Junior

CXCII

The Lockheed Model 12 “Electra Junior” has doubled for Amelia Earhart’s Model 10E Special in several films. This “Junior” has had its original two-blade propellers replaced with three-blade props. On Amelia’s aircraft, almost all the side passenger windows had been removed and the passenger spaces filled with gasoline tanks

Just before Amelia Earhart took delivery of her Lockheed Electra 10E Special, Lockheed released the Lockheed Model 12, which they called the “Electra Junior” or the “12.”  The “Junior” was essentially the Lockheed Model 10 in a scaled-down size. Meant for short-haul feeder lines, the Junior could carry 6 to 8 passengers.  

  

Powered by the same two Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB engines as the standard Model 10A, the 12 could develop the same 900 horsepower in total. The Electra’s maximum speed was just over 200 miles per hour; the Junior was rated at 225, and her cruising speed was  about 210 as opposed to 190 for the 10A. 

A little-known film appearance of the Model 12 came in the closing scenes of Casablanca (1942) as the plane carrying Ilse Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and Viktor Lazlo (Paul Henried) begins its takeoff run. The static plane shown parked on the runway was a cardboard cut-out with lights behind the false window panes. Not built to scale, the ground crew were achondroplasic actors, most of whom had played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz in 1939. The roundel on the plane is the flying seahorse used by Air France in that era. Ironically, Air France did not use the Model 12, but Panair Do Brasil did. Note the two-blade propellers 

The 12 had a range of 800 miles, about 90 miles more than the 10.  Her ceiling was 22,900 feet as opposed to a ceiling of 19,400 feet for the 10.

The Junior had a length over all of 36’ 4” and a wingspan of 49’ 6” as opposed to a length overall of 38 feet 7 inches, and a wingspan of 55 feet even for the full-sized Electra Model 10. The extra fuselage length and wingspan, plus the fact that the 12 had no prior flight history decided Amelia and Paul Mantz against choosing the smaller, speedier, less expensive and more maneuverable plane. They feared that the plane would neither hold nor be able to lift the extra fuel required for the Worldflight. 

The Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra was that much larger than the Model 10 as the Model 12 was smaller. Introduced in July 1937, these planes saw much use in World War II as transport, cargo, and courier planes. The military version was called the “Hudson.”

A Super Electra in passenger configuration. But for size essentially identical within to the Model 10 and Model 12, a Model 14 piloted by Howard Hughes did accomplish a circumnavigation in 1938 at the higher latitudes

Although the Model 10 became famous (or notorious) for its association with Amelia, the 12 suffered no such opprobrium-by-association. It was not, however, a popular craft because small-capacity airliners became obsolescent with the rise of the DC-3. Most 12s ended up as military Command Planes. 130 were built.   

The 12, in fact, still flies. Most of the surviving aircraft are owned by private pilots who capitalize on the plane’s association with Amelia Earhart. Except for its somewhat smaller dimensions, the Model 12 is a clone of the Model 10.   

This cutaway diagram of the Model 12 is often used to illustrate the standard Model 10 and the Model 14. Except for the number of seats, the LOA, and the wingspan, the three Electras were identical