Northwest Airlines
Lockheed 14H Super Electra NC17386
(c/n 1405)
Northwest elected
to go with the somewhat faster Lockheed 14 rather than the DC-2.
In fact, they
did not become a DC-3
operator until 1939. The Lockheed 14 is normally
referred to as the Super
Electra.
However, Northwest dubbed them 'Sky
Zephyr'. Their fleet of
12 were used on the longer
stage lengths,
relieving the Lockheed 10-As for the shorter haul sectors. The
unusual dark colored set
of wings
underlying the orangy-red "Northwest" titling made this a difficult
aircraft to photograph at the
best of times. Gordon Williams' shot above (via Bill Larkins)
taken at Seattle Airport circa 1939 is
one of the best I have seen.
The Northwest Airlines supplied
photograph immediately below is even
less contrasty as far as the
titling is concerned. Below that is a photo of the Lockheed 14
prototype in
Northwest
markings which shows the treatment in a little more contrast. For
whatever it's
worth I will
append below a
shot of the nose of one of
these Hudson-bomber predecessors, complete with
"Sky
Zephyr"
titling. In 2007 I visited London and, as is my wont, I
paid a visit to the Portobello Road
street market. There I
acquired a
set of W.D. & H.O.Wills cigarette
cards in the "Speed" series issued
in
1938. The image on the
foot of the page displays what appears to
be the prototype, and, poor that
this
enlargement is, it does serve to provide a color
representation of NWA's
Super Electras of that
time. Incidentally,
for any viewers
interested in obtaining cigarette cards,
visit the outside stand of
"Allision"
about
half way down the row of outside stands in the Portobello Road
(the street market is
only open on
Saturdays). Allison has an amazing
selection of genuine pre war cards in
virtually every
category. Tell her Ed Coates sent you,,, ........she'll
give you a deal.
Lockheed 14H Super Electra NC17383
(c/n 1402)
(N) X17382
Lockheed 14H Prototype (c/n
1401)
