Kev

I'll use your post to add my comments on Electra.

Lockheed fixed the wing problem but bird had the bad name and airlines
didn't want to fly it.

USN bought a bunch (of the fixed birds) and put MAD gear and other
anti sub equipment in and have been flying them for years without any
wing problems.

Due to age and hours, Navy is starting to look at newer birds for
their mission. One being looked at is the 737.

2 more shopping days til Xmas 05 )

Big JOhn
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On 22 Dec 2005 07:36:00 -0800, "Kev" wrote:

Stubby wrote:
Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.

To jog your memory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-188_Electra

Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

The Electra problem happened pretty soon after they came out. Those
seaplanes have been around a long time.

Cheers, Kev