Lockheed UC-40A Electra Junior
In 1935, the US Bureau of Commerce launched a competition for a new regional airliner--an aircraft capable of servicing small rural airports, that would pick up passengers and shuttle them to the larger airports. This was something of a precursor to the "hub and spoke" business model of modern airliners, and the Bureau of Commerce hoped it would spark investment in airports and air infrastructure in rural areas--something very important to the Roosevelt New Deal. Lockheed, Beech, and Barkley-Grow all responded with designs, but only Lockheed's Model 12 Electra Junior won the competition in 1936--Lockheed had developed the Model 12 so fast that the Beech Model 18 and the Barkley-Grow T8P were not even at prototype stage yet.
Lockheed had achieved this speed of development by simply downsizing the Lockheed Model 10 Electra: reducing the fuselage size to carrying six passengers instead of ten. Other than the smaller dimensions, everything else was identical to the Electra, which Lockheed hoped would be a selling point: the Model 10 had experienced modest success, and airlines could have some commonality in parts and pilot experience between the Electra and Electra Junior. Since the latter kept exactly the same engines as the Model 10, it was fast, almost as fast as USAAC fighters then in service.
Unfortunately for Lockheed, while the US government liked the Electra Junior, airlines didn't: very few ordered them, especially in the cash-strapped Depression years. Lockheed had marginally better luck with government contracts, selling 36 to the Netherlands for use in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). British Airways (no relation to the modern version) had two for commuter flights in Europe: in reality, these aircraft were equipped with hidden cameras, used by British intelligence to photograph potential targets in Germany and Italy before the war. As the United States geared up for World War II, more Electra Juniors were ordered as the UC-40; these would be used during the war in the executive transport role.
Once the United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor, Lockheed halted production in favor of the P-38 Lightning fighter. There was some hope that production would restart after the war ended, but this never happened, and only 132 Electra Juniors were built. A number have survived to the present, some flyable.
This aircraft was built as 38-0540, and was delivered to the USAAC in 1939. It would spend the war acting as a general transport and "hack" aircraft for various USAAC/USAAF airfields, mainly in the South. In 1945, it was deemed surplus and sold, and was bought by a private owner. It was kept flyable, and in 1992 was picked up by a warbird collector. Yanks Air Museum of Chino, California bought 38-0540 in 1998 and it underwent a full restoration to its prewar appearance, returning to the air in 2006. It remains flyable.
It's always something to see an aircraft that you can see your reflection in, especially when that aircraft is 83 years old. 38-0540 is maintained the way it would have looked on delivery to Maxwell Field, Alabama, with prewar markings.
EDIT: Sadly, this aircraft crashed with the loss of two people in June 2024. Losing such a vintage aircraft is terrible enough, but in the end, aircraft are just things. Lives are not. A sad day.
Lockheed UC-40A Electra Junior
In 1935, the US Bureau of Commerce launched a competition for a new regional airliner--an aircraft capable of servicing small rural airports, that would pick up passengers and shuttle them to the larger airports. This was something of a precursor to the "hub and spoke" business model of modern airliners, and the Bureau of Commerce hoped it would spark investment in airports and air infrastructure in rural areas--something very important to the Roosevelt New Deal. Lockheed, Beech, and Barkley-Grow all responded with designs, but only Lockheed's Model 12 Electra Junior won the competition in 1936--Lockheed had developed the Model 12 so fast that the Beech Model 18 and the Barkley-Grow T8P were not even at prototype stage yet.
Lockheed had achieved this speed of development by simply downsizing the Lockheed Model 10 Electra: reducing the fuselage size to carrying six passengers instead of ten. Other than the smaller dimensions, everything else was identical to the Electra, which Lockheed hoped would be a selling point: the Model 10 had experienced modest success, and airlines could have some commonality in parts and pilot experience between the Electra and Electra Junior. Since the latter kept exactly the same engines as the Model 10, it was fast, almost as fast as USAAC fighters then in service.
Unfortunately for Lockheed, while the US government liked the Electra Junior, airlines didn't: very few ordered them, especially in the cash-strapped Depression years. Lockheed had marginally better luck with government contracts, selling 36 to the Netherlands for use in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). British Airways (no relation to the modern version) had two for commuter flights in Europe: in reality, these aircraft were equipped with hidden cameras, used by British intelligence to photograph potential targets in Germany and Italy before the war. As the United States geared up for World War II, more Electra Juniors were ordered as the UC-40; these would be used during the war in the executive transport role.
Once the United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor, Lockheed halted production in favor of the P-38 Lightning fighter. There was some hope that production would restart after the war ended, but this never happened, and only 132 Electra Juniors were built. A number have survived to the present, some flyable.
This aircraft was built as 38-0540, and was delivered to the USAAC in 1939. It would spend the war acting as a general transport and "hack" aircraft for various USAAC/USAAF airfields, mainly in the South. In 1945, it was deemed surplus and sold, and was bought by a private owner. It was kept flyable, and in 1992 was picked up by a warbird collector. Yanks Air Museum of Chino, California bought 38-0540 in 1998 and it underwent a full restoration to its prewar appearance, returning to the air in 2006. It remains flyable.
It's always something to see an aircraft that you can see your reflection in, especially when that aircraft is 83 years old. 38-0540 is maintained the way it would have looked on delivery to Maxwell Field, Alabama, with prewar markings.
EDIT: Sadly, this aircraft crashed with the loss of two people in June 2024. Losing such a vintage aircraft is terrible enough, but in the end, aircraft are just things. Lives are not. A sad day.