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Volume 051-3 - July 1997 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
James Carson, MacBoyle’s pilot from 1937 to 1941,
alongside the Electra 10E. (Author's collection.)
Model 10A Electra was acquired in 1936 that featured allmetal construction and a distinctive dual-tail design. Reliability was augmented by two 450 hp radial engines. A year later
the plane was traded back to Lockheed for the newer Model
ie 10E, identical in appearance but with 600 hp engines. Only
20 of the 10E Electras were built, one of which was flown by
Amelia Earhart on her ill-fated around-the-world flight in
1939,
The primary purpose for the airfield was to fly gold from
the Idaho Maryland mine to San Francisco’s Mills Field and
Interior of the Lockheed Electra 10E cabin reveals passenger accommodations
This Taylorcraft was acquired by MacBoyle so Idaho Maryland
Mine officials could take flying lessons. (Author’s collection.)
the Mint. Security was maximized by employment of a fulltime radio operator who kept in constant touch with each
flight from his post at the airport.
Not a pilot himself, MacBoyle hired the best he could find
and furnished housing on company property. James W. Carson flew for MacBoyle from 1937 to 1941. In addition to
transporting gold, Carson flew MacBoyle to many horse
racing events, and carried 10 rescue miners to the Homestake
Mine fire in Nevada in 1939. (It is fitting that his son Stu
Carson would be flying local residents on nostalgic gold
country tours aboard a DC-3 at the
20th Annual Grass Valley AirFest a
generation later.)
As war clouds gathered in Europe
and the Far East, the United States
Army began confiscating high performance airplanes from civilian
operators for government uses. To
avoid this, MacBoyle sold the Electra to Superior Oil Company (who
already had lost theirs to the Army)
for the full purchase price of
$85,000. The Army stepped in again,
taking the plane from Superior Oil to
McClellan Field, where it was disassembled for shipment overseas.
Word came back to MacBoyle that
his plane was remarkably clean and
mechanically sound after three years
of use, testifying to Carson’s impeccable care and maintenance of
the Electra.
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