The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private individuals. A smaller version of the

Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was produced primarily in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained ...

, the Lockheed 12 was not popular as an airliner but was widely used as a corporate and government transport. Several were also used for testing new aviation technologies.

Design and development

After Lockheed had introduced its 10-passenger Model 10 Electra, the company decided to develop a smaller version which would be better suited as a " feeder airliner" or a corporate executive transport.O'Leary 2001, p. 1. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce had also sensed the need for a small feeder airliner and announced a design competition for one. In order for a candidate to qualify for the competition, a prototype had to fly by June 30, 1936.O'Leary 2001, p. 3. Lockheed based its candidate, which it named the Model 12 Electra Junior, around a scaled down Electra. It would carry only six passengers and two pilots but would use the same Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s as the main Electra version, the 10A. This made it faster than the Electra, with a top speed of at . Like the Electra, the Model 12 had an all-metal structure, trailing-edge

wing flaps A flap is a high-lift device used to reduce the stall (flight), stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight. Flaps are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are used to reduce the take-off distance ...

, low-drag NACA engine cowlings, and two-bladed controllable-pitch propellers (later changed to constant-speed propellers). It also had the Electra's twin tail fins and rudders, which were becoming a Lockheed trademark. The

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

was a conventional tail-dragger arrangement, with the main wheels retracting backwards into the engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

s; as was often the case with retractable gear of the period, the wheel bottoms were left exposed in case a wheels-up emergency landing was necessary, or the pilot simply forgot to deploy his novel landing gear.Bowers 2000, p. 1. As in the Electra and the

Boeing 247 The Boeing Model 247 is an early American airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.

, the Model 12's main

wing spar In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles (or thereabouts depending on wing sweep) to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on ...

passed through the passenger cabin; small steps were placed on either side of the spar to ease passenger movement. The cabin had a lavatory in the rear. Although the standard cabin layout was for six passengers, Lockheed also offered roomier, more luxurious layouts for corporate or private owners. The new transport had its first flight on June 27, 1936, three days before the competition deadline, at 12:12 PM local time, a time deliberately chosen for the Model 12's number. As it turned out, the other two competition entries, the

Beechcraft Model 18 The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beechcraft, Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 ...

and the Barkley-Grow T8P-1, weren't ready in time for the deadline, so Lockheed won by default. The "Electra Junior" name did not catch on in the way that the original Electra's name had. Most users simply referred to the aircraft by its model number, as the Lockheed 12. The original Lockheed 12 version, with Wasp Junior engines, was the Model 12A. Almost every Lockheed 12 built was a 12A or derived from the 12A. There was also a Model 12B, using Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind radials, but only two of this model were built. Although Lockheed had also announced a Model 12F, powered by Wright R-760 Whirlwind seven-cylinder radials, and a Model 12M, powered by

Menasco The Menasco Manufacturing Company was an American aircraft engine and component manufacturer. History The company was organized by Albert S. Menasco in 1926 to convert World War I surplus Salmson Z-9 water-cooled nine-cylinder radials into ai ...

six-cylinder inline engines, neither of these versions reached production.

Operational history

Lockheed 12A Electra Junior in Flight over Houston

Even though the Lockheed 12 had won the government's feeder airliner competition, most of the airlines rejected it, and very few Lockheed 12s were used as airliners.O'Leary 2001, p. 4. One notable airline user was the newly renamed Continental Air Lines, which had a fleet of three Lockheed 12s that ran on its route between

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, in the late 1930s. Another was British West Indian Airways Ltd., which flew the Lockheed 12 on

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

routes in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

during the mid-1940s. The Lockheed 12 proved much more popular as a transport for company executives or government officials. Oil and steel companies were among the major users. A number were purchased as military staff transports by the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, which designated the type as the C-40, and by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, which used the designation JO, or in one peculiar case, R3O-2. With the arrival of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, many civilian Lockheed 12s were requisitioned by the U.S. Army and Navy, Britain's

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

. Two civil Lockheed 12s ordered by British Airways Ltd. were actually intended for covert military reconnaissance flights.

Sidney Cotton Frederick Sidney Cotton (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969) was an Australian inventor, photographer and aviation and photography pioneer, responsible for developing and promoting an early colour film process, and largely responsible for the ...

modified these aircraft for aerial photography and in civilian guise, overflew and surreptitiously photographed many German and Italian military installations during the months preceding World War II.Bowers 2000, p. 5. One of these G-AFTL has recently been returned to flight in the UK with its most recent display being at IWM Duxford Flying Days: The Americans on 28 July 2023. The main military user of the Lockheed 12 was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force, which bought 36. Sixteen of these were the Model 212, a version created by Lockheed for training bomber crews, which had a caliber machine gun in an unpowered, partly retractable

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

on top of the fuselage, a second .303-caliber machine gun fixed in the nose, and bomb racks under the wing center section that could hold eight bombs. The other 20 aircraft were transport versions. Several Lockheed 12s were used as technology testbeds. The U.S.

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

(NACA) bought two, adding a center vertical fin to each of them to test stability improvements. One of the NACA Lockheed 12s was used to test "hot-wing"

deicing De-icing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only de-ice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or pr ...

technology, in which hot exhaust air from the engines was ducted through the wing's leading edge to prevent ice accumulation.Bowers 2000, p. 4. Three other Lockheed 12s were used to test

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

."Tri-gear experiments."
''Air Classics,'' December 2001. Retrieved: January 16, 2010. These had their normal landing gear replaced by a non-retracting version with a large nosewheel and with the main wheels shifted further back on the engine nacelles. (The tailwheel from the normal conventional gear was retained.) The gear was non-retractable because there wasn't room within the structure to stow it in retracted position. Streamlined fairings were placed on the gear to reduce drag. One of the tricycle gear Lockheed 12s went to the U.S. Navy as the XJO-3 and performed carrier landing tests on the to study the suitability of a twin-engined tricycle-gear aircraft for carrier operations. Another went to the U.S. Army as the C-40B, and still another was retained by Lockheed for its own testing; both of these were eventually converted back to the normal landing gear configuration. Milo Burcham flew a Lockheed 12A in the 1937 Bendix Trophy Race from

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. This 12A had extra fuel tanks in the cabin, allowing it to save time by making the entire trip non-stop. The 12A came in fifth at an average speed of ; this was an impressive performance, since the first and fourth-place winners were both privately owned

Seversky P-35 The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Republic Aviation, Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United ...

fighters. Another Lockheed 12A, owned by Republic Oil Company and named ''The Texan'', was modified by aviator Jimmie Mattern for a round-the-world flight attempt. Mattern filled the 12A's cabin with fuel tanks and removed the cabin windows and door; the crew would enter the aircraft via a cockpit hatch. The aircraft was denied a U.S. permit for the flight following the Earhart incident, but was then pressed into action in September 1937 in a long range search effort for Sigizmund Levanevsky, who crashed somewhere between the North pole and

Barrow, Alaska Utqiagvik ( ; , ), formerly known as Barrow ( ), is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the world and th ...

. "The Texan" was outfitted as a luxury transport afterward, and lost in a hangar fire in January 1938. Lockheed built a total of 130 Lockheed 12s, ending production in 1941. With the arrival of World War II, Lockheed concentrated its production efforts on more advanced military aircraft, such as the

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

bomber and the

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

twin-engined fighter. The Lockheed 12's market was left to the

, thousands of which would eventually be produced. A number of Lockheed 12s have survived to the present day, mostly in private hands. Several of these are still flying.

Variants

Civil models

;Model 12A :Powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB radial engines. 70 built."Lockheed 1 to J."
''Aerofiles.'' Retrieved: January 8, 2010.''FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet TC 616.'' ;Model 12B :Like 12A, but powered by two Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind radial engines. This was a normal civil model, but the only two built (serial numbers 1228 and 1249) went to the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

.Bowers, Peter
"History of the Lockheed 12A, p. 2."
'Flight Journal'', April 2000. Retrieved: 15 July 2010. ;Model 12-25 :Last two civilian Model 12's produced (serial numbers 1293 and 1294), same as 12A but with Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB3 engines.

Military models

All of these were based on the Model 12A and used the same engines. ;C-40 :

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

five-passenger transport; prototype (serial 1247) converted from company owned 12A, two others built, redesignated UC-40 in January 1943. ;C-40A :U.S. Army Air Corps transport with mixed passenger/cargo interior; 10 built, plus one converted from C-40B, redesignated UC-40A in January 1943. ;C-40B :U.S. Army Air Corps testbed for testing fixed

; one built, converted to a normal C-40A in 1940. ;C-40D :Eleven civil Model 12As impressed by the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in 1942, with standard six-passenger interior. Redesignated UC-40D in January 1943. ;JO-1 :

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

five-passenger transport; one built.McKillop, Jack
"Lockheed JO Electra Junior, R2O Electra, R3O Electra and Electra Junior."
''microworks.net.'' Retrieved: January 8, 2010. ;JO-2 :U.S. Navy and

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

six-passenger transport; five built. ;XJO-3 :U.S. Navy testbed with fixed tricycle gear, used for carrier landing tests and airborne radar trials; one built. ;R3O-2 :One civil Model 12A impressed by the U.S. Navy in 1941. (This was an anomalous designation, since the Navy had already used R3O for the Model 10 Electra.)"Lockheed K to Lockheed-Martin."
''Aerofiles.'' Retrieved: January 8, 2010. ;Model 212 :Bomber trainer with bomb racks and gun turret atop aft fuselage; prototype (serial 1243, reserialed 212-13) converted from company owned 12A, 16 others built, one prototype and 16 for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. ;Model 12-26 :Military transport version of the Model 212; 20 built for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force.

Operators

Civilian

Braniff Airline Pilots Watching a Lockheed 12A Electra Junior

* Aeronorte * Aerovias Brasil * Associated Airlines (Australia) * British West Indian Airways Ltd. * Aeronautical Research and Sales Corporation of London (a front for the espionage of

) One of its aircraft G-AFTL was returned to flight in the UK in 2023 * Continental Air Lines (formerly Varney Air Transport) * Mercer Airlines (Burbank, CA) * Cruzeiro do Sul *

(NACA) *

Panair do Brasil Panair do Brasil was an airline of Brazil. it ceased operations in 1965. Between 1945 and 1965, it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America. History NYRBA do Brasil (1929–1930) ''Panair do B ...

* Canadian Department of Transport * Brazilian Ministry of AeronauticsBowers, Peter
p. 3
/ref> * Santa Maria Airlines

Military

; *

Francillon 1982, p. 128. ; *

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

Francillon 1982, p. 130. ; *

; ; *

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...

Francillon 1982, p. 133. ; *

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

; * Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ; *

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

; *

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Surviving aircraft

* A Model 12A (Canadian registration CF-CCT, Lockheed construction number 1219) is on display at the Canada Aviation Museum in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. This aircraft was operated by Canada's

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

from 1937 until 1963 and surveyed the route of the Trans-Canada Airway. In 1937 it made the first same-day flight from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, making five stops en route. "Lockheed L-12A Electra Junior."
''Canada Aviation and Space Museum''. Retrieved: January 17, 2010. * A Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed 12A c/n 1306 is on static display at the Soesterberg Nationaal Militair Museum in

Soesterberg Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base History T ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

* A former Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed 12-26 c/n 1313 is on static display at Arlanda Flygsamlingar, near Stockholm-Arlanda airport. Swedish airline Airtaco acquired the aircraft in 1953 for newspaper freights. Registration SE-BXU was reserved but was never accepted into the registry. Donated to Arlanda Flygsamlingar in 1990. * An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed 12A registration number T-303 is on static display at

Suryadarma Air Force Base Suryadarma Air Force Base is one of the Indonesian Air Force bases on Java. Formerly known as Kalijati Airfield (Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, alternatively spelled as Kalidjati), it is located in the village of Kalijati, in the ''kabupaten'' o ...

Subang Regency Subang Regency (; ) is a regency (''kabupaten'') in West Java province of Indonesia. The Regency is bordered by the Java Sea in the north, Indramayu Regency in the east, Sumedang Regency in the southeast, West Bandung Regency in the south, and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

* Former British Airways Ltd G-AFTL has been returned to flight in 2023 and is now flown on the UK display circuit. * A former USAAC/RAF lend lease 12a once owned by Sidney Cotton's company Aeronautical and Industrial Research Corporation (G-AGWN) is undergoing static restoration in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia by HARS Parkes Aviation Museum.

Specifications (Model 12A)

Lockheed 12A Electra Junior 3-view line drawing

Notable appearances in media

A Lockheed 12 appeared as the French airliner in the climactic final scene from the 1942 film ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

''."'Of all the gin joints...'"
''Air Classics,'' December 2001. Retrieved: January 17, 2010. (The aircraft carries the

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

seahorse logo, although Air France did not actually operate the type 12A). A "cut-out" stood in for a real Lockheed 12 in many shots. No real aircraft appeared in the movie. Half and quarter scale models were used instead. Lockheed 12s have also appeared in movies as stand-ins for the Electra 10E used by

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

in her round-the-world flight attempt. Two played this role in the NBC 1976 TV miniseries ''

'', and another did so in the 2009 movie '' Amelia''.Collins, Mike
"The 'Amelia' movie's airplane."
''AOPA Aviation Summit,'' October 6, 2009. Retrieved: January 8, 2010.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * Bowers, Peter
"History of the Lockheed 12A."
''Flight Journal,'' April 2000. * Davisson, Budd

''airbum.com,'' 1989. * Francillon, René J
''Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913.''
London: Putnam, 1982. .
"Inspection Handbook Part 4, pp. 31–32."
''Federal Aviation Administration.'' * O'Leary, Michael
"Junior Bomber."
''Air Classics,'' December 2001. * O'Leary, Michael
"Shining Stars (Part Two)."
''Air Classics,'' December 2001 Another detailed history of the Lockheed 12. (Note: The online article has combined it with the subarticle: "Junior Bomber".) *

''Flight,'' Volume XXIX, Issue 1415, February 6, 1936, p. 148. Brief announcement and description of the Lockheed 12, published before the type's first flight.
"Type Certificate Data Sheet TC 616."
''Federal Aviation Administration.''

External links

{{USN utility aircraft Electra Junior 1930s United States airliners 1930s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Twin-tail aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear