ELECTRA! Queen of the Aleutian Islands

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the great aviation writer Ernest Gaughan believed that fate was a hunter stalking each of us and demanding that we reveal our courage or cowardice in its presence such did fate of May 12th 1959 confront Evelyn Vieira who would one day become my mother she sat buckled under a flight attendant station Evelyn's capital airlines constellation made a second approach into a rain-soaked Charleston West Virginia Airport the airport which sits atop a mountain was undergoing construction and the Connie came in too fast the crew attempted another go-around but failed the plain ground looped hit a mound of dirt created by a runway expansion project and burst into flames amid the fire and smoke the quick and professional actions of the flight attendants were credited with helping to minimize the loss of life fortunately for me mom not only survived the accident she continued to fly for capital where she was based in Washington DC and where she met the man who would become my father my dad was a pilot he flew all weather night fighters for the Marines at the end of the Korean Conflict and was hired by Eastern Airlines in April 1959 he met Evelyn Viera and DC months after her accident in Charleston they were engaged on February 29th 1960 and in December of that year I was born it might have been the drone if the propellers or the whine of the engines but something about the Lockheed Electra got my attention early in life at 3 months old I had already begun to log miles on the beautiful prop jet now I review these family details to try and justify what has become a 42-year love affair with an airplane an airplane that has been tough deeply into my memory and my family's past [Music] of course as an airline brat I flew the Electra and Easterns whisper Jets often yet despite the many hundreds of hours I've logged as a passenger over the years the ones I remember most vividly most fondly were those spent flying in the Electra as a young boy Eastern's Electra had a Sky Lounge and I can recall sitting in that lounge one bright afternoon and looking back at the horizontal stabilizer and down at all the small cars and yellow buses on the roads and some things like a miniature New York City or hard to forget equally hard to forget where the giant propellers that greeted you on entry and exit from the Electra each blade was quite a bit taller than I was as a boy and left quite an impression in my memory I can't say why but the shape of the blades and the contours of the engines left me for a wanted more and I was always very very sad to leave an Electra flight alas in 1977 I saw a full-page ad announcing that the final electric air shuttle flight had been flown for Easter and that the plane had been replaced by more quiet jets to mean quiet wasn't the point the hum of the allison's is a sound to be savored not silenced but Eastern had gone to an all jet fleet and abandoned the electorate eventually after years of struggle the airline itself ran into the harsh reality of the marketplace and fell from the skies in bankruptcy the impact that my family was hard but eventually we all realized that the world didn't care that Eastern was gone and that it wasn't the center of things we went on with our lives but an urge not to forget was strongly planted in me and the Elektra once again became my passion [Music] you journey to remember the Electra begins with a long flight from the eastern United States to Alaska we leave in the early evening and chased the Sun through most of the night the splendid seven our sunset competes with the mountain vistas as we cross into the Yukon and then Alaska where the Sun finally sets and the glorious Northern Lights appear on my way to the hotel much like those depicted in this great photo by John Curtis Alaska has already taken my breath away and I've yet to even see or hear an Electra the next morning I arrive back in Anchorage International Airport and find the revolutionary wastegate complex and their nearby fixed base operations and cargo facility my date with the past is finally upon me Anchorage International in the late 1990s is an exciting place for aviation history in addition to the Reva lectures you might see caribou like the one landing for dc-3s DC sevens convair 580 s c-130s are a host of international airline jumbo jets like the NCA cargo 747 taxing by two of the three Electra's that we've operated until the spring of 2001 but my real desire is to fly an Electra to soak up all that is unique and interesting about this great airplane before they're retired finally after a briefing by flight dispatch in the captain I joined the engineer and cabin crew as we make our way out to the gate to prepare the airplane for departure the Reeve ramp personnel work efficiently and professionally to load bags fuel and food as I walk around and film the Electra the large Aero product props and silky lines of the Allison engines are exactly as I remember them as a child and the lines of Electra seen anything but ready for retirement here the flight engineer completes one of her many preflight tasks and inspects the 13 foot diameter props and hand turns them to get oil distributed throughout the spline meanwhile the front cargo door on an 178 RV is being open so that baggage can be conveyed into the combi style compartment this compartment can be configured in many ways to accommodate various passenger and cargo demands for a given flight we from 28 passengers and four pallets to full 66 passenger configuration while all the activity outside continues the read ground crew also works to prepare the interior this crewman is tying off the small cargo hold in 1968 RV which can seat 84 passengers as shown the ramp and cabin teams work seamlessly is the busy dance of loading materials checking the cockpit and preparing the cabin for passengers continues finally the captain arrives and the passengers walk on the tarmac right by the airplane and I think that something important has been lost with the advent of jet ways perhaps the sense of adventure and romance of nearly touching the bird that would help us make the world a smaller place in any case this Electra is about to depart and we should hop aboard and prepare for the pushback which is quite exciting as the four big props are started in sequence as shown in this next segment the pushback at Anchorage is done with a one in the tug one working at the nose of the Electra and the third on the outside wing tip on this flight they perform a flawless push and seen from the tug view and we hear the distinctive wind up of the Allison engine [Music] as the number three engine reaches its target speed the engineer directs bleed air from that engine to start the outboard engine [Music] the nose crewman gets noticed from the engineer that external power is no longer needed and unplugs the Electra and clears the tug to begin the actual pushback the tug at the direction of the nose crewman slowly begins to move the Elector in position as number two engine is started on the right side [Music] finally engine number one is cleared and started and the flight attendants finished their preflight safety announcements meanwhile the tug continues to get precise hand signals from a lead crewman to align the tug on so that it can be disengaged and the props glimmer in the afternoon side with a few hand cranks the Electra is freed from the tug and with the departure salute from the ground crew we begin our taxi out and the cockpit becomes a rather busy place in preparation for takeoff [Music] [Music] power nice after the pre-flight briefing and taxi checklist have been completed the engineer moves the props out of the ground idle range to prepare to take off the captain and carefully works to synchronize the prop horsepower gauges the captain now applies full pitch to the props and the electorate begins a rapid acceleration [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you with the gear and flaps up we begin our climb with tourniquet arm and portage pass in the distance the weather and port heiden is overcast with ceilings well below minimums and the crew prepares to fly directly to Sand Point instead and determines that we will have to burn off a bit of fuel to meet the legal landing wait into sand points four thousand foot runway the crew makes the necessary calculations and I explore the overhead panels and enjoy the buzzing and humming sounds of the engines at cruise the weather at Sand Point is clear and I get my first glimpses of the remarkable volcanic chain of the illusions which pop up and dutton in the distance towards Cold Bay on my left the Shamokin islands were Sand Point resides begin to take shape and we start our descent Sand Point is located on popoff island just south of quarter of an island and just north of the much larger unga island and it's huge petrified forest that is estimated to be nearly 50 million years old these islands are unique in the Aleutians as their weather is moderated by the relatively warm Pacific Ocean warm at least in comparison that the bitterly cold Bering Sea just 50 miles north even still a clear and sunny day like the one we're flying today is relatively rare so rather than making a direct approach into sand point the crew elects to burn fuel by flying between kirova and popov islands and provides a visual feast of the green islands in late summer these islands are host to eagles and buffalo and the waterways between the islands often have whales during the springtime but we find no wildlife today as we prepare for the landing [Music] having estimated a new landing wait the crew prepares for a visual approach across the southeastern tip of Popov Island and turns right into final approach on runway 3-1 it's hard to appreciate the challenge of flying into Sandpoint small runway on this beautiful day but it's easy to see that there's no room for error on this approach and that few aircraft as large as the Electra would ever make it safely [Music] on short final the engineer calls out the speed relative to the reference airspeed for landing and the captain settles the Elector on the centerline [Music] and touchdown the large props are put into reverse mode and the Electra slows quickly and safely the props are then put into ground idle mode one at a time and we taxi in [Music] our arrival into Sand Point is greeted by a bald eagle on the MLS tower and I'm thrilled to have such a gorgeous stay to show the election [Music] [Music] you [Music] one of the many distinctive sounds of the Electra is the cargo door opening here it opens to a breathtaking scene of props mountains and blue sky and allows the crew to begin loading thousands of pounds of cod melt which are abundant in the shoemaking Islands [Music] the car go pick up here will require the loading of fuel which illustrates another reason the Electra is so well-suited to fly in these remote parts fueling is controlled from a panel located right behind the right main landing gear and the electric fuel system features very high flow rates and a very simple ground operation in general the Electra is easy to access for ground operations and the irresolution ground crews move with skill to prepare the plane for departure back to Anchorage I just assume stay at Sand Point for a while and admire the contrasts of green islands the blue waters and the red and white of the Electra and share the company of eagles but this is not typical evolution Island weather nor Alaska's far more typical as the cold of winter as shown in these next clips during my March 1999 visit to Anchorage we were hit with a large snowstorm they gave me a chance to show how both the ground and flight crews must fight the snow and ice and bitter howling winds to keep the electors flying in this segment we watch a turnaround of the electorate in blowing snow and blizzard conditions the flight engineer who has the dubious honor of doing the walk around in these conditions checks the fuel levels in each wing tank by peering through a tube she also checks the props tires and landing gear and ensures that the aircraft is secure in the wind [Music] [Applause] when the electors depart Anchorage in the winter they're treated with the standard de-icing chemicals and procedures once the wings are de-iced however the elector is capable of feeding engine bleed air throughout the wing creating a hot wing that will not have to be de-iced again so long as the engines are running this among many other features gives the electra and excellent dispatch reliability in cold weather [Music] as this electro taxis into the blizzard the distinctive high-pitched whine of the Electra on the ground is particularly pronounced and I grin is another childhood memory is reawakened as hard as the groundwork is in the spilling cold flying in these conditions demands the best also on this wintery flight into Sand Point the crew is flying the GPS Charlie approach in the runway 1/3 this will take us over the alb at waypoint to 4,000 feet to clear a mountain and then deploying at 2,300 feet to clear a small hill just before the runway at this point the crew should begin to make visual contact with the area and then fight crosswinds into a short an ice-covered runway this is a typical Aleutian island day and these are the conditions where the Electra really burns the respect of the flight crews and passengers don't try this and eject French man you even if the Electra is not having to cope with ice and snow she's challenged to show her muscle and departing Sand Point with a healthy load of cargo and people in this startup taxi and takeoff sequence from the passengers perspective we see a full power launch and the Electra shows her exceptional abilities to deliver power and acceleration on demand note by looking at the edge of the props how the angle goes to 90 degrees as full power is applied for takeoff and listen to the Allison sing at their characteristic c-sharp pitch [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] after a remarkably short takeoff roll we're gear up and out of Sand Point and the electric lines quickly towards its 22 thousand foot cruise out to two as the Sheboygan Islands recede into the distance we settle in for the cruise and enjoy the large windows and bright cabin this flights destination is Anchorage but our video tour continues next with an approach into spectacular and dangerous Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island you Dutch Harbor sits tucked in the north central part of Unalaska Island some 760 miles to the southwest of Anchorage there's a natural harbor protected from the Bering Sea by a flank of volcanoes and mountains and it's perhaps one of the most beautiful and also terrifying places to fly into on this flight in March 1999 we are greeted by a veil of snow clouds which obscure on Alaska until we fly through them we then enter a Cathedral of snow-covered volcanoes reflected in near still water a rare treat that makes this approach into the 3,900 foot runway relatively easy at least by Dutch Harbor standards [Music] with hog Island at a head the crew prepares for its approach to the runway which has tucked the small flat base of Mount ballyhoo on the left on this approach will fly to the northern tip of cog island and make a continuous and gentle left turn onto final [Music] notice is the runway now comes into view how it is virtually surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and has deep water of those things this approach always demands respect and precision even on the rare calm and sunny day with Mount Newhall giving us an icy head on stair the captain makes a fine landing and we go into beta reverse with plenty of room to spare in contrast to this ideal and calm afternoon where the surrounding mountains and the ever-present Mount ballyhoo pose no risk the next clip shows Dutch Harbor at its worst and the Electra and her reef crew at their best during that flight in June 1998 the crew battles black water form of micro water spouts heavy crosswinds and gusting wind shears soup of typical Aleutian island weather the Whitecaps of the Bering Sea indicate heavy gusts and black water in the harbor the ceiling is about three thousand feet and Onalaska just appears out of the fog at this point we're coming into the harbour via the same route as we did on the earlier approach now ballyhoo is on the left and the captain is flying towards hog island with table top mountain on our immediate right as we approach the spit where the runway is cut out of the side of Mount ballyhoo the flight engineer calls out the air speed every few seconds you can hear the variation in the speed which is caused by the gusting winds it's critical for the captain to know these variations as he attempts to land the closer we get to the runway the less inviting the approach seems the captain peers intently through his high contrast classes and chooses to go around [Music] [Music] [Music] the instant thrust response from the big crops changing pitch will allow the crew to compensate for the gusts while the short wings of the Electra make her able to land on the over 50 knot crosswinds unheard of in today's aircraft [Music] as we now flied just off to the side of Mount Newhall the plane begins to get buffeted by wind shear and the captain holds her study into the crosswind the runway is now off to our right tucked under Hog Island the flight engineer is calling out the air speed relative to the targeted reference speed and you can hear the props responding to the changes in thrust to compensate for the airspeed variations this is an approach that will test every bit of applied way and the 12 smile Cheers - five plus three plus five - five [Music] - 20 [Music] I understand not they later on nice job as we turn back to Mount Newhall I instantly come to appreciate the skill of the Reeve crews and the remarkable toughness and responsiveness of the Elektra our video tour abbrevs estimations is taken us from Anchorage to Sand Point and Dutch Harbor and we've seen the Electra working in some difficult conditions most of the time however the Electress crews calmly to and from the Aleutians 21,000 feet of the cloud socked Bering Sea with their engines humming a restful lullaby in this segment we take an interlude to explore the volcanoes of the Aleutian Islands and to listen to the Alison's home [Music] our first tour takes us to the Andrea knopf Islands about two-thirds of the way out on the Aleutian island chain here resides the great sidqin volcano across from Adak Naval Air Station and the majestic snow-covered Kanaga volcano [Music] [Music] next we cruise northeast to the Fox Islands home of Dutch Harbor and also to Mac machine volcano mount a kook and mount for supid off [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] it's strange but this is what calls me to Alaska this very site of the Allison engines backlit by the Sun I remember this as a child I recall the sounds and the smile of the oil cooler the friendly face as it were and I know I've been blessed to see and feel the Elector again it had the rare opportunity to relive a bit of my past and make it real again and I wish I could stay here all afternoon and bask in the northern skies as we continue northeast we fly over the Alaska Peninsula north of the schumak and islands in Sand Point and find some of the most beautiful volcanic sites including the towering shakaal dean volcano and the Pavlov and Dutton pairing as well as Veniamin off [Music] finally we begin to make our way into the Cook Inlet towards Anchorage with Iliamna under our wing tip and the allison's and their props churning home in the late afternoon sky [Music] the long Cook Inlet into the Anchorage area is flanked by active volcanoes such as the isolated volcano Augustine and the spectacular Mount redoubt shown here in both the peaceful rest and during eruption [Music] [Applause] [Music] and so our volcanic tour comes to an end and we begin a descent into the Anchorage area and the end of our flight you leisurely descended to Anchorage gives me time to reflect on my journey to see and hear the Electra in action one last time I know that this is my last flight on the Proud prop jet and I'm thrilled to have captured so much of the grace of the aircraft but I'm also saddened to know that soon the electorate will not be flying passengers anymore and at the end of an aviation era is at hand I'm so grateful to the highly skilled and passionate flight crews of the Electra for having shared their world with me they know what a special treat it has been to fly the Electra and some of the harshest and most beautiful terrain and weather on earth and to be able to depend on her for their safety despite early setbacks in the Electra's career that cost the lives of nearly 100 people in the 22 years that revolution has flown Electra's in alaska they have not lost a single passenger and the plane has proved beyond any doubt that it is a most remarkable and robust design it is able to fly in terrible ice it can handle high cross winds and gusts to stop quickly and safely on snow and ice cover runways and the Electra can take off with large payloads from short fields that are surrounded by volcanic and mountainous terrain in short the Electra and Alaska were made for each other and it will be a true loss to Alaskans when the Electra is gone in fact it will be a loss to the entire aviation world when the last passenger Electra is retired I sometimes think that if the original factory tools had not been destroyed it's likely that some modification of the Electra would still be manufactured today [Music] now as we fly up Cook Inlet the crew prepares to land on runway 6 right at Anchorage a dc-10 ahead must-do s turns to reach the proper descent profile and the crew watches carefully to maintain the needed separation for safety and with fire island in the foreground the crew prepares its final approach into Anchorage [Music] having requested a change to land on to runway six left the crew now establishes self on the glide slope and we make our way towards Anchorage in the shoe gods mountains for one last time in the Electra sit back and enjoy the sounds of this proud bird as she comes home one last time [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] you you

Channel: William Schulz

Views: 68,061

Keywords: Mighty Electra, Lockheed Electra, Reeve Aleutian Airways, L-188

Id: 98Ya4RWlXs4

Length: 54min 55sec (3295 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 06 2020