VH-ADS  Lockheed 14H2 Super Electra   (c/n  1431)


                           


                               The Lockheed 14 series was the forerunner of the Lockheed 18 Lodestar.  It was also the aircraft
                               around which the Lockheed Hudson bomber was developed early in WW II.   The Super Electra
                               was designed to compete with the DC-2/DC-3 models being produced by Douglas at the time.  It
                               never received much success in the USA (only Northwest Airlines purchased them) and most of the
                               112 built were exported.    Interestingly, the Japanese built more Lockheed 14s than the parent
                               company, turning out 119 license-built examples which served as Army Type LO transports with
                               the Allied code name of "Thelma".
                               VH-ADS was, in fact, an ex-Northwest machine (actually, they had sold it to Continental after only
                               a  year's operation because they quickly found out that the airliners were not nearly as economical to
                               run as the DC-3).  Continental, in turn, sold it to the W.R. Carpenter Company of Sydney to operate
                               a Sydney to Rabaul service.
                               For a complete history of this aircraft go to:
                                                                                           http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/electra/vh-ads.htm