RARE LOCKHEED 10E ELECTRA TO APPEAR AT WOG 2010!

The world’s only remaining Lockheed 10E Electra, twin to the aircraft flown by the famous Amelia Earhart and her Navigator Fred Noonan on her ill-fated Trans-global flight in 1937, will be on display at the Wings over Gillespie Air Show on June 5 & 6, 2010.

The rare twin-engine plane was constructed by Lockheed Aircraft in 1935, and completed just as the plane flown by Earhart was under construction.

Grace McGuire, whom many are calling the ‘new Amelia’ owns the vintage aircraft and is planning on flying it in a re-creation of Earhart’s last flight. Known as the Electra, the plane is completely restored to its original configuration with Pratt & Whitney R-1340 nine-cylinder radial engines. The aircraft, once operated by Pan-American Airlines between the U.S. and South America was purchased by McGuire in Florida before it could be sold for scrap.

Wings over Gilliespie will have the aircraft on static display. It will be a rare opportunity to see virtually the same plane which disappeared over the Pacific Ocean between New Guinea and Howland Island on July 2, 1937. Earhart and Noonan were never seen again, becoming one of aviation’s most enduring mysteries.

McGuire plans to fly the Electra on a re-creation of Earhart’s final flight around the world, following the same course and using the same instruments and navigational techniques. She intends the flight to be a tribute to the lost aviators. McGuire, who closely resembles the 1930’s most famous aviatrix, has been featured in TIME Magazine and several television interviews. During the air show she will be by her plane, which she has named ‘Muriel’ in honor of Amelia Earhart’s sister, whom she knew as a girl.

©2010 wingsovergillespie.org