On 23rd February 1934, Lockheed Model 10 Electra airliner performed its first flight. The aircraft was flown by Marshall E. Headle, an American test pilot known for his cooperation with Lockheed Aircraft, and who participated in most of the company´s projects developed in the 1930s and the 1940s.
Within a few months, the airliner became officially certified and quickly found its first customers. One of them was Northwest Airliners, the company that also made the first commercial flight with the Lockheed Model 10 – in August of 1934, on Chicago – St. Paul route. Shortly thereafter, in October of the same year, the US government banned single-engine aircraft for night passenger flights, which caused even further increase of the interest in the Electra.
And those who decided to buy the Model 10 were not disappointed. The Electra proved to be a reliable and well-designed aircraft, appreciated by both airlines, pilots and passengers. The aeroplane was acquired by several American and foreign operators, including LOT Polish Airlines, Aeroput of Yugoslavia, LARES of Romania, British Airways or Cubana de Aviación.
Finally, the Electra was operated by more than thirty airlines and eight air forces all over the world. There were 149 examples of that aeroplane built in total, in four variants.
History of the Model 10 is also inseparably linked to the famous American aviatrix and aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart. It was exactly the Electra she had chosen for her round-the-world flight in the late 1930s (click here for additional information about Earhart and her pioneering flights).
Full story of the Electra Model 10, including history of its development, can be found in our article from Photo of the Week series – Lockheed L-10A Electra.
