1935 vintage airliner finds new home in Seattle

SEATTLE - The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the band played dixieland jazz and a bit of history flew into Seattle on Saturday.  The long awaited arrival of a 1935 Lockheed Electra airliner landed at the Museum of Flight.  The rare airliner, the same type as Amelia Earhart's famous plane, flew in from Reno, Nevada where it had been on display at the Reno Air Races. The airliner will be the center piece of a permanent Earhart exhibit opening in October, the Museum of Flight said in a press release.

The airliner was built for Northwest Airlines and began passenger service in 1935.  It served in WW II and then went back to flying passengers for airlines in Brazil and the U.S. until it was restored to replicate Amelia Earhart's in 1996.  In 1997 the airliner flew around the world, reenacting Earhart's ill-fated 1937 last flight.  Today there is only one other Lockheed Model 10-E Electra in existence.