Just wait until the cold and flu season starts (when the kids go back to school) and watch what happens as people show-up for their flights (by the hundreds) coughing and sneezing! It's the elephant-in-the-room nobody wants to talk about! I can just imagine what the TSA employees will do!!!

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

New orders dried up because, by then, the airlines had learned their mistake. By 1960 it was already clear that the flying public did not want to see propellers---period! Once the 707 and DC-8 made jet travel accessible to the masses it was all over.

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

Correction: On the previous reply the third sentence should begin with "On the L-188 a tiny mathematics error"-----

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

Lockheed seemed to have issues with flutter, back in the day. They always were pushing the envelope on speed. Speed, was their selling-point. So the L-18, and P-38 suffered flutter issues. Then a tiny mathematics error led to a situation where the engine nacelle and wing could reach the same frequency. Which caused a chain reaction. A weakened nacelle could not contain Propeller Auto-Procession resulting in the Dynamic Coupling of the wing and subsequent failure. To their credit, Lockheed set up a modification program and all the aircraft that had been built were sent through the modification factory at great expense to Lockheed. In spite of all the nasty litigation that followed the BN and NW crashes, at least the aviation industry knew that Lockheed had immense integrity.

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

Yes, and many airlines were loath to retire them including Eastern, who was a launch customer, and kept theirs (flying passengers) until 1977. Reeve carried cargo and passengers in Alaska until March of 1999. Varig carried passengers in Brazil until January of 1999 . Pretty impressive. The excuse for retirement was "propeller and engine maintenance has become too expensive and parts are in short supply". Really? What about all those many hundreds of C-130's and P-3"s?

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

Oh yeah. It was inevitable. Not, that the public would know the difference,but, the mainstream media would never let it rest. As it is, at this point the general public at large is still not flying anyway. AND, there is little to compare the 737's issues with the L-188. At the time many in the industry only referred to the L-188 as a "prop-jet". The name "Electra" was taken off of the side of the aircraft or name changed to "Electra II" or "Super Electra". I always thought the "Super Electra" moniker ironic since the ORIGINAL "Super Electra" L-18, suffered from flutter issues as well. Lockheed must have cringed at the idea.

(Written on 21-08-2020)(Permalink)

Correction: The departure airport was PDK!

(Written on 21-07-2020)(Permalink)

Not the first time this has happened. Years ago, back in Atlanta, a Martin 404 chartered by real estate investors was fueled with JetA at PDX. It took off and immediately had trouble. The Captain figured out that if the engines were at full power he could keep them going. He declared an emergency and tried to get into the westbound pattern of arrivals headed to ATL. He almost made it but the engines were so fouled and overheated he had to put it down on I-285 (which was brand new at the time and nobody used it!). He skipped over a bridge (at Snapfinger? Lakewood?) and came down in opposing traffic on the other side of the bridge. I think a car got hit head-on with fatalities and some people were killed on the plane. But, most survived.

(Written on 21-07-2020)(Permalink)

It's about time! A despicable act. Hold their feet to the fire and burn them good. Of course, politics being what it is, they will get a slap on the wrist. Still, the families of those murdered deserve to see some effort towards justice for their loved ones.

(Written on 16-07-2020)(Permalink)

Put them on a world-wide no-fly list for life! That will keep them up in 'da hood and out of everybody's way.

(Written on 16-07-2020)(Permalink)