Lockheed Model 9 Orion
Model 9 Orion | |
---|---|
| |
Role | Airliner |
National origin | US |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Aircraft Limited |
Designer | Richard A. von Hake |
First flight | 1931 |
Introduction | 1931 |
Number built | 35 or 36 |
The Lockheed Model 9 Orion is a single-engined
Design
The Orion was the last design using many identical elements from the Lockheed designs preceding it. It primarily used all the elements of the Altair, but included a forward top cockpit similar to the Vega, plus the NACA cowling introduced in the Air Express.[1] Lockheed used the same basic fuselage mold and wing for all these wooden designs (the Explorer wing was unique), hence the close similarities between them. The Orion featured an enclosed cabin with seating for six passengers. The Orion received its Approved Type Certificate on 6 May 1931.[2]
Gerard F. Vultee was Lockheed's chief engineer in 1928 through 1931 and was involved in the designs of all the Lockheed variants of that time and specifically designed Charles Lindbergh's
Operational history
Although designed with the passenger market in mind, its speed made it a natural for air races. The first
The first Orion entered service with
In 1935, a single Model 9 Orion was modified by Lockheed as a news camera plane for the
The Orion Explorer was a modified 9E. It had a damaged wing replaced with the wing of the Explorer 7 after a crash, and was fitted with a 600 hp (447 kW)
Variants
- Orion 9
- 14 built, 410 hp (306 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp C[1]
- Orion 9A Special
- one aircraft with 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp SC engine[1]
- Orion 9B
- two aircraft supplied to Wright R-1820-E engine[1]
- Orion 9C
- redesignated Altair DL-2A[1]
- Orion 9D
- 13 built[1]
- Orion 9E
- three aircraft with 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp SC-1 engine[1]
- Orion 9F
- one executive aircraft with a 645 hp (481 kW) Wright R-1820-F2 engine[1]
- Orion 9F-1
- one executive aircraft with a 650 hp (485 kW) Wright R-1820-F2 engine[1]
- UC-85
- one Orion 9D to USAAF in June 1942[1]
- Orion-Explorer
- modified Orion 9E, 600 hp (447 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H1 engine[1]
Surviving aircraft
In all, Lockheed built a total of 35 Orions costing US$25,000 each new (equivalent to US$500,875 in 2023). It is not known if any survived past the 1940s except the one that survives to the present day. This lone remaining Orion was originally built as an experimental Altair with a metal fuselage. This Altair (built in 1931) was damaged in a belly landing accident in Columbus, Ohio, in 1933. It was returned to Lockheed where it was converted in 1934 to an Orion 9C configuration by the original designer of the Orion, Richard A. von Hake, and others who worked for free during a slow period when the Lockheed factory was going into bankruptcy.
It was sold to Shell Aviation Corp., painted yellow-orange and red and named "Shellightning." It was used by Shell's aviation manager,
In 1936, "Shellightning" was again involved in an accident, in St. Louis, and was stored there. Two years later, Paul Mantz caught the racing bug in addition to his aeronautical movie work. He bought the damaged "Shellightning" and had it rebuilt at Parks Air College in St. Louis, Missouri with a more powerful Wright Cyclone engine and some streamlining to add to its speed. It was repainted red with white trim and Mantz flew the plane in the Bendix Races in 1938 and 1939, coming in third both times. In 1943, he sold the plane and it went through a series of owners until Mantz bought it back in 1955. He retained ownership until selling it to TallMantz Aviation, Inc. in 1962.
In 1964, the plane was sitting out in the open on the flightline at
Operators
- Lineas Aereas Occidentales
- Spanish Republican Air Force from LAPE, two from Swissair in 1935/1936.
- Alaska Star Airlines
- American Airways
- Air Express
- Bowen Air Lines
- Detroit News
- Hal Roach Studios
- Northwest Airways
- Paul Mantz
- Transcontinental and Western Air/TWA
- United States Army Air Forces
- Shell Oil
- Varney Speed Lines
- Wyoming Air Service
Specifications (Orion 9D)
Data from The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Capacity: 6 pax
- Length: 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
- Wingspan: 42 ft 9.25 in (13.0366 m)
- Height: 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m)
- Wing area: 294.1 sq ft (27.32 m2)
- Airfoil: root: Clark Y (18%); tip: Clark Y (9.47%)[9]
- Empty weight: 3,540 lb (1,606 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,200 lb (2,359 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1D1 Wasp9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 550 hp (410 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch metal propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 220 mph (350 km/h, 190 kn)
- Cruise speed: 205 mph (330 km/h, 178 kn)
- Range: 652 mi (1,049 km, 567 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Airspeed Envoy
- General Aviation GA-43
- Heinkel He 70
- Junkers Ju 60
- Kharkiv KhAI-1
- Manshū Hayabusa
- Polikarpov/Rafaelyants PR-12
- Tairov OKO-1
- Vultee V-1
- Northrop Delta
Related lists
- List of aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of Lockheed aircraft
Notes
- ^ .
- ^ OL 2411247M.
- (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-21. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
- ^ "Northwest Airlines". Delta Flight Museum. Archived from the original on 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
- ^ "FAA History: 1930s". Aviation Impact Reform. 2013-11-22. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
- .
- OL 3579752M – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Lockheed Model 9 C Orion". The Virtual Aviation Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-10-23. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Redmond, Washington. Archived from the original on 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
Further reading
- Benichou, Michel (July 1979). "Le dernier Lockheed "Orion" un "Chien Rouge", a pris sa retraite en Suisse" [The Last Lockheed "Orion", "Red Dog", retired in Switzerland]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (116): 30–35. ISSN 0757-4169.
External links
- "Problème de train rentrant sur les deux avions Lockheed Orion de la Swissair (1933)" [Re-entrant gear problem on the two Swissair Lockheed Orion aircraft (1933)]. Pionnair-GE (in French). Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2022-03-21.