N241M (OK-CTB) - Lockheed L-10A Electra - reg. to Aircraft Guaranty Corp. Trustee - for BATA Shoe Corp.
at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) inside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

c/n 1091 - built in 1937


Don't let its shiny exterior and newly refurbished interior fool you. This is a plane that's been around the block a few times — and it's nearly 80 years old.

It's a stunning, newly refurbished 1937 Lockheed 10A Electra, much like the Electra 10E flown by Amelia Earhart in her ill-fated, around-the-world expedition in July of that same year.

The plane is one of the last of its kind still flying in the world, and it arrived with two pilots and a mechanic at the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum this week for some maintenance work.

After a five-year, multimillion-dollar restoration in Wichita, Kansas, the Electra still needs electrical system repairs and will make use of mechanical help at the museum.

Once that's done, the plane will take off for Prague in the Czech Republic, returning to the land of its first owner: the Bata Shoe Company.

As the plane can only carry enough fuel for five hours of flying, it is scheduled to make a dozen stops along the way as it hops through Newfoundland and Labrador, Greenland and then Iceland before winding its way over Great Britain and into the European continent.

"We have quite a journey ahead of us," says pilot Nikola Lukacovic, who will fly the plane with Milan Vacik, both from Prague. "Compared to this, commercial flying is very easy. It's not just takeoff, fly and landing. There are many things to do."

Though it's from a time when long flights were death-defying accomplishments, the twin-engine monoplane is outfitted with modern navigation and communications equipment — as required by aviation regulations.

Lukacovic's brother Ivo, an IT entrepreneur, owns the plane and is waiting back in Prague for the Electra to arrive. He plans to put it on display at an aviation museum and airport he also owns, and fly it in summer air shows in Europe.

"For people who understand flying, the Electra 10 is something very special," Lukacovic says.

It's particularly special in the Czech Republic because of the plane's connection to Bata Shoes. The plane was an iconic part of the company's marketing. Just before Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Nazis in 1939, the plane was used to carry the Bata general manager and others out of the country.

It eventually ended up in England, where it was pressed into service with the Royal Canadian Air Force and sold for civilian use after the war.

Several owners later, and in degraded condition, it was picked up by Ivo Lukacovic to make it the star attraction of his new museum.

mmcneil@thespec.com

Tags:   Lockheed L-10 Electra YHM N-reg N241M OK-reg OK-CTB Bata CWHM CanadianWarplaneHeritageMuseum

© All Rights Reserved

N241M (OK-CTB) - Lockheed L-10A Electra - reg. to Aircraft Guaranty Corp. Trustee - for BATA Shoe Corp.

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) inside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

c/n 1091 - built in 1937

Tags:   N-reg N241M OK-CTB OK-reg CanadianWarplaneHeritageMuseum CWHM Bata YHM Lockheed L-10 Electra

© All Rights Reserved

N241M (OK-CTB) - Lockheed L-10A Electra - reg. to Aircraft Guaranty Corp. Trustee - for BATA Shoe Corp.

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) inside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

c/n 1091 - built in 1937 -
powered by 2 P&W R-985 radial engines

Tags:   BATA Lockheed L-10 Electra CanadianWarplaneHeritageMuseum N-reg N241M OK-reg OK-CTB YHM

© All Rights Reserved

N241M (OK-CTB) - Lockheed L-10A Electra - reg. to Aircraft Guaranty Corp. Trustee - for BATA Shoe Corp.

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) inside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

c/n 1091 - built in 1937 -

powered by 2 P&W R-985 radial engines

Tags:   BATA Lockheed L-10 Electra CanadianWarplaneHeritageMuseum CWHM YHM N-reg N241M OK-reg OK-CTB

© All Rights Reserved

N241M (OK-CTB) - Lockheed L-10A Electra - reg. to Aircraft Guaranty Corp. Trustee - for BATA Shoe Corp.

at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) inside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

c/n 1091 - built in 1937 - powered by 2 P&W R-985 radial engines

Tags:   BATA L-10 Lockheed Electra OK-reg OK-CTB N-reg N241M YHM CWHM CanadianWarplaneHeritageMuseum

© All Rights Reserved