Museum Celebrates Sept. 21 Arrival of 1935 Lockheed Electra Airliner

Seattle, WA — The long-awaited fly-in arrival of the Seattle Museum of Flight’s 1935 Lockheed Electra is over. After 78 years in service, this will be the plane’s final flight. The rare airliner is the same type as Amelia Earhart’s famous plane, and it will be the centerpiece of a permanent Earhart exhibit opening in October. The Museum celebrated the arrival with special presentations, Electra simulator flights, music and festivities. Guest speakers included Alaska Airlines president Brad Tilden and Wells Fargo senior vice president Marilyn Metz. 

 

As the Museum’s airplane, the Electra made its first public appearance last week at the Reno National Championship Air Races Sept. 10-15. The vintage plane’s retirement flight will be from Reno to Seattle on Sept. 21. En route, the Electra will fly over an Amelia Earhart event in Independence, Ore., and flown near iconic Northwest landmarks such as Mt. Rainier and the Seattle skyline. After low passes over Boeing Field before landing, the Electra will taxi into the Museum parking lot and parked next to cars of the 1920s and 1930s. The Electra will be on view in the parking lot for the rest of the day, and will not be displayed again until it is installed indoors in the Earhart exhibit on Oct. 12.

 

The Museum’s Electra was built for Northwest Airlines and began passenger service in 1935. It served in WWII and then went back to flying passengers for airlines in Brazil and the U.S. until it was restored to replicate Amelia Earhart’s Electra in 1996. In 1997 Linda Finch flew it around the world, reenacting Earhart’s ill-fated, 1937 last flight. Today there is only one other Lockheed Model 10-E Electra in existence.