Australian polar explorer and pilot Hubert Wilkins took part in the search for the famous Soviet pilot Sigizmund Levanevsky, who disappeared over the Bering Strait in URSS-N209 on 13 August 1937. The search continued while the Alaskan coastal waters froze and to replace his Catalina URSS-L2, Wilkins bought this long-range Electra, formerly NR16059. While the terrain looks barren, the aircraft is still in New York here, but Wilkins covered a vast area in Arctic winter conditions before the search was given up in March 1938. The Electra was then flown to Moscow for evaluation. The registration was reapplied as CCCP-N214 with a H-shaped Cyrillic N. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

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