Aviation expert, historian, engineer, and AIAA North Texas Advisory Board member Erasmo Pinero (pictured below with students) presented the design, development, and operational background on the venerable Lockheed Electra. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. With its fairly high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings (resulting in the majority of the wingspan being enveloped in propwash), large Fowler flaps which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high altitude airfields.