Electra returns to the Czech Republic after 76 years

摘要

Lockheed Electra 10A N241M successfully arrived in the Czech Republic in late May, following a flight from the US in the hands of Milan Vacik and Nikola Lukacovic. Built in 1937 in Burbank, California, the Electra was acquired by the Bata shoe company in Czechoslovakia and flown as OK-CTB. In the spring of 1939, it was flown to London and was used during the war by the Royal Canadian Air Force as a VIP transport. After being retired from military use, it passed through the hands of numerous civilian operators until its present owner -a Czech entrepreneur - discovered the rare machine in the US. After five years of extensive refurbishment at Wichita Air Service in Kansas, the Electra was prepared for delivery across the North Atlantic to its new owner, painted in its original Czech livery. After stopping for some maintenance work at Hamilton in Canada (see last issue), the crew flew in seven daily stages over Greenland, Iceland and the UK to the Czech Republic, where both machine and men were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. Later this summer, the Electra is expected to appear at several vintage-themed air shows across Europe. The machine is now based at Tocna, a small grass airfield to the south of Prague, where it is also to be the central exhibit of a new aviation museum.