Interview Five: Joe's Lockheed 12A Electra Junior
Joe Shepherd is "the man". A retired Northwest Airlines Captain with over 30 years experience, his aviation roots began in General Aviation, where they remain. He was a CFI for a while before signing on with Northwest. After retiring, he quickly returned to General Aviation. I'm told this is a bit of an anomaly, as many retired airline pilots hang it up altogether, preferring not to go back to the little airplanes. Not so with Joe...
About twenty years ago he traded a Cessna 195 he then owned "straight up" for a Lockheed 12A that had seen better days. It had been sitting outdoors on a ramp in Texas for a number of years, and looked it. I understand that during the process to get it into flying condition for the ferry flight back to Georgia , not only did they have to go through the aircraft's systems, but they also had to rid the aircraft of several critters that had taken up residence in the plane, including a snake...or two.
Joe and his father in law, a Delta A&P, spent the better part of 18 years restoring the aircraft to it's now glorious condition. It was a star "prop" in the movie Amelia a few years back, and Joe even donned a blond wig and dress, for his cameo appearance as the namesake pilot. Fortunately for us all, it was "at a distance"...
Also fortunately for us, Joe loves flying his 12A, and freely shares it at airshows and other aviation venues across the country. I interviewed Joe to learn more about his experiences with the 12A, even though his aircraft is not a photographic part of the show.
There are some stray sounds at the beginning of the interview, but it improves, and Joe is definitely worth listening to. Enjoy!
Created as part of the Reaching High exhibition, now currently showing at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, until 30 November, 2013.
