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 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

thumb|right|Cockpit of a C-40A, a U.S. Army version of the Lockheed 12

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. 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.

As in the Electra and the Boeing 247, the Model 12's main wing spar passed through the passenger cabin; small steps were placed on either side of the spar to ease passenger movement. neither of these versions reached production.

Operational history

thumb|right|NACA's Lockheed 12A used for deicing testing

thumb|right|U.S. Army Air Corps C-40B with fixed tricycle landing gear

thumb|Electra Junior in flight

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. 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, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas, in the late 1930s. Another was British West Indian Airways Ltd., which flew the Lockheed 12 on Caribbean routes in the Lesser Antilles during the mid-1940s.

The Lockheed 12 proved much more popular as a transport for company executives or government officials. 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: VE Day on the 9th May 2026.

The main military user of the Lockheed 12 was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force, which bought 36.

Three other Lockheed 12s were used to test tricycle landing gear. 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.

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 bomber and the P-38 Lightning twin-engined fighter. The Lockheed 12's market was left to the Beechcraft Model 18, thousands of which would eventually be produced.

Variants

Civil models

alt=|thumb|1937 Lockheed 12A

;Model 12A

:Powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB radial engines. 70 built.

;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.

;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

thumb|right|U.S. Army Air Corps C-40

All of these were based on the Model 12A and used the same engines.

;C-40

:U.S. Army Air Corps 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 tricycle landing gear; one built, converted to a normal C-40A in 1940.

;C-40D

:Eleven civil Model 12As impressed by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942, with standard six-passenger interior. Redesignated UC-40D in January 1943.

;JO-1

:U.S. Navy five-passenger transport; one built.

;JO-2

:U.S. Navy and Marine Corps six-passenger transport; five built.

;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.

  • Santa Maria Airlines

Military

;

  • Argentine Army

;

  • Brazilian Air Force

;

  • Royal Canadian Air Force

;

  • Royal Netherlands Air Force

;

  • South African Air Force

;

  • Royal Air Force
  • A Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed 12A c/n 1306 is on static display at the Soesterberg Nationaal Militair Museum in Soesterberg, Netherlands
  • 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 in Subang Regency, Indonesia
  • 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.
  • A flying model is stationed at genk airport and still fly fairly regularly to airshow around Belgium the Netherland and Germany.
  • "Villa Electra" Registration NC18130 Serial number 1226 from 25.6.1937 still flying in Germany. Home is the "Art Deco Hangar" at Hannover Airport.

Specifications (Model 12A)

frameless|right|3-view line drawing of the Lockheed 12A Electra Junior

Notable appearances in media

A Lockheed 12 appeared as the French airliner in the climactic final scene from the 1942 film Casablanca. (The aircraft carries the Air France seahorse logo, although Air France did not actually operate the type 12A). A forced-perspective background "cut-out" stood in for a real Lockheed 12 in several shots. Due to then-recent war-time flight restrictions, no real aircraft appeared flying in the movie. Several close-ups of an actual Electra on the ground with engines running were inter-cut with half and quarter scale models.

Lockheed 12s have also appeared in movies as stand-ins for the Electra 10E used by Amelia Earhart in her round-the-world flight attempt. Two played this role in the NBC 1976 TV miniseries Amelia Earhart,

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

  • Bowers, Peter. "History of the Lockheed 12A." Flight Journal, April 2000.
  • Davisson, Budd. "Lockheed 12A: Flying The Electra's Kid". 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".)
  • "A Smaller Lockheed 'Twin'." 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.
  • Lockheed 12-A (also: C-40, JO)
  • Lockheed JO Electra Junior, R2O Electra, R3O Electra and Electra Junior