The Lockheed L-188 Electra
The Lockheed L188 Electra has the distinction of being the only large American turboprop airliner. An excellent aircraft, the Electra was beset by unfortunate and severe structural problems, and then was surpassed by rapid improvements in pure jet aircraft. The Electra was first developed in response to an American Airlines request for a medium-size short-haul airliner for US inter-city routes. However, Eastern wanted a larger plane, and negotiations led to the development of the final Electra specs. American and Eastern placed the first orders (for 35 and 40 planes, respectively), and American received the first Electra on December, 1958 (although it could not fly the first service due to a strike, and Eastern was left with this honor). The orders came rapidly then, from many US and Asian operators, as well as KLM in Europe.
However; two Electras were found to have broken up in flight (they crashed in 1959 and 1960), and a structural fault was suspected. After a speed limit was imposed, Lockheed began looking for the answer, which it found in the phrase "whirl mode". If damaged, the engine mountings developed a harmonic with the wing when a whirl mode oscillation was generated, and this eventually tore the wing off the aircraft. The fix was not cheap, but it was effective. However, by then the Electra's reputation was tarnished, and many airlines shied away from the plane - only 26 more were sold. The existing Electras continued to boast excellent reliability and economics, and were not replaced until modern short-range jets became available. The Electras were then sold to other airlines or converted to freighters, and several are still flying today. The virtues of the Electra were not ignored by the military, since it was developed into the US Navy's highly successful P-3 Orion and other subchasers.
FS2004 Pacific Southwest Airlines L-188
Electra Base Pack. This new base pack
features updated flight dynamics from FSAviator, Updated Kevin Trinkle panel,
and 6 aircraft (the L-188A and L-188C, each for Libnardo Guzman's, Chris Buff's and JR Lucariny's
models). For the other liveries see the aircraft below. Bill
Schulz has painted JR Lucariny's L-188C Electra into the colors of PSA. This
one is painted into the early paint scheme, before rebuilding by Lockheed (thus
no "Super" Electra titles). These Electras replaced the DC-4's on PSA's
routes up and down California, and allowed them to out-compete other airlines
(until Western got its own Electras!). Check out those beautiful nacelle
textures - they were done from real photos - thanks!! You will also need to
download the
JR Lucariny model file or the improved
payware version. The CV-580 Base Pack must
be downloaded and installed to get the sound package. Last updated
on 8/30/17.
FS2004 PSA L-188 Electra (in base pack above). Bill Schulz painted Chris Buff's L-188A Electra into
these bright colors. After PSA painted the Electras in the pink scheme they
decided that they needed a new image, and the Electras were later painted into
this bright orange "Catch Our Smile" paint scheme, complete with the smile painted
under the nose. Pink version. FSX
Version painted by Fabio Cabral, includes pink version.. Requires the KBT
Base Pack and the Fix.
FS2004 Western Air Lines 1959 L-188 Electra (in base pack above). Frank Gonzalez has painted
the JR Lucariny L-188A Electra into the colors of PSA competitor's Electra,
Western. In this beautiful paint job they flew the medium and short hauls
for the airline, and were later painted into the "jet age" scheme.
(The fourth aircraft in the Base Pack (Chris Buff's L-188C Electra) is provided in VARIG colors by Bill Schulz for flying the Ponte Aérea flights between Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont airport and Sao Paolo's Congonhas.airport. The fifth and sixth aircraft are a Libardo Guzman L-188A of Eastern Air Lines and L-188C in KLM colors, both by Frank Gonzalez.)
FS2004 Western 1968 L-188 Electra.
Textures ONLY. Western later repainted their Electra's into the standard
"jet scheme". This is a repaint of the JR Lucariny Electra by Frank
Gonzalez - check out that Indian Head! Also requires the Base
Pack . Last updated on 8/24/11.
FS2004 Air California L-188 Electra.
Textures ONLY. Air California used the Electra on routes to Lake Tahoe
from several locations in California. At the time, the Electra was one
of the few planes able to get into Lake Tahoe's small but high airport. This
is a repaint of the JR Lucariny Electra by Bill Schulz - check out that sunburst
on the nose! Also requires the Base
Pack . Last updated on 8/24/11.