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Picture

Eastern's Electras Pt1: Props Not Pure Jets

10/7/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
Few aircraft have, thankfully, had such a disastrous introduction into service as the Lockheed L-188 Electra, however over the time the type would prove to be a rugged and versatile plane. Nonetheless in hindsight it is difficult to see Eastern's large order for the type, which amounted to almost 1/4 of all Electras produced, as anything but a mistake. At least Eastern got its money's worth out of the type, which would serve into 1977.
Picture
Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-188A Electra N5501 Aeroclassics 1:400 Scale Model Airliner
During the 1950s and 60s decisions taken at the major US trunk airlines have to be seen in the light of the personalities that led the carriers. At Eastern this was Edward Vernon Rickenbacker a veritable powerhouse personality that made Eastern in the image of himself, for better or worse. Rickenbacker was always frugal and cautious and, admittedly along with others like Delta's C.E Woolman and American's C.R Smith, saw a gradual transition to jet equipment rather than the headlong rush that eventuated.
Picture
The upshot of this was that Rickenbacker felt comfortable spending a lot of money on prop-liners to bridge the gap. The airline already had a substantial fleet of Constellations and Super Constellations when in 1955 it ordered a massive 40 DC-7s. Not content with this Rickenbacker followed up on September 27, 1955 with a huge order for 40 Lockheed Electra turboprops, with 30 options.
The cost of the deal totalled $100 million with the Electra's going for $2.4 million a piece. Even at the time the decision to buy this many Electra's, coming on top of the DC-7s, was controversial. As all the other airlines kept their powder dry and then binged on jets it became obvious it was foolhardy. The combined price of all the Connie, DC-7 and Electra orders totalled $225 million - nearly double what Rickenbacker had budgeted for jets. Even worse the Electra did itself no favours in service whatsoever.

Left: A 1958 Lockheed ad for the Electra
Below: From a 1959 inflight guide

Picture
Eastern received its first aircraft on October 8, 1958 and the 40 frames took up a sequential registration series from N5501-N5541 (missing N5508). PIlots and Rickenbacker himself loved the Electra. Due to Rickenbacker's personal dictate the Electra's appeared with huge 'Fly Eastern's Prop-Jet Electra' titles on them. The aircraft were outfitted in a no doubt luxurious 68 seat all first class configuration. The last three deliveries were L-188Cs with a higher gross weight.
Picture
This is a beautiful shot of N5522 in 1959 showing the 'Golden Falcon' titles and the integral airstairs
Services began in January 1959 but very quickly it became obvious something serious was wrong with the Electra as 3 aircraft proceeded to crash in less than a year - all inflight. Fortunately none of these crashes were of Eastern aircraft. Already without the crashes the Electra hadn't been pleasing customers since the noise in the forward cabin was high. Lockheed redesigned the engine nacelles and tilted the engines up 3 degrees to try and remedy this issue.
Note the below Aeroclassics model wears the predelivery colours which say 'FLY EASTERN'S ELECTRA PROP-JET' not 'FLY EASTERN'S PROP-JET ELECTRA'
In a sign of the times, that would never be repeated today, the FAA didn't ground the Electras but did put a speed restriction on the type whilst investigations were underway. Eventually it was discovered that vibrations from the outboard engines transmitted along the wing literally tore the wings off the aircraft. Lockheed were forced to implement a costly modification programme (they called it LEAP - Lockheed Electra Achievement Program). Each of the 145 delivered Electras required a 20 day overhaul before they could re-enter service. By this time Lockheed had already decided to end production due to the obvious competition from short-haul jets. With 170 orders (not abysmal for the 1950s) the programme still lost Lockheed $57 million plus another $55 million in lawsuits.
Picture
Picture
Eastern's Electra fleet as delivered
The backlash against the Electra at Eastern was massive and reinforced by the crash of N5533 on October 4, 1960, which was nothing to do with the airframe. On this occasion birdstrike was to blame as flight 375 to New York hit a flock of Starlings on take-off from Boston in the early evening. Three of the four engines were damaged with engine one shutting down. The aircraft stalled and crashed vertically into Winthrop bay. Eight passengers and two flight attendants seated at the rear were thrown clear but the other 62 onboard perished as the aircraft sank. As part of the accident investigation 16 experienced Electra pilots attempted to keep the aircraft in the air, and all failed on their first attempt.
Picture
A combination of the crash and the Electra's speed restrictions and design flaw publicity saw a boycott of the type and load factors slipped from 75-50%. Rickenbacker reinforced his mistake in buying so many Electras by also delaying delivery of his DC-8s enabling Delta to sneak in and take them instead. Delta then put them into service between New York and Houston destroying the load factor on Eastern's competing service, which used Electras. Until then the load on the Electras had been 90% but within a fortnight Eastern had to temporarily abandon its direct service on the route. One of the issues Eastern had, aside from the lack of cash, was that its route network didn't really support the first jets, which were primarily long haul aircraft. What Eastern needed was a 727 but it'd be years before they were developed (partly at the instigation of Eastern).
Picture
N5518 turns away from the gate
The ongoing Electra problems and Boston crash, as well as a wildcat pilot strike and economic recession, were all contributory factors to Eastern posting its first loss, of $3.6 million, in 26 years, in 1960. This unfortunately coincided with the airline at least nominally having a new CEO, Malcom MacIntyre. He would spend much of his time trying to wrestle Eastern from Rickenbacker's control. The pair agreed on almost nothing but MacIntyre had been left a rather poisoned chalice and in the eyes of some, Rickenbacker's close friend Laurance Rockefeller for example, the Electra deal was the beginning of many of Eastern's later travails. Things would get worse for Eastern in 1961 and 1962 and MacIntyre's tenure would be ended in 1963.
Picture
Left: Pre-delivery colours and right: the last '720' colours from 1963
The Electra's would however continue to serve and eventually benefit from one of MacIntyre's initiatives - the Eastern Shuttle. For part 2 of this story see:

- Eastern's Electras Pt2: Shuttle Survivors

References

Cearley Jr, G.W. Eastern Air Lines: An Illustrated History
Russell, D.L. Eastern Air Lines: A History, 1926-1991
Serling, R.J. From the Captain to the Colonel: An Informal History of Eastern Air Lines
3 Comments
John Pangia link
11/7/2017 12:14:45 pm

All I have read is true.I worked @ Eastern @ LGA for 6 yrs.

Reply
BWI-ROCman
11/7/2017 02:54:48 pm

The propliner era is before my time, but it's fascinating to read about the decisions and history of that period. The Electra is one of any number of cases of an airliner that reminds us how far we have come in safety.

Earlier in the civil aviation era, we were still learning a lot of things by tragic experience. The rectangular windows on the Comet, the vibrating engines on the Electra--all of these things were learning experiences. But the CAB and then the NTSB vigorously investigated and issued directives, manufacturers and airlines kept implementing them, and air travel kept getting safer.

By the 1990's, design-factor crashes had largely been eliminated, as had wind-shear crashes, with the advances in weather-detection technology. We who fly today enjoy incredible safety levels achieved through the experience of earlier times such as the short-lived propliner era.

Jim

Reply
Norman Clairmont link
29/1/2023 11:35:46 pm

I went to work for Eastern after flying R6Ds all over the Pacific in the Navy. Started out flying First Officer and Flight Engineer on the Constellation in Boston I went to First Officer and then Captain on the
Electra.Everything about the aircraft was Awesome The cockpit was spacious with the flight engineer between the pilots, a beautiful and comfortable cabin The sound of the engines with the props at low
pitch going into high pitch for takeoff was like a Symphony Orchestra
You could grease the landings onto the runway so the passengers
didn't know we were on the ground until we reversed the engines!
One nite we were at Laguardia the weather was pretty bad in Boston
Flights were being diverted because of stormy weather and strong
crosswinds I called dispatch and was told that did not have planes for the first shuttle to laguadia the next morning ,that they making takeoffs
but inbound flights were diverting because of the 45 Knot crosswinds
runway 33 / 15 the ceiling was about 900 feet I told him I could take the empty plane and crew to Boston with enough fuel to fly to Boston
and then to Atlanta if Laguardia closed down He approved that plan
When we got to Boston they were taking off on runway 15 and said incoming flights were diverting I said I want to come in over the water
on an approach to Runway 33 and if it's not safe to land I will divert back to Laguardia or Atlanta. He said Cleared for Approach I told my first officer we are coming down sideways look out my side window and call the Runway We broke out about 900 feet and made the landing
I could not have attempted that approach in any other type of airplane
I went on to fly the Boing 727 as First Officer and Captain It was the most Beautiful Best Performing Jet ever built it will fly on 1 engine
with no engines hanging the wings they produce more lift per square inch You were not permitted to attempt a go around when landing
with one engine and the gear and flaps down because you were unable to retract them. and then put them down again on a 6 month Captan check in the simulator, on an approach to Miami I tried it . Called for' Take Off Power tune my ILS to the Parallel Runway " We made it ! The Check Captain Smiled and said I can't give you a Down because you made it
I had the chance to move to New York and fly the DC 8 or the Lockheed 1011 but I loved the 727 Eastern got into trouble like many other companies by Mismanagement and Under Capitalization
to much Debt and not enough Equity They bought the Boing 777 going into a recession forecasted by most economists 6 months before it began in an industry over saturated with capacity. Management then came to the employees asking for wage givebacks I told the ALPA
Union Negotiating Committee not to agree with wage givebacks unless
every dollar of the give backs was used to prepay the debt And showed
them the figures from their financial statements that showed that when you deducted the wage giveback payment from the operating income
you would have a positive net income In Post Graduate Work at Boston College I found a book on Bank Control of Corporation by David Kotz
and another book by professor Herman at U-Penn Wharton School
Corporate Power and Control He sent students to the corporations
to determine where the control was I wrote to him Identified my self
as a Captain with Eastern Airlines and member of ALPA and a Graduate Student at Boston College and asked him for a copy of the student report on Eastern Airlines In the student report a former president of Eastern said As long as I have Rockefeller's man Woodword on the board I could care less about the rest of the board
The pilots went on strike and before Eastern went into Bankruptcy
Donald Trump Bought the Easter Shuttle He invited any Eastern Employee to come to work for him Every thing was going to be the best
I attended the meeting at laguadia and at the end asked him if he was going to finance the shuttle with Equity. or was he going to load it up with Debt like all the other airlines have done 'well Captain You don't expect me to put all of the money do You ? I said " Mr Tump You Know what I'm talking about " So he loaded it up with Debt and the banks took it over and hired Us Airways to Manage it with an option to buy American Airlines also wanted it but the Banks gave it to Us airways
I ended up taking early retirement at age 58 and after American Merged with US Airways I am now a retired American Airlines Captain
with full life time travel benefits !

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