I used to fly with my parrents in those plane back in the early 80's. I remember that it is more comfortable than flying in fokker 27. Good old proppeler plane.
A Connie with 4 of those test engines should have gone into production version. It may have still be around. The Saab 2000 is powered by an updated version of this engine in the 4200 shp range, turns q six blade prop. Awesome video!
A turboprop Constellation WAS in the works. But it was powered by the Pratt and Whitney T34-P-6 rather than these engines. With around 5500HP per engine, it was a VERY robust performer. But the plans fizzled, likely due to the expense of building the complex fuselage of the Constellation. The Electra (and its more common derivative, the P3 Orion) used a MUCH cheaper constant cross section tube fuselage.
@@matthewstorm5188 The Connie fuselage was 70 years ahead of its time... would be great for composites as in the B-787.
Agree !
And L1649As with the new wing with extra tankage would be the model of choice.
This deserves more views.
i flew on the Electra back in the 80's several times loved it
And you lived to tell about it.
Excellent aircraft once the wing box and nacelle mounts were fixed. It evolved into a fine aircraft with a even better powerplant system. Yes it had a few problems, what aircraft doesn't but that doesn't explain the hundreds of L-188 and P-3's still out there working hard. It's a testament to a great company and fine design. once you have spent some time working on one like I have you can appreciate the aircraft for what it is. I put it in the same category as the D-3 and the Beech 18 as a stylish workhorse of a plane.
Yeah, after they fixed it and the wings no longer fell off, killing everyone onboard !
Still being used by Buffalo Airways in Canada - Northwest Territories
Also still in use as airtankers with Airspray an Edmonton Canada based wildfire fighting company which flies 14 of them.
Still flying 56 years after the first one rolled out of the factory. Can't be that bad. It did have issues early on but that was caused by propeller whirl mode.
Apparently there are about 26 Electras (not all flyable) still in the Northwest (NWT, Yukon, Alberta, Alaska).
Commentary conspicuously silent regarding the scene in Britain! One or two statements made about being first, are not strictly true. By 1950, the Vickers Viscount with its Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops was leading the way. Large orders also came from North America for this smooth, efficient and reliable aircraft. But it was limited by its relatively small size. The Poms also pioneered pure jet passenger transport with the Comet. The disastrous failure of the first air frames due to metal fatigue was rectified, and this was of great benefit to Douglas and Boeing, as it could well have been their aircraft that fell out of the skies due to the unforseen fatigue caused by repeated pressurisation and depressurisation of the cabins. Electra - a superb aircraft. Vickers Vanguard - equally superb, but too late on the scene to be competitive with the Electra and 707 and DC8 jets.
+Colin Gantiglew All I see is completely random post with a bunch of unrelated ramblings of various British aviation milestones which proved to be UTTERLY INCONSEQUENTIAL in the long run. Incorrect engineering approaches, form over function, whatever; repeated attempts by many UK companies ended in total failure in both the commercial and military markets for decades now - vickers' attempts / comet included.
By the way, Brits didn't "pioneer" anything with the comet, except a death trap! 3 years before the comet's maiden flight, Boeing already had completed and flown (along with all the R&D, etc) the B-47 at TWICE the MTOW and nearly 100mph faster than the comet. This technology (including the podded engines) was simply repackaged into a passenger-carrying airframe (WITH PROPER FATIGUE TESTING) and they never looked back - 10x more 707s were built than comets, Boeing is now a world-leader in civil and military aviation to this day. De Havilland has what... a fat radial float plane in the beaver?
I love the Brits (I own two land rovers) and all of aviation including the planes in question here - but I'm not so sure your random patriotic rambling has much of a place in reality.
+sam phi Oh dear! How true; political involvement in aircraft type purchased can be at once sickening, hilarious, ignorant and downright stupid. Case in point - NZ govt. of the day (1960s) wanting the national carrier to buy the BAC1-11 (politics; Mother England and all that) NAC, however, chose the Boeing 737, for the very good reason that it could handle the severely unpredictable wind patterns of Wellington airport more safely than the BAC plane. But government angry at the decision and forced the purchase of a British simulator as "compensation". Politics more important than passenger safety in government's view. But that's outside the scope of the present video of the Electra. Col, NZ "Baby-Boomer" who lived through all of the above!
you could get a discount on a viscount!
LOL!
Colin Gantiglew: You are not fair regarding a good post. The Viscount was very successful for its time, with well over 400 delivered, as were several other civil aircraft, while British military aircraft were second to none, with big export orders in many cases. Unfortunately, the British lacked the capital to fully develop and market their aircraft, and made too many unfortunate choices at the behest of of their national airlines, while the government made even more disastrous decisions in the military sphere despite technical excellence (e.g. TSR-2). Don't forget that much 1940's and 1950's British technology formed the basis for US jet aircraft development, especially in engines. The B-57, and later the AV8B, were adapted British designs which saw long service. The long distance of the US from USSR targets required longer range and bigger bombers than Britain required, hence the technology development head start Boeing got in developing very large jet aircraft. In the end, Europe combined to compete equally with the US in aerospace.
The YC-131C was derived from the C-131 Samaritan, a version of the famous Convair 240/340/440 developed for use by the Air Force as a "flying hospital" and VIP transport. The Convair 580 was a version of the "Convair-Liner" powered by the Allison 501-D13 engine.
I was an aircraft mechanic, in the Air Force Turboprop Test Squadron 1955-58, that had two YC-131's.
My dad is an engenier of Electra and P-3 orion, he did missions in 1982 in the Islas Malvinas War delivering troops and suplies
Not a single word about whirl mode. Biggest blunder ever.
Great video. I was in a VP squadron in the Navy and flew all over the Med, North Atlantic and South America in P3-Bs and after the Navy I moved to Alaska and flew to places like Dutch Harbor and St Paul with Reeve Aleutian in an Electra.
In 2020 the Delaware Air NG still has, maintains, and regularly flies C-130 Hercules planes. Right over my house, in fact.
I flew on a C-121 from Charleston to the Azores, then to Wheelus in Libya. I missed a sudden plane and after a flew days I flew on a AS-57 of BEA to Malta, and the next day to Rome where I got on a PAA to Istanbul on Clipper Rainbow - DC-7c.
Excellent, I love these type of videos.
Super Connies and Electras...Lockheed's best days.
Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing this "gem"!
Should remind you of the Orion - the Orion was heavily based on the Electra.
yes, people forget about it a lot
@@tack9571 Rumor had it that the Electra was a sales failure due to the introduction of the Boeing 707, which every airline wanted to buy, cancelling Electra orders. Lockheed is likely to have had severe financial trouble if the Orion project hadn't come along at that time. (I was a P-3C maintenance guy in the USN, so I heard a lot of stories like these- not sure how true they are).
Truly amazing technology for its time. I love to watch the mighty Lockheed Electra water bombers fly around my area.
Those turbo Connie's were cool. Lockheed should have produced a commercial version of those.
They did. Sadly, they had a harmonics problem that caused the wings to fall off. Even after they fixed it, they were noisy and vibrated like heck. I rode in one back in the day, and well, I preferred the 727 or 707! So did most other passengers, and turboprops went by the wayside pretty quickly. Today they are popular with some commuter airlines. I still dislike the noise and vibration.
***** I wondered about that. I saw those wide three bladed props and thought to myself they had to put out a lot of noise and vibration. The C-133 and the B-36 had the same problem, there's just too much space between the blades. Why didn't they just go to five or even six bladed props?
Hawkin's Dog
I think it had to do with synchronization. Google it. There were several crashes early on. The problem was fixed, but by then we were in the jet age.
***** I will, and thanks.
Lockheed had a L-1249 Super Constellation under development, powered by four Pratt & Whitney T34-P6 engines, which were similar in type to the Allison 501s, but it never reached production.
Allison is today part of Rolls-Royce, pioneers of turboprop power with the renowned Dart engine.
+John Eddy Both RR and Allison turboprop engines were used to convert piston-engined Convair liners to turboprops. The RR Rda-10 with Dowty Rotol propeller, 2700 horsepower, went on the Convair 240 airframe to make the Convair 600. It made a smooth, quiet (in flight), installation, but had reliability problems early on, and could not haul a profitable load out of high airports (DEN, COS) on warm days. The Allison 501-D13H, Aeroproducts 606 propellers, 3750 horsepower, went on the larger Convair 340/440 airframe, producing the Convair 580. This combination was a winner, providing reliable service to small airports even in the highest mountains and worst conditions. As noted elsewhere, its big shortcoming was noise and vibration from the huge, four-bladed props. I made hundreds of trips on 580's, and sometimes began to feel airsick from the vibration even before takeoff, though I usually slept through the worst of it. I once discovered, protruding from the fuselage top skin of a Convair 580, a hinge pin from the cockpit door that had vibrated up out of the hinge and punctured the interior lining and fuselage skin. Hammer it back down, plug the hole with a rivet, back in business. You could not keep a 580 down, but they were miserable to fly in.
+Hopelessand Forlorn, there was also the 640, which was a conversion of the 340/440 with the Rda-10 Dart.
+soaringtractor, the Rolls-Royce AE series engines descended from the T56/501.
I'm retired now but I held engine licences for the RDA 7 Dart & 501 d13 Allison. Great engines both, enjoyed my time on them + JT8D series. One of our L188's is now with Buffalo Airlines, ex VH-RMA from memory.
+Hopelessand Forlorn, the Rda-10 also powered the Japanese-built NAMC YS-11. To the best of my knowledge it had propellers different from the Dowty Rotols the Convair 600/640 used.
And the C-130 is still in service today.
and they look goofy without the ray-dome on the nose! you have to admit that!
Mark Stockman
still bring built, too!
+David Baker, +Mark Stockman, the current version is the C-130J Super Hercules, powered by Rolls-Royce AE2100D3 engines.
The Electra is still in service too. NOAA Hurricane Hunters, Fire fighting in the West Mountain ranges, and still globally. It was rated to 7G landings. I built a lot of those engines. A very pleasing note from them flying overhead. Sweet sound.
@@johneddy908 Rolls Royce BOUGHT Allison Engines just to get a hold of the Allison turboprop and the AMERICAN Market !!! Facts of history Not the British Bullshit !!!!
PSA flew Electra's into the 1980's on their short hauls like Burbank>SFO or Vegas.
So much testing done. But they must have missed something vital considering what happened later.
GM / Allison. Still the finest !
Why oh why oh WHY didn't the turboprop Connie not become the queen of the air? That combination of efficient engines and the most beautiful fuselage ever concieved would have worked.
Amen and Amen, I suspect it was too expensive to operate compared with the Dash 50/707. And when you could cut the transcontinental travel time in half to one-third the time, that hurt also. The Connie was the most beautiful design ever, but they did have engine problems, I believe dealing with losing oil, internal pressure problems that required the damaged engine shut-down, etc. someone on here will know the specifics. Those were the days, people wearing their best clothes and behavior, great service, wonderful meals, captains that inspired confidence by engaging with the PA's giving flight progress updates, info on the aircraft as well as dipping a wing so PA's could see the Grand Canyon better, pointing out other sights. Today's pilots tend to fall into the nerdy, techno class, introverted and noncommunicative. There is a classic line-What do pilots use for Birth Control? Answer- Street Clothes. If it doesn't make sense your favorite FA can explain it to you. Just don't tell them the FA part of the joke- What do FA's use for Birth Control? Answer-Nudity
Dash-Eighty.
Could not haul enough people when the Boeing 707 came out. Faster, higher, and more range. Connie is one of the most beautiful airplane ever built. Flew from Honolulu Hawaii to California one in 1948 in a Connie.
@@ohwell2790 Yep, Connie was the Concorde of it's day, no doubt.
Wasn’t production cost of that fuselage also a factor? It’s not a simple tube .
ahhh the turbo connie!
Beautiful airplane, superb engine...
A turboprop connie, who'd a thunk it.
Right ?!
❤
I like it!
All the intense testing described here is quite impressive, nonetheless despite all these efforts at least 3 Electras crashed in 1959 and 1960, soon after the introduction of the type, because of faulty design of the engine supports. These mounts were too weak, causing vibrations to the wings, which resulted in structural failure and finally fatal crashes with many fatalties. An extensive redesign followed, but confidence was lost. Insofar there are analogies to the British Comet tragedy. Moreover 59 of the about 170 aircraft built were lost, a rather negative record -although only part of the losses can be attributed to design flaws.
2:56-3:30 - Rohr Aircraft is today part of Collins Aerospace, a unit of RTX Corporation.
Pay attention boys - there will be a pop quiz after the film ! Quit screwing around -
Mom's favorite plane. Connie too.She flew with Eastern Air Lines
Frontier had some Convair 580s with this engine, and they were good airplanes for mountain flying into HDN.
The CV-580 made up the bulk of Frontier's fleet in the late 1960's. Frontier, Allegheny and North Central all had large fleets of the CV-580. I have never flown into Hayden, but when I was in college at CU, I had a good friend who lived in Craig, and drove by HDN many times where the CV-580 provided the only air link of the NW Colorado airport with the rest of the country.
Frontier flew Convairs front Denver to the ski resorts in western and southern Colorado, at least until Continental and Bob Six took over. I was commuting between DEN and SLC, having the pick of 6-8 flights on Western or about the same number with Frontier or the Frontier-Hughes ArWest code share. I hated the old Western 100 and 200 series 737's, they were hellish over the mountains and upon landing the engine reverse would cause all the junk in the shelf above your head to fall. Their stretch 727's were a might fine machine, and if I could get to DEN early, WA had a 720 making the flight, really a fine airframe. More often than not, I took the Frontier flew Convairs and I loved them, but in winter, you often landed in Grand Junction or a number of Western Slope towns to wait out weather at Stapleton, or to top off the fuel. I think the range was such that, they couldn't remain circling in DEN's infamous holding patterns for long, or maybe Frontier took on more cargo, and less fuel to begin with. Nothing was worse than Stapleton when there was weather. I recall that only the shorter East Runway was used when the snow was significant, likely due to wind conditions that made the long north-south twin runways more hazardous. A girlfriend was killed in the 1988 CO DC-9 crash (Denver-Boise) using the north-south runways during a blizzard, of course icing and an incompetent first officer who was in control had something to do with it. Horrible crash, cold, wet, it took forever to discover the crash, since the tower could not see though the blizzard, it was 45 minutes before doctors and rescue trucks got to the scene. Ground personal with CO commandeered a bus used to take employees to their car lots, were first to help, but sadly no one had the equipment to move the crushed aircraft off the PA's underneath, or any way to keep the injured be dry and warm, it took a long time to get simple block and tackle set-ups with all the lumber they could find to get to many. The aircraft had flipped on it's left side after becoming slightly airborne, those in the left seats were buried in seats that had come loose, bodies, sheared off pieces of metal, and fuel pouring out of he broken up left wing. Horrendous
Without the greatest generation and their fathers and mother's this country would be a joke.
Allison Engine's name is spelled with two l's, after its founder, James Allison.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allison_Engine_Company
Excellent. Thank you.
I recall flying out of Turkey on a C119 and from Athens to France on a C-130. We were given pink stuff for our ears. Still, it was really noisy. this was in 1959.
It's interesting the 501s are shown with both three and four-bladed props.
The turbines were used later as Ship's Service generators if it had Turbine propulsion.
I find it funny that they called it "prop-jet" instead of turbo prop.
what an engine!!
Was hoping to see a Connie in this.Super G
Can it be called an electra, without the triple tail?
While I'm sad that I missed the golden era in aviation, I'm glad and excited to see where it will go.
The original L-10 Electra had a double fin tail. The Connie had the triple tail (plus assorted flying-boats).
At 10:30 the shot of the Allison building shows "Pogo" mounted outside. Is this building and Pogo still there?
A super Connie with 2 turbopros!
Wao :)
Should have been 4!!!
A fast economic beautiful Connie!!
You see the 4 turboprop Connie starting at 20:45. That should've been a common no-brainer conversion...especially for all of the military variants.
0:09 Isn't this the same soundtrack from "Plan 9 From Outer Space" When Criswell predicts?
"We are all interested in the future, for that is when you and I will spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future." :)
@@StevenLawrance Can you prove it didn't happen?
Back then by the time a proposed plane was ready for production it was nearing obsolescence, save outstanding designs like the Hercules.
Flocks of starlings brought an Eastern Electra on takeoff in Boston after the Whirl mode problem was solved, further damaging the aircraft's reputation, but the Electra was an excellent airplane. Passengers insistence on propellerless pure jets, on top of the initial problems with the engine mounts, spelled the lack of subsequent orders. I last flew on an Electra in 1976 on Air California from SNA to SFO. It was a very comfortable airplane for the passenger, vibrationless except on takeoff and very quiet.
Wasn't it the engine oscillation and subsequent engine mount and wing failure what ended the Electra?
+ROCKSTARCRANE Yep, designed with static tests, harmonics not given enough study and time.
That was quickly fixed and Electras are still flying today!
boy, those hercy birds look goofy without the ray-dome on the nose!!!
Mourning becomes the Electra.
Trivia: the Electra shown in the beginning of this film is the exact plane (flight 710) that crashed in Indiana in 1960 killing everyone on board
@Mark Walsh I went down the plane crash video rabbit hole on youtube recently
@4nuk8r, I wonder who made the APU for the Electra II.
The wings would rip off!
Whirlmode
Deadly crashes
@papabearRJ, Eastern used the Electra IIs, marketed as "Super Electras," for the Boston-New York-Washington, D.C. "Air-Shuttle," similar to the Rio-Sao Paulo shuttle in certain respects and the first route of its kind in the U.S. Like the Rio-Sao Paulo service, Eastern had no fatal accidents operating the Electra IIs.
If you can stomach Arthur Godfrey, he and Eastern produced a video, with the Super Electra in the staring role. I loved it. It's on TH-cam
Go here 18:40 for turboprop Lockheed Constelation.
19:20 The test monoitoring crew are all wearing parachutes! (Or is it only oxygen gear?)
Nice video and it reminds me of the P3 orion used by many of our allies as well as us here in the USA,because it is a versatile type of aircraft and is good to fly on.
The P3 Orion is just the submarine-hunter version of the Electra. Same air-frame with the detector sticking out behind the tail added.
@@IndependentBear The P3 fuselage is shorter.
Amazing all this testing and they didn’t test for the “F” word flutter It was supposed to fly at 430 mph but after the wings started separating in mid flight they realized they had a major issue the resonance of tge vibration of the engines and the very thin wing were the same thus the metal fatigue began and the wings separated . The wings were very short so thin and short that the plane could not hold altitude with two engines out in fact it could no longer fly. To add insult to injury the Electra was supposed to be launched in 56 but delays pushed that date to late 58 just at the arrival of the 707 It was obsolete at launch then the wings fell off. When the wings were finally strengthened the speed had to be reduced to reduce vibration to below the speed of the DC7B . The Convair was by far a better turbo prop plane and launched several years before the Electra Because the public wanted Jets the changed the name from Turboprop to Prop Jet to get the name Jet associated with the plane
I believe the narrator at the beginning is radio actor Larry Thor. At least it really sounds like him.He was an announcer for various programs and starred in the police drama, “ Broadway is my beat”.
For some reason it crashed a lot too and if memory serves was suspended from flying for awhile. Never did learn why.
You might be thinking of the DeHavland Comet.
Beautiful plane- but why’d they make instead of a jet?
@Bobby Paluga, what is the name of that particular film? From the best of my knowledge, "Flying with Arthur Godfrey," which Eastern and Arthur Godfrey also teamed up on, featured the Super Constellation.
Good acft
October 4th 1960 electra crashed on takeoff at Logan Airport into Winthrop Harbor. Cause of accident starling birds in the engine. And they tested these engines with a chicken and birds and the engine performed normally??? 62 out of 72 people died strapped to their seats. Most drowned.
Unfortunately in airline service the Electra's fatal Achilles heel showed up.
My guess is that this video was made before the wings started falling off.
Impressive
Rohr Aircraft is now Goodrich / UTC and they make engine nacelles.
@miked202069, @stuartleetv, @jj thompson, eventually they did resolve the "whirl mode" problem. American Airlines, to the best of my knowledge, was the first to introduce the improved version, called the "Electra II," which is what I like to call the turboprop Electra to distinguish it from the piston-powered L-10 Electra.
I think all existing Electras had to be retrofitted with better engine mounts. Before that they had to fly at reduced speed.
Why not simply use it's company designation, L-188?
wings kept falling off, purchased by USN as an ASW ( P-3 Orion) patrol aircraft still in limited use today. (US Customs/DEA and NWS Hurricane Hunter. Wings shortened, engines hopped up.
frinker56 engine on P-3 were actually torque limited for airframe.
Actually, the propellers entered flutter mode and vibrated the engine mounts off.
The C-130 E's where not torque limited with a max TIT of 977 degrees C, The later H models were with engines limited to max 1100 degrees C and they were torque limited for take off. Would not want to twist the engine mounts. Many pilots never reported over temping the engines or over torque.
I can see the engine powering Armed Forces transports because of the advantage over jet engines when you land on poor or poorly maintained runways. Having flown a variety of Convairs, the turbojet works fine there also, but reeeaaallly trying to add some of the advantages of the jet engine to a prop, when the jet engine was becoming standard with Boeing and De havilan, is like spitting into a 150 mph wind, counterproductive, money not well spent. I love the sound, the precise hum of the Electra's four power plants working in harmony, but the disadvantages of the propeller are just too great, IF you don't have to utilize them. Danger to airline service people and PA' s, yes I have a buddy, Jim Boardman, cut too pieces when he was misdirected, coming too close to a spinner, the vibration is still there despite the turbojet, and all the other inherent problems with a prop.
Lockheed = awesome
One crashed at Buffalo, Tx.
2 prop dash 8 is similar to electra today
Not really. MTOW of Electra is almost twice as big, as is the range, even if passenger capacities are not too different and speeds similar.
13:55 Now I kmow why they call a head on approach playing "chicken"