Storied Aircraft Destined for Winnipeg’s Royal Aviation Museum

In celebration of its 85th Anniversary, Air Canada—the flag carrier and largest airline of the Great White North—has donated a rare and iconic Lockheed L-10A Electra to Winnipeg’s Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.

The airplane—registration CF-TCC, is one of three purchased in 1937 by Air Canada forerunner Trans-Canada Airlines, and was—until recently—one of only two airworthy Lockheed L-10As in the great, wide world. The aircraft will go on permanent public display at the museum, where it will provide visitors glimpses of both Air Canada’s inaugural fleet type and one of history’s most storied and celebrated aircraft.

Developed by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to compete with Boeing’s 247 and Douglas’s DC-2, the Electra first took flight in 1934, thereby distinguishing itself as Lockheed’s first all-metal twin-engine aircraft. Named for a blue-white giant star in the Pleiades cluster, the Electra embodies the earliest work of aerodynamicist, aircraft engineer, and Aerospace legend Clarence “Kelly' Johnson, who suggested the Electra’s double-tail—a feature that would carry-over to Lockheed’s P-38 and be expanded upon in the company’s glorious Constellation airliner.

Air Canada senior vice president of flight operations Captain Murray Strom states: "There is no more fitting preservation and commemoration for one of our original aircraft than to have TCC be on permanent display in Winnipeg, which was one of TCA's original hubs when the airline began operations in 1937 thanks to its central location in our country. Air Canada has a long and rich history connecting Canadians from coast to coast which continues to this day, and it all started with the Lockheed L-10A 85 years ago. As we celebrate our 85th anniversary, we mark this milestone by ensuring that such an important part of Canadian aviation history will be available for Canadians and aviation enthusiasts to enjoy for many years to come.”

After being operated by Trans-Canada Airlines from 1937 through 1939, CF-TCC was sold to Canada’s Department of Transport, thus beginning a forty-year epoch of repeated sales to various corporations and private individuals.

In 1962, Trans-Canada Airlines leased CF-TCC from its then owner and flew it across Canada in a highly-publicized celebration of the air-carrier’s 25th anniversary. In 1983 Air Canada purchased the aircraft outright, restored it, and in 1986 undertook a fifty-stop Canadian tour in protracted observation of the airline’s 50th anniversary.

Since 1986, Air Canada—with help from the broader, Canadian aviation community—has maintained CF-TCC, keeping the grand old dame in pristine flying condition. Over the years, volunteers, to include Air Canada pilots and frontline maintenance personnel, have given of their time and pocketbooks to preserve CF-TCC for the enjoyment and admiration of future generations. When not flying, the polished aluminum Electra has been based in the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, or stored in Air Canada's Winnipeg hangar.

In September 2007, CF-TCC paid poignant homage to Air Canada’s 75th anniversary by recreating Trans-Canada Airlines’ first flight from Vancouver to Seattle.

To mark Air Canada’s 80th anniversary, the insuperable Electra took again to Canadian skies for another cross-country tour, beginning with a public appearance at the Royal Aviation Museum before continuing on to Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax Quebec City, and Vancouver.

Comes now 2022, and CF-TCC’s final journey to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg. That the well-loved and historic Electra should make its final stop so near the longitudinal center of the nation its labors united in both spirit and actuality is fitting and proper, and makes for a fine end to a long and dignified career.

FMI:www.aircanada.com/ca