At the beginning of September 1935, Electra 1035, bearing registration NC14948, was delivered to R. W. Norton of Shreveport, Louisiana. The following year, in November 1936, the Electra was purchased by Fritz Bieler for Spanish Republican Commandant Melendreras. The aircraft was flown into Mexico, via San Antonio, Texas, without an export permit where the registration was changed to XA-BDQ; the following week it was scheduled to make a flight back to the US with Spanish Ambassador to Mexico, Felix Gordon Ordas, on board when it made an emergency landing in Brownsville, Texas. Following repairs, the aircraft was shipped to Bordeaux, France on December 23, 1937, aboard the Ibai. According to some sources between March and June 1938, when Francosists opened up borders for transportation of supplies, the Electra was flown to the Republican part of Spain where it served as a transport aircraft. It was also apparently one of the last Republican aircraft to fly to France following the end of the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 the aircraft is said to have returned to Spain where its registration was changed to 42-4; most sources seem to indicate that this Electra was still flying in March 1940. On the contrary, however, Russian sources indicate that the Electra was transferred from France to the USSR where it was tested and assigned to Aeroflot, registration CCCP-L3451, lasting until 1944 when it was canceled following a series of several crashes.
