The transatlantic plane famously stuffed with ping pong balls to make it float. After an emergency landing in Wales, Dick Merrill and entertainer Harry Richman arrived at Croydon on 4 September 1936. They returned to Croydon after a visit to Paris. They flew to Liverpool - Speke on the 10th or 11th and then on the 14th they took off for their return flight from Ainsdale Beach near Southport. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

Also used for a fast trans-USA flight - see other photo - NR13770 made the fastest Atlantic crossing to date on 2 September 1936 between New York and Llandeilo, Wales. Pilot Dick Merrill and entertainer Harry Richman stuffed the plane with 41,000 ping pong balls, hoping to keep afloat in an emergency. For the return flight, oddly, no runway in Britain was long enough and Ainsdale Beach near Southport was used. The return flight nearly put the ping pong balls to the test, apparently due to Richman dumping fuel, but they made it to Newfoundland. Merill made another transatlantic return flight in L-10 Electra NR16059, in May 1937, again using Ainsdale Beach. Photo from: Hagley Museum and Library

Flown by Jimmy Doolittle on a trans-USA speed record flight in January 1935 while on lease to Shell. It took up the restricted NR registration again in August 1936 for a double crossing of the Atlantic. Later sold in Spain, ending in the hands of the Nationalists. Photo from: Civil Aviation Historical Society, Melbourne, Australia