Customer Reviews

The Electra Story (Bantam Air & Space Series No. 9)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
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This is the story of a new kind of airplane that had a hidden problem. The problem was the worst kind -- it killed everyone aboard the airplanes and left virtually no clue as to why. The story is about the task force who figured out the problem with the Lockheed Electra and what they did to solve the mystery. If you liked "The Spirit of St. Louis", or "Apollo 13", you will not be able to put this one down.

A great new challenge of the new jet age, brought to light the mysteries of the unexplained disintegration of the world's newest and mightest propjet airliner and strange phenomena that caused so much tripaditon in the commercial aviation world. This book explained something new and undiscovered just to prove that we still have a lot to learn about many things. The truth is out there! Excellent book!

Robt. Serling's book on the electra is fascinating for two reasons: one, it is essentially the only published in-depth account of the airplane's accident history and two, it's rarity in both hardcover and paperback. It's destruction was due to "whirl mode", a combination of the harmonic frequency of the propellors and wing at cruise speed. If turbulence weakened an engine mount, the prop acted as an unstable gyroscope, transmitting different frequencies to the wing. When they matched the wing's harmonic frequency, it caused metal fatigue, resulting in structural failure. Aircraft engineers had not encountered this before. Great reading if you can find a copy.

The Lockheed Electra was a fine airliner. However, several crashes later and the flying public began to doubt this plane. A combined effort by Lockheed, airlines, and other aerospace companies showed that this airplane was indeed had a issue that under certain conditions could result in it crashing. This is the suspenseful story on how Lockheed found what was causing the problems and the fix it imposed on the hundred and fifty aircraft that were made and flown by 14 different airlines.

This is an interesting story of the life of one airliner. The author loved this aircraft and it shows in his writing. A good story about a great plane.

Amazing recount of a crash that happened in the town where I live 50 years ago. I found out it's a collectors' item. I am writing a newspaper story to commemorate this event that changed aviation history. Email me if you have info.

GREAT BOOK. I REMEMBER THE CRASHES AS A CHILD AND ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW THE STORY. I FINALLY FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS BOOK. ONE DETRACTION. THE ASSIGNED PROBLEM WAS ASCRIBED TO SOMETHING CALLED "WHIRL MODE". THIS IS NOT EXPLAINED. THE PROBLEM WAS BASICALLY CAUSED BY GYROSCOPIC PRECESSION OF THE HUGE PROPELLERS. IN THE POUNDING IN TURBULENCE, THE SIDE BRACING EVENTUALLY FAILED AND CAUSED THE PROP, GEARCASE, AND ENGINE TO ROTATE SIDEWAYS INTO THE WING. THE PROP CUT THE WING STRUCTURE AND OTHER THINGS.