![The culmination of nearly 27 years work as Electra ZK-AFD reaches takeoff speed for the first post-restoration flight. [Photo by Ruth Christie]](https://vintageaviationnews.com/wp-content/uploads/ZK-AFD-20240131-Ardmore-Ruth-Christie-05-678x381.jpg "ZK-AFD 20240131 Ardmore Ruth Christie 05")
By Zac Yates
After more than two decades of meticulous restoration, an example of Lockheed’s rare 1930s airliner has taken to Kiwi skies. Owner Rob Mackley accompanied test pilot Ryan Southam and engineer Huib Volker of restorers Hawk Aero on the test flight of his Lockheed 10A Electra ZK-AFD (c/n 1145) from Ardmore Airport near Auckland, the flight marking the culmination of nearly 27 years of work.
The type played a key role in developing New Zealand’s “main trunk” airline routes with seven examples serving initially with Union Airways from 1937 and then the New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NZNAC) from 1947, until the five surviving airframes were replaced by the Douglas DC-3 in 1950. It’s believed only one other example of the Lockheed 10 is currently flying worldwide, this being Točná Airport’s L10A OK-CTB (s/n 1091).
![The Electra's Pratt & Whitney R-985s come to life. The aircraft is named Kuaka in tribute to an aircraft flown by Bill Mackley, owner Rob Mackley's father. [Photo by Ruth Christie]](https://vintageaviationnews.com/wp-content/uploads/ZK-AFD-20240131-Ardmore-Ruth-Christie-04-1024x683.jpg "Lockheed 10A Electra Flies in New Zealand 3")
![Rob Mackley's Electra wears its original Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile markings on one side as seen in this photo taken at Ardmore Airport on December 6th, 2022. [Photo by Richard Currie]](https://vintageaviationnews.com/wp-content/uploads/ZK-AFD-20221206-Ardmore-Richard-Currie-02-1024x683.jpg "Lockheed 10A Electra Flies in New Zealand 4")
![Electra ZK-AFD taxis back in from Ardmore's runway after the successful first post-restoration flight on January 31st, 2024. [Photo by Ruth Christie]](https://vintageaviationnews.com/wp-content/uploads/ZK-AFD-20240131-Ardmore-Ruth-Christie-02-1024x520.jpg "Lockheed 10A Electra Flies in New Zealand 5")
The Electra will eventually join Mackley’s other aircraft, including a Boeing-Stearman A75N1 and a Cessna O-1G Bird Dog, at Omaka Aerodrome near Blenheim in NZ’s South Island.
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Zac, born and raised in New Zealand, grew up immersed in aviation, with his father working as a helicopter crewman and living at Wanganui Airport. His passion for aviation started in childhood, building scale model kits and following the global warbird scene. He later trained as a journalist but found mainstream media unfulfilling, leading him to pursue a career as an aircraft maintenance engineer.
Now residing in Blenheim, near the historic Omaka Aerodrome, Zac studies at RNZAF Base Woodbourne and aspires to become a private and warbird pilot. Known as "Handbag" in aviation circles, he shares his love for aviation through photography and writing, connecting with enthusiasts worldwide.
That’s wonderful! Another BEAUTIFUL Lockheed 10A Electra took to the air again after its restoration. January 31, 2024. I had been following the restoration in the occasional articles that came my way.
In 1967, with a wonderfully talented crew, I flew Lockheed 10A Electra N79237 around the world on the Earhart Trail. On July 2, 1967, I dropped a wreath on Howland Island, which was Earhart’s flight-planned destination on July 2 1937. Then we returned to Oakland, California, on July 7, 1967, thus completing Earhart’s flight for her. Two days later Amelia’s sister Muriel thanked me for so doing.
Lockheed CF-TCA (N79237) was the first of three Lockheed 10As purchased by Trans Canada Airlines in 1937-38. CF-TCB and CF-TCC followed. The latter, a beautiful restoration, was flown in the USA and Canada. In September 2023 it was flown from Montreal to Winnipeg and put in the Aviation Museum there. It will
never be flown again.
I loved flying Lee’s Koepke’s Lockheed. He obtained Lockheed (N79237) in 1961 after it had been put down on a runway gear down at Willow Run Airport, near Detroit. It was to be used for fire fighting practice after all the valuable items had been stripped. By the summer of 1966, Lee had it flying again. In January 1967 he and I agreed to get that aircraft around the world on the Earhart Trail. He wanted to prove Amelia’s disappearance had not been caused by the airplane. Lee’s Lockheed, equipped for a global flight, performed perfectly. Not ONE thing went wrong. The engines never missed a beat.
After the flight, Lee let me take the plane to fly-ins. There was always a multi-rated pilot in the right seat in case something happened to me. There was NO autopilot.
Lee sold his Lockheed in the spring of 1968. It was flown to Montreal and displayed in the terminal in its original configuration and livery. On two plaques, one in English and one in French, is the story of this grand old Lockheed and its global flight. When the new museum at Rockliffe was opened, the plane was moved over there. I have never been to see it, preferring to remember it as it had been during the Earhart Commemorative Flight. (In my book, World Flight, the Earhart Trail, I take readers around the world with me on the 1967 Earhart Commemorative Flight. Published in 1971 by Iowa State University Press, people are still buying it on Amazon.com)