STARTING THE ELECTRA



QANTAS

Electra VH-ECA with the Gas Turbine Start Unit (GTSU) connected to the aft pneumatic receptacle.
Picture: R.E. Hourigan via John Hopton - The Collection via CAHS (p.4600-0561-029)

 

TRANS-AUSTRALIA AIRLINES

Electra VH-TLC with the low pressue bottle connected to the forward pneumatic receptacle.
Picture: Peter Gates Collection

 

Just to prove the exception to the rule, here is TAA's Electra VH-TLB at Hobart with a two bottle start cart connected to the aft pneumatic receptacle. It is speculated that this unit might have been borrowed from Ansett.
Picture: John Hopton - The Collection via CAHS (p.4600-1042-NWE)

 

ANSETT

Electra VH-RMB with the twin bottle cart connected to the forward pneumatic receptacle.
Picture: John Hopton - The Collection via CAHS (p.4600-0881-051)

 

Australia's first turbo-prop airliners, the Dart powered Vickers Viscount and Fokker F27 Friendship, were started electrically with power supplied by a Ground Power Unit (GPU) but the Lockheed 188 Electra required compressed air for engine starting. For this purpose, the L-188A Electras delivered to Trans-Australia Airlines and Ansett-ANA came equipped with four on-board high pressure air bottles, two of which were located in each inboard engine nacelle. These bottles could be charged in flight but with a performance penalty. TAA later removed the on-board bottles but Ansett retained them until their Electras were converted to freighters in 1972.

The L-188C Electras delivered to Qantas did not have the on-board bottles as they incurred a payload penalty (approximately 600lb) on long sectors. To start their Electras, Qantas used a Gas Turbine Start Unit (GTSU) which was a trolley-mounted Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). These units were already widely available for starting the Boeing 707.

Having dispensed with the on-board bottles, TAA relied on a low pressure Air Start Cart (depicted above) which comprised one very large bottle charged by a compressor mounted on the same chassis. These units were capable of two starts after which they needed recharging, a process that could take two hours! Connection to the aircraft was usually via a pneumatic receptacle under the leading edge of the right wing at the root. Lockheed also provided a customer option of a low pressure receptacle under the rear fuselage aft of the cabin door. This option was incorporated in 74 of the 170 Electras built and these were ordered by seven customers believed to include Qantas, TAA, ANSETT-ANA, TEAL (later Air New Zealand) and one aircraft for the Federal Aviation Administration. On the Qantas aircraft, the forward receptacle was rendered inoperative by sealing the access door shut. It is believed that this happened early in their service, possibly even before leaving the Lockheed factory. An Ansett engineer can recall only using the forward receptacle.

Ansett used two different types of start cart. One was a low pressure unit similar to TAA's but comprising two smaller bottles of similar total capacity to the single bottle of the TAA unit. This unit was charged in the hangar using hangar power. It did not have an on-board compressor as was previously stated. As the Ansett aircraft retained the on-board bottles in the passenger configuration, they also used a trolley with as many as twelve conventional, industrial type high pressure bottles which were used to charge the on-board bottles during turn-arounds. This unit also included a compressor.

The Electra also required a 90kVA Ground Power Unit (GPU) which was connected to a receptacle near the nose to supply electrical power until the engine driven generators came online. None of the Australian Electras were fitted with an on-board Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) although some were later retrofitted by subsequent operators.

One Qantas engineer familiar with starting the Electra recalls that the rear connection was favoured over the forward connection because of the latter's proximity to the "Whirling Wheel of Death" although the rear connection exposed the engineer to hot exhaust fumes. Once #3 and #4 were running, the GTSU would be disconnected.

With all of these Air Start Carts featuring bottles, it was fundamental to on-time operations that they should be fully charged before the aircraft arrived!

The GTSU is still widely used today, one being marketed as a Pneumatic Jet Engine Start Unit.

 

The author thanks the following for their assistance with this article:

Roger Chin
Peter Clukey
Peter Gates
Don Johnston
Norman King
Robert Phillips
David Thollar

 

Issue Date Remarks
6 11FEB25
Corrected the description of the Ansett two-bottle low pressure start cart. This unit was recharged in the hangar using hangar power and did not have an on-board compressor as was previously stated.
5 31JAN25
Elaborated on the option for an aft pneumatic receptacle.
4 29JAN25
Updated with an image of VH-TLB being started with a two bottle start cart connected to the aft receptacle.
2 25JAN25
Updated with additional photographs.
1 23AUG16
Original issue.



 


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