The Electra in Ecuador

In this installment we review the history and operationón of the legendary avión Lockheed L-188 ‘Electra’ in aviationón of the Ecuador.

Can't talk about anythingún grandfatherón without first making a reference to their orígenes, and for this reason I allow myselfé talk about this, before entering fully into the títitle of this artíass.

Performed by: Historian Aeronáutico Guido Cháonce with informationón personal and other sources.
Photographerías: Guido Ch's personal archiveáturn, thanks to the authors.

El Lockheed L-188 ‘Electra’ I insistedó of North American Airlines' need for an aircraftón that it would be profitable to use over short and medium distances and that, at the same time, will replace airplanesás slow with pist enginesón, además of being able to effectively face the competition created by Vickers Viscount. In these conditions, American Airlines presents in 1954 initial requirements to Lockheed Aircraft Co., to this request is added Eastern Airlines, since both friendsñíthey needed an avión to cover your short-haul routes, since jet-powered airplanesón were not profitable for these distances.

In response to those needs, Lockheed proposed an avión powered by four turboh engineséAllison-501 3.750 CV, similar to those fitted to the Hércules C-130, avióno longer in productionón; the grandfatherón proposed mayíto transport from 85 a 90 passengers at speeds greater than 600 km/h and with a range greater than 4.000 km; Are youí then, that in June 1955, American Airlines submits initial order for 35 specimens of this birdón, the same one that was baptized by Lockheed, as model L-188 Electra II. In September of the sameñor construction startsón of the first of four prototypes, what to beíare employed on a test flight under the supervisionón of the Aviation Authorityón Civil, now FAA. SlabñThe following witnessed an increase in orders for the Electra, at the end of 1957, había 129 Electras commissioned mainly by 6 aerolíNorth American lines and three companiesñíforeign aces (KLM, Garuda de Indonesia y Cathay Pacific).

The first prototype of the Electra, registered as N-1881, voló for the first time the 6 from December to 1957 from the Lockheed plant in Palmdale, on an uneventful flight. Flight testing of the other three prototypes continued for 1958, until the 22 from August of the same toñO, When the FAA issues the certificationón operational for this beautiful aircraftón. Orders increased significantly, to the point that Lockheed found itó difíhow to maintain financial balance, since production estimatesóLockheed's initials were a total of 190 units, and the orders for thatño my habíhave reached the 215 units.

Disaster visits the Electra

Two fatal accidents seriously shake the Electra project; both were caused by structural failures in flight, one that occurred in September 1959 and the other in March 1960 with aircraft operated by Branniff and Northwestern Airlines; These terrible accidents sparked a protest pública, demanding the removal of the Electra from service, but the FAA decides to restrict the operating speed to 418 km/h, what's meant?íto which the aerodin loadsámicas decrease when the air speed is lower, and this will helpíto avoid future accidents.

These accidents were caused by a pheóless called «flutter» which consists of an imbalance at the point where the engine mount joins the góengine wind, event that can occur in climatic conditionsáturbulent ethics, and that is transmitted from the engines to the wings, which then begin to flex. The amplitude of the push-ups was such, that these literally brokeístill at the point of unionón with the fuselage, all this happening in less than a minute, followed ráI ask for the complete disintegrationón of the structure of the aircraftón.

Afterés a few months, the investigationón determinó that the fatal defect of Electra was in the three-member structure that connects the gearbox and the engine, a part supplied by the engine manufacturers. When I failedó a member of that structure, the engine mount becameó flexible. Strut failure causedó a violent flutter that startedó the wing. Tétechnically, Lockheed podríhaving passed the problem to the engine manufacturer, renouncing all responsibility. Instead, se re diseñó the wing structure so that it would not flap when such failure occurred. Additional supports were added to stabilize the hélice if any of the supports failed or if they brokeía between the gearbox and the sectionón power. The structure of the gódollar noodlesén see reforzó I was added by means of laónumber of reinforcements and diagonal braces.

Subsequently, Lockheed instituyó the «acci programón Lockheed Electra» (LEAP) with the aim of modifying all Electra at your own expense, whether they were within the warrantyía o no. Once the LEAP program is completed, The FAA was able to eliminate operational restrictions and the Electras returned to flying normally. The image púavi warón, However, was somewhat diminished, to the point that Lockheed had notíhas received noneún order for new aircraft of this type since November 1960, and as a result of this, the líproduction lineón of the Electra closedó at the end. from 1961, with a produce usón the sólo 170 specimens, and causing serious economic difficultiesómicas to the company.

With all these problems solved, the Electra has performedñated as one of the best commercial transport aircraft in the world and now, afterés of más de 60 añyou in service, some specimens remain operational carrying out various tasks.

Airbus press photo We start a review of the most important news

Ecuadorian from Aviación, It was the first company of the país in operating the L-188, from theñO 1967 until 1974 coming to have a fleet of 7 Electars 4 versionón A and 3 type C these aircraft replaced the DC-6B on the Quito-Miami-Quito route  and galápaid. They wore the colors of the Ecuadorian Aviación of that élittle, with the registrationón «Ecuadorian» written above the windows. Ended its operational life in Ecuadorian two of these aircraft HC-AMS and HC-ANQ became a source of spare parts for the restás aircraft from the TAME fleet and subsequently dismantled in the aircraft graveyard for the benefit of some metal recycling company. Regarding HC-AZJ and N-278AC, they began to operate in TAME, the rest were sold to other operators.

Detail of the fleet the “Electra”

C/N – Construction number – núserial grouper. F/o – for spare parts. B/u dismantled

In the mid toños 70, TAME I decidedó modernize your fleet, then made up mainly of C-47 and DC-6, being these úlast replaced by Electras; The four DC-6Bs were returned to the SquadronóForce A Transportation No.érea, where they remained providing log supportístic during algún time.

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Transport AéEcuadorian Military Prisoners – TAME receivedó 6 Electras these aircraft served prápractically on all the routes that the airlineínea voló In the país, especially on the Quito-Guayaquil-Gal routeápayments-Quito; Those of us who barely have más de 60 años, We cannot forget the harmonious hum of the Allison engines as they crossed Quito, bound for Guayaquil through the famous and unpredictable Paso del Atacazo, with its cabin with large instruments! and with a set of accelerators for each pilot, with boarding staircase built into the main door, characterístic that for meí It was an attraction to see., when deployed on the airport apron Marshal Sucre; Spaghettién gave me a good scare when I saw them approaching to land with a hélicense in flag, ¡and I even had the opportunity to witness an incident in which two of the hélices were in flag! It was a máhow exceptional.

During the Paquisha war they provided, of course, log supportístatic to troops in the southern border area; I remember an incident at the airport Quito, around the 15:00 hrs. in one díI don't knowé becauseé, with some friends, Eastáwe were standing guard, binoculars in hand, in the airplane graveyard (in front of the military base) because you wantíwe love to know whaté happened thereí. Okay, arrivedó a camión full of well-armed and equipped troops boarded the Electra; I'm getting readyó the grandfatherón, leavesó auxiliary ground generator, and while all this is happeningía, not a single ancestoróIt neither took off nor landed that afternoon; it was extrañwhere is thatáWe were under Red Alert; The minutes turned into hours and it was already around 18:00 hrs, but the engines were never started; Soldiers and crewón, However, they remained inside the planeón.

I already tookáWe spent a while in the cemetery and as the night approachedápiously, our “sentinel” gave us the alarm: «¡The Electra está taking off!» and in fact, afteréIt's about four hours of waiting, took offó, with all the lights off, bound for the border.

With the passage of time I later learnedés that an attack was expected Quito airport, and for some reasonón someone thoughtó that it was better to leave the avión waiting, with people inside.

Returning to the topic of this artíass, the Electra be itó providing service to the país up 1986; and during this time two aircraft were lost: The first one happenedó the 12 September 1988 when FAE-1052 «Galápaid» reportó engine problems at Lago Agrio airport; the aircraft commander decidedó leave passengers on the ground and return sówith the crewón, on a ferry to Quito. This I decidedón se tomó during the second failed takeoff attempt; The passengers were of course upset by the inconvenience., but shortly afteréThey surely appreciated that decision.ón. Right at takeoff and when the RPM needles were almost red, the left side engines failed with corresponding péloss of control on that side, causing a turn and subsequent accident of the planeón; all members of the crewóthey died, Fortunately the fuel storage tanks at the end of the runway were miraculously saved.; otherwise, It is very likely that Lago Agrio would have been destroyed. It's avión prestó services in the país during 13 años.

The second accident, this time without péloss of human life, involucró al Electra HC-AZJ “Pichincha”; Problems with the main landing gear caused the emergency, the captainán of the avión decides after flying over Quito, head to Taura since thereí rescue teams were más suitable, and after reaching this track I realizedó a big belly. Afterés that the avión stopped in the middle of a igneous foam matíleak, the crewón and passengers evacuated the planeón.

The máI remained hereó algún time on the side of the track until the decision is madeón to repair or cancel it; finally optedó for this úlast optionón and maintenance personnel removedó all the pieces útiles, I guess in order to sell them más late and then they proceeded with ax in hand to break up the avión, doing soí disappear the úlast vestige of Electra in Ecuador. It's avión browseó In the país during 15 años.

The two planes mentioned above, ya lucíeven the current colors of TAME, a nice designño colorful for these old pájaros, but… ¿Cóhow they got it? As well, with the arrival of the Boeing 727-220 and 737-200, the compañíyou decideó deactivate the Electras and leave them on the platform near the TAME hangar; at the same time, VARIG sought to increase the núgrouper of its fleet of L-188, so in the middle of 1988 entabló negotiations with TAME for the purchase of these two copies; The company executives did a good deal and sold the Electra. The payment was madeó en forma de renovationón of the other two copies, since VARIG facilities for this type of work were considered among the best for maintenance and inspection.ón of this type of aircraft. The Electra that went to VARIG were FAE-1050 «Guayas» and FAE-1040 «Azuay», planes that operated in Ecuador during 12 and 11 años, respectively.

The «Guayas» in particular, They belonged to AMERICAN AIRLINES (N-611A) about 1959, then it happenedó by several aerosolílines and operators until their arrival in Ecuador in 1974; afterés of the negotiations with VARIG, notó a ser PP-VNJ y operó in Brazil until 1992, It was later sold to INTERLINK (Congo) as HR-AML in 1998, where apparentlyún is stored

What will later becomeía in FAE 1040, he gave himselfó for the first time to Braniff in 1956, as N9701C, It was later operated by Citizen's National Bank and then sold.ó to the United States Department of the Interior; Come in 1972 and 1975 was stored in Arizona, until it was received by TAME; notó to VARIG in April 1986 like PP-VNK where I servedó until 1991, when it was sold to FILAIR (Zaire) and registered as 9Q-CDU in 1994, being the úLast Electra to leave Brazil; Sold to a Canadian company who transformed it into an avión firefighter and unfortunately he has an accident in the 2003.

As far as I knowé, There is only one Electra left stored in Argentina who belongs to the Navy.

The operational variant más famous and well known, todavía in service with some weapons aénaval areas around the world, is he P-3C «ORION». It is about, of course, of a cévery modified lula, since it stops being an avióno. of transport, becoming an anti-submarine warfare platform, naval reconnaissance and AWACS, as used by the US Customs Service USA.

with this artíass I try to emphasize the importance histórica de is avión, what servedó to our fatherís for many toños, and that without a doubt it was untrue ícone in aviationón Ecuadorian commercial, The inexorable passage of time means that many details and informationódon't get lost, but those of us who make history are here to relive even on paper those weñthose of glory.