LOCKHEED L-14H "SUPER ELECTRA"

The Lockheed L-14 Super Electra was an American low-wing passenger and transport aircraft with a classic retractable in-flight landing gear, from the interwar period and World War II. The flight of the prototype took place in 1937, and shortly after that, mass production started, which led to the creation of about 350 aircraft of this type. The drive - in the WF62 version - was provided by two 900 HP Wright SGR-1820-F62 Cyclone engines. The plane did not have on-board weapons. The L-14 Super Electra was designed by Don Palmer as a development of the Lockheed L-10 Electra. Compared to its predecessor, the new machine was enlarged and received completely new engines, which increased the number of passengers (from 10 to 14 people) and had a positive effect on performance, especially maximum speed. The new plane was also Lockheed's response to competing machines from Douglas and Boeing: DC-2 and 247. The L-14 Super Electra machine turned out to be very successful and quickly gained considerable popularity. It was also licensed under construction in Japan by the Tachikawa and Kawasaki plants. It is worth adding that it was on board this plane that Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, returned to the country from the Munich conference in 1938. During World War II, the Lockheed Hudson bomber and patrol plane was developed on the basis of the L-14 Super Electra aircraft.