Grace McGuire, a pilot and Amelia Earhart historian
She's not exactly a celebrity but her story regarding the restoration of fuselage of the world’s last known Lockheed Electra 10E, known as Muriel is very interesting. The fuselage began the journey from El Cajon California to a new home in Atchison, Kansas. This follows a late July delivery of the aircraft’s wings and some other parts. The restored aircraft was acquired by the Aitchison (KS) Amelia Earhart Foundation. They plan to feature it as part of a new Amelia Earhart museum.
Karen Seaberg, the director of the foundation, explained “The Electra L-10E is the same model aircraft flown by Earhart on her fateful final flight around the world. Our goal is to use Muriel as the anchor of the new museum to bring Amelia Earhart’s story to life from her hometown.” Lockheed originally manufactured 15 Model 10E aircraft. Muriel is thought to be the only known remaining one.
The aircraft is being acquired from Grace McGuire, a pilot and Earhart historian. “We’re thrilled to carry on the amazing Earhart legacy through this aircraft,” Seaberg said. “At a time when it could have been discarded, it was instead impeccably cared for and restored and will now live on to educate future generations.”
McGuire first acquired the aircraft, which she named “Muriel” after Amelia Earhart’s sister, 34 years ago from the now-defunct Wings and Wheels museum located in Orlando, FL. According to McGuire, “The old Electra was the sorriest thing I had ever seen. It was badly corroded and needed major work. I didn’t know at the time that I had bought the only original Electra L-10E in the world.”
Her plan was to restore the plane to an airworthy condition and complete Earhart’s original 29,000-mile voyage. She began a lengthy restoration process
but was dealt a tough blow in the mid-1980s when she became very ill. Doctors misdiagnosed the ailment, and she went through continuing and worsening symptoms until it was finally revealed to be Lyme disease. According to McGuire, “One doctor thought I had multiple sclerosis and I knew I was finished. None of the doctors back then knew there was such a thing as Lyme disease-induced multiple sclerosis.”
Over the years, McGuire has continued to work on the aircraft and deal with complications from the Lyme disease. However, she eventually came to the decision that she wasn’t going to be able to make the journey.“It wasn’t an easy decision, but I knew about
a year and a half ago it would be impossible for me to do the flight,” McGuire said. “I thought, ‘I’ll never be able to sit in the cockpit for long stretches, and if anything happened, I would have a hard time getting out the escape hatch.’”
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