Development
Lockheed had established a strong position in commercial airliner production with its piston-engined Constellation series and was approached by Capital Airlines to develop a turboprop airliner, but with no interest from other American carriers, the company did not produce a design and Capital went on to order 60 British Vickers Viscount four-engined turboprop airliners. In 1954 the company offered a twin-engined design, the CL-303, to meet an American Airlines requirement; it was a high-wing design for 60 to 70 passengers but again the design failed to interest other carriers.
American Airlines then revised its requirement and specified a four-engine design for 75 passengers and a range of 2000 miles (3220 km). To meet this Lockheed proposed a new design, the CL-310 with a low wing and either four Rolls-Royce Darts or Napier Elands. The CL-310 design met the American Airlines requirement but Eastern Airlines wanted an aircraft with more range and 85 to 90 seats. Lockheed modified and enlarged the CL-310 design to use the Allison 501-D13, a civilian version of the T56 originally developed for the prototype Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport.
This design was launched as the Model 188 with an order for 35 aircraft by American Airlines on June 8, 1955, followed by an Eastern Airlines order for 40 on September 27, 1955. The first aircraft took 26 months to complete and by that time Lockheed had orders for 129 aircraft. The prototype, a Model 188A, first flew on December 6, 1957. and a was awarded a type certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 22 August 1958. The first delivery was to Eastern Airlines on October 8, 1958 although it did not enter service until January 1959.
In 1957 the United States Navy issued a requirement for an advanced maritime patrol aircraft. Lockheed proposed a development of the Electra which was later placed into production as the P-3 Orion, which saw much greater success. The Orion approaches nearly 50 years of front-line service.
Read more about this topic: Lockheed L-188 Electra
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