Lockheed Model 10 Electra

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The aircraft gained considerable fame as it was flown by Amelia Earhart on her ill-fated around-the-world expedition in 1937. The Electra was Lockheed's first all-metal and twin-engine design by Hall Hibbard. (However, some of Lockheed's wooden designs, such as t... more

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The aircraft gained considerable fame as it was flown by Amelia Earhart on her ill-fated around-the-world expedition in 1937. The Electra was Lockheed's first all-metal and twin-engine design by Hall Hibbard. (However, some of Lockheed's wooden designs, such as the Orion had been built by Detroit Aircraft Corporation with metal fuselages.) Most of the structure is 7075 Aluminum alloy with 2024 Aluminum alloy used for skin panels and bulkhead webs subjected to tension loads through pressurization . The name Electra came from a star in the Pleiades. The prototype made its first flight on 23 February, 1934 with Marshall Headle at the controls. Wind tunnel work on the Electra was undertaken at the University of Michigan. Much of the work was performed by a student assistant, Clarence Johnson. He suggested... less