The last time three Lockheed Model 12 Junior Electras gathered together was in 2006, on the West Coast. So to see a trio at Oshkosh is a very special event. But that’s not all: four or five more have said they will show up, marking the most of the type seen together since at the factory in the late 1930s. It’s called the Junior because it’s a little smaller than the 10E Electra that Amelia Earhart flew to her disappearance.
The Lockheed 12A was used mostly as a business aircraft, being just a little too small for the airlines.
This Ford 5-AT-B was built in 1928, the eighth one off the line. The 86-year-old airplane is giving rides at Oshkosh.
Conceived by Jimmy Franklin more than 20 years ago, this 80% scale version of his original Waco "Mystery Ship" weighs only 1,850lbs., and is powered by a monster 550 horse power R-985. Capable of over 15 positive and 15 negative Gs it is a stunning airshow performer in the hands of Jimmy's son, Kyle Franklin. The aircraft is named ‘Dracula.’
The five-seat Howard DGA was built in large numbers from 1939 to 1944. Developed from Benny Howard’s four-seat racing airplane, Mister Mulligan, it was fast and had a smooth ride. DGA was said to stand for Damn Good Airplane.
There are 126 Howard DGA-15s flying today, according to the FAA register.
The Learjet of its day is how owner Marlin Horst, of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, describes his 1929 Fairchild 71. It’s one of just four of the type on the FAA register. Note the folding wings. A six-year restoration was completed in fall 2012.
The metal-fuselaged Lockheed Vega made it to Oshkosh from its base in New Mexico. It’s the only one in the world left flying.
The Beechcraft Staggerwing looks as sexy today as it did back in the later 1930s and 1940s.
A turquoise-painted Waco YKC cabin biplane, built in 1934, frames a red Howard DGA-15. The Waco is finished in the colors it wore when it was operated by the State of Ohio.
John was editor of Aviation Week's ShowNews for nearly two decades. He retired in 2020. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
