Lockheed L-9 Orion - Citizendia

Orion Model 9
"North Wind" - one of six Orions owned by Varney Speed Lines of Burbank, California
Type	Airliner
Manufacturer	Lockheed Aircraft Limited
Designed by	Richard A. Continental Airlines Inc ( is a United States certificated air carrier. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta Von Hake
Maiden flight	1931
Introduced	1931
Number built	35 (36?)
Unit cost	US$25,000

The Lockheed Orion Model 9 was a single engine passenger aircraft built in 1931 for commercial airlines. The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1931: Events Manufacturer Airspeed Ltd founded in York England. An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers It was the first airliner to have retractable landing gear and was faster than any military aircraft of that time. An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing Aircraft that is in the current employ of a Military power It was the last wooden monoplane design produced by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta It was designed and built by Richard A. Von Hake, but an interesting historical note is that Kelly Johnson of SR-71 fame was flight test engineer on the project. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

1 Design
2 Operational history
3 Variants^[1]
4 Survivors
5 Specifications (Orion 9D)
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

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. The Lockheed Altair was a development of the Lockheed Sirius. A cockpit is the area usually near the front of an Aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The NACA Cowling is a type of Aerodynamic fairing used to streamline Radial engines for use on airplanes Developed Air Express is an Airline based in Tanzania. Code Data IATA Code ZG ICAO Code ^[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. This article is about passengers in commercial transportation for other uses see Passenger (disambiguation A passenger is a term broadly used The first Orion, tested by Marshall Headle, received its Approved Type Certificate on May 6, 1931. A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft engine or propeller Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[2]

Operational history

Although designed with the passenger market in mind, its speed made it a natural for air races. The first Bendix race of 1931 had a showing of two Orions and three Altairs and one Vega in a race that had only nine aircraft competing. The Bendix Trophy is an US aeronautical racing trophy The transcontinental point-to-point race sponsored by industrialist Vincent Bendix founder of On July 11, 1935 Laura H. Ingalls flew a Lockheed Orion, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine, from Floyd Bennett Field to Burbank, California, establishing an East-West record for women. Laura Houghtaling Ingalls (1901 – January 10, 1967) was a female pilot of the 1930s Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American Floyd Bennett Field, now defunct as an active airfield was New York City 's first municipal Airport. Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County California, United States. Two months later she flew it back to set a West-East record. ^[2]

The first Orion entered service with Bowen Air Lines at Fort Worth, Texas, in May 1931. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States. ^[1] Many safe miles were flown in airline service and the headlines won by a few expert speed pilots proved the advanced design and reliability of the "Orion". Those that went into airline use as a passenger transport had their life span limited, however. In 1934 the Civil Aeronautics Authority issued a ruling prohibiting further use of single engine passenger aircraft from operating on all major networks. Governments have played an important part in shaping air transportation It also became mandatory to have a co-pilot and thus a two-seat cockpit arrangement on all such flights. In Commercial aviation, the first officer is the second pilot (sometimes referred to as the "co-pilot" of an Aircraft. The requirements of the ruling brought an end to the "Orion" as a passenger carrying airlines' airplane. They were then used for cargo or mail carrying or sold for private use and charter. Cargo (or freight) refers to goods or produce transported generally for Commercial gain by ship, aircraft, train, Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects wherein written Documents typically enclosed in Envelopes and also Because the aircraft had a complicated wood construction and needed to be sent back to Lockheed in Burbank California to be repaired, they were often disposed of after any type of significant accident. At least 12 of the used "Orions" were purchased for service in the Spanish Civil War and destroyed in use. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of ^[2]

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 (482 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H1 engine. Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American Fixed landing gear and later floats were also fitted. It was used by Wiley Post and Will Rogers for a round-the-world flight attempt, but both men died when the aircraft crashed in Alaska on 15 August 1935. Wiley Hardeman Post ( November 22, 1898 &ndash August 15, 1935) was the first pilot to fly solo around the world This page is about the humorist for others with similar names see William Rogers. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent ^[1]

Variants^[1]

Orion 9: 14 built, 410 hp (306 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp A or 420 hp (313 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp C
Orion 9A Special: one aircraft with 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp SC engine
Orion 9B: two aircraft supplied to Swissair, 575 hp (429 kW) Wright R-1820-E Cyclone engine
Orion 9C: redesignated Altair DL-2A
Orion 9D: 13 built
Orion 9E: three aircraft with 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp SC-1 engine
Orion 9F: one executive aircraft with a 645 hp (481 kW) Wright R-1820-F2 Cyclone engine
Orion 9F-1: one executive aircraft with a 650 hp (485 kW) Wright SR-1820-F2 Cyclone engine
UC-85: one Orion 9D to USAAF in June 1942
Orion-Explorer: modified Orion 9E, 600 hp (482 kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H1 engine

Survivors

In all, Lockheed built a total of 35 Orions costing $25,000 each new. Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American Swissair ( Swiss Air Transport Company Limited) was the former national Airline of Switzerland. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American It is not known if any survived past the 1940's 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. A valid argument has been raised that since the fuselage, wing and tail of both planes are identical, and that it was also rebuilt by the original designer at the Lockheed plant, it may be considered an actual Orion (#36) instead of a modified Altair. In any case, it was sold to Shell Aviation Corp. , painted yellow-orange and red and named "Shellightning. " It was used by Shell's aviation manager, James H. Doolittle, on cross-county and exhibition flights. General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle USAF (14 December 1896 &ndash 27 September 1993 was an American Aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle made hundreds of trips in this Lockheed, and the ship was very much in evidence at air shows, airport dedications, and business meetings across the territories of all three Shell companies in the United States. 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 re-painted 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 Orange County Airport, now John Wayne Airport, in blue-and-white American Airways trim. Some time in the 1960's it was purchased by Swiss Air and rebuilt to flying status by the famous "Fokker" restoration team and is on display at the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne, Switzerland in the livery of the original Swiss Air Orion. Swissair ( Swiss Air Transport Company Limited) was the former national Airline of Switzerland. The Swiss Transport Museum or Verkehrshaus der Schweiz, in Lucerne, is a Museum exhibiting all forms of Transport (including Locomotives Lucerne ( Italian Lucerna) is a city in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation [1]

Specifications (Orion 9D)

Data from The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: one, pilot
Length: 28 ft 4 in (8. 64 m)
Wingspan: 42 ft 9. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 25 in (13. 04 m)
Height: 9 ft 8 in (2. 95 m)
Wing area: 294. 1 ft² (27. 32 m²)
Empty weight: 3,640 lb (1,651 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 5,200 lb (2,359 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney Wasp S1D1, 550 hp (410 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 192 knots at sea level (220 mph / 354 km/h)
Cruise speed: knots (205 mph / 330 km/h)
Range: nm (750 mi / 1,159 km)
Service ceiling 22,000 ft (6,705 m)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Eden, and Moeng, eds. The Maximum Takeoff Weight or Maximum Takeoff Mass of an Aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot of the aircraft is allowed to attempt to take off Wasp was the civilian name given to a family of air-cooled radial Piston engines designed by Pratt & Whitney, and used in numerous American In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such The maximal total range is the distance an Aircraft can fly between Takeoff and Landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft or cross-country In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions 2002, p. 899.
^ ^a ^b ^c Francillon, 1987.

Francillon, René J, Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, 1987.
Eden, Paul and Moeng, Soph, eds. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Amber Books Ltd. , 2002. ISBN 0-7607-3432-1.

External links

Interested in building an r/c model of this aircraft? see link below
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5326359/anchors_5326359/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#5326359
Lockheed Orion on Swissair fligts: http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/spip.php?article118

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