Page 26 - Sept24T

Distractions in an Electra
by Stan Dunn
On June 17th, 2024, at 19:49 EDT, a Lockheed 12A Elec- tra Junior was substantially
damaged after striking a tree at a relatively low speed after landing at Seven Lakes Airport (62GA) in Jack- son, Georgia. A bystander filmed the landing. After the tailwheel touched down, the aircraft began a relatively slow turn to the left, departing the runway into forested bushes. A tree trunk penetrated several feet into the cockpit. All three occupants were injured and transported to local hos- pitals via MedEvac.
Two things make this mishap un- usual. The first is the aircraft. The Lockheed 12A Electra Junior is a pre-World War II radial twin that is
the predecessor of modern corporate aviation for all intents and purpos- es. Its bigger brother, the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, was built in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglass DC-2. It was a transitional period for commercial aviation, nestled between the Wild West era of airmail and the introduc- tion to the masses brought about by the DC-3 (by 1939, the DC-3 made up ninety percent of airline ticket sales). Though the Model 10 had a short lifespan as a passenger hauler, it achieved fame as the first aircraft to accomplish a roundtrip crossing of the Atlantic (1937). Amelia Ear- hart and Fred Noonan also selected it for their doomed round-the-world attempt in July of the same year.
The Model 12A Electra Junior is a scaled-down Model 10 with the same 450 HP Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engine. With a top speed of 225 mph, it was the fastest transport aircraft of the time. The progression of speed in the early era of aviation was so fierce that the L12A could outrun more than a few Air Corps fighter planes when it entered production. The Electra Junior had been developed to compete in a U.S. Bureau of Commerce competition for a “feeder airliner.” Early regulators recognized the need for light aircraft to connect passengers from smaller cities to larger hubs. As a feeder air- liner, the L12A was a failure. It was ultimately too small for the comfort of the general public and not efficient
24 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2024