Lockheed Altair

Altair

The C-23, an Altair 8D purchased by the US Army Air Corps for use as a staff transport
Role	Civilian sport Type of aircraft
National origin	United States of America
Manufacturer	Lockheed Aircraft Limited
First flight	September 1930
Number built	11
Developed from	Lockheed Sirius

The Lockheed Altair was a single-engined sport aircraft produced by Lockheed Aircraft Limited in the 1930s. It was a development of the Lockheed Sirius with a retractable undercarriage, and was the first Lockheed aircraft and one of the first aircraft designs with a fully retractable undercarriage.

Development and design

Lockheed designed an alternative wing fitted with a retractable undercarriage for the Lockheed Sirius as a result of a request from Charles Lindbergh, although Lindbergh in the end chose to buy a standard Sirius. The first Altair, converted from a Sirius, flew in September 1930.^[1] Like the Sirius, the Altair was a single-engined, low-winged monoplane of wooden construction. The undercarriage, which was operated by use of a hand crank, retracted inwards.

Four Altairs following the prototype were converted from examples of the Sirius, with another six Altairs built from scratch: three by Lockheed, two by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, and one by AiRover. The AiRover Altair, dubbed The Flying Testbed, was powered by a Menasco Unitwin engine, which used two engines to drive a single shaft.^[2] The Unitwin was used in the Vega Starliner, which never went into production.

Operational history

The prototype Altair was purchased by the United States Army Air Corps and designated Y1C-25, with a second Altair, fitted with a metal construction fuselage was also purchased by the Army as the Y1C-23 and used as a staff transport, as was a single similar aircraft operated by the US Navy as the XRO-1.^[3]

Altairs were used to carry out a number of record-breaking long-range flights. One aircraft, named Lady Southern Cross was used by Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith to carry out the first flight between Australia and the United States between October 20 and November 4, 1934. Kingsford Smith was killed in the early hours of November 8, 1935, flying Lady Southern Cross during an attempt on the record for flying between England and Australia.^[4]

Two Altairs were used by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun as high-speed passenger and cargo aircraft, one remaining in use until 1944.^[5]

Variants

8D Altair: Two-seat long-range high-performance sports aircraft, fitted with a retractable undercarriage, powered by a 500 hp (373 kW) Pratt & Whitney SR-1340E Wasp radial piston engine; One prototype, four converted Sirius aircraft, six production aircraft.
8G Altair: One aircraft built by the AiRover Company as a testbed for the Menasco Unitwin 2-544 engine, intended for the Vega Model 2 Starliner.
Sirius 8 Special: One aircraft built for the Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, it was converted into an Altair 8D aircraft, later named the Lady Southern Cross.
DL-2A: Two Altair 8Ds built by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation.
Y1C-23: The second Altair 8D was purchased by the US Army Air Corps, it was used as a staff transport aircraft. Later redesignated C-23.
Y1C-25: The Altair 8D prototype was purchased by the US Army Air Corps, powered by a 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-17 Wasp radial piston engine.
XRO-1: One Altair DL-2A acquired by the U.S. Navy, it was used as staff transport aircraft.

Operators

Japan

Mainichi Shimbun

United States

Specifications (Y1C-23)

Data from Lockheed Aircraft since 1913^[6]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Wingspan: 42 ft 9 in (13.03 m)
Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Wing area: 293.2 sq ft (27.24 m²)
Empty weight: 3,235 lb (1,468 kg)
Gross weight: 4,895 lb (2,220 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney SR-1340E Wasp 9-cylinder air cooled radial engine, 500 hp (373 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 207 mph (333 km/h, 180 kn) at 7,000 ft (2,140 m)
Cruise speed: 175 mph (282 km/h, 152 kn)
Range: 580 mi (935 km, 504 nmi)
Service ceiling: 23,800 ft (7,255 m)
Wing loading: 52.5 lb/sq ft (81.5 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.17 kW/kg)
Climb to 7,000 ft (2,140 m): 9.4 min

References

Notes

^ Francillon 1982, p. 101.
^ Pearce, William (24 December 2013). "Menasco 2-544 Unitwin Aircraft Engine". oldmachinepress.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
^ Francillon 1978, pp. 101–106.
^ Francillon 1982, pp. 103–104.
^ Francillon 1982, pp. 105–106.
^ Francillon 1982, p. 106.

Bibliography

Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-897-2.
Layman, R. D. (1993). "Question 15/91: Early USN Aircraft". Warship International. XXX (3): 318. ISSN 0043-0374.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lockheed Model 8 Sirius.

Detailed information about Lockheed Altair "Lady Southern Cross".

Lockheed and Lockheed Martin aircraft and spacecraft

Transports

Vega family	1 & 2 Vega 3 Air Express 4 Explorer 5 Vega 6¹ 7 Explorer 8 Sirius 8-D, E & G Altair 9 Orion DL.1 Vega
Electra family	10 Electra 12 Electra Junior 14 Super Electra 414 Hudson 18 Lodestar 37 Ventura 43 Harpoon
Constellation family	Constellation L-049 L-649 L-749 L-1049 L-1249 L-1649 Starliner C-69 C-121 EC-121 R6V XB-30
L-100 Hercules family	C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 HC-130 EC-130 EC-130H KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 L-100
L-188 Electra family	L-188 P-3 EP-3 CP-140 P-7
Other types	C-5 C-141 Excalibur JetStar L-1011 Tristar RAF L-2000 Saturn Vega Starliner

Fighter-bombers

Lightning family	P-38 XP-49 XP-58
Shooting Star family	F-80 F-94 T-33 T2V
Starfighter family	XF-104 F-104 NF-104A CL-288 CL-1200
Raptor family	YF-22 F-22 FB-22 X-44 MANTA
Other types	A-4AR A-9 F-16 F-21 F-35 F-117 XFM-2 XF-90 YP-24

Reconnaissance

Blackbird family	A-12 SR-71 Blackbird YF-12 M-21 D-21
Maritime patrol	Hudson PV-1 Ventura PV-2 Harpoon P2V/P-2 Neptune S-3 Viking P-3 Orion CP-140 Aurora P-7 LRAACA
Other crewed	CL-400 U-2 YO-3 Quiet Star TR-1 TR-X
UAVs	Aequare AQM-60 Cormorant (UAV) Desert Hawk Desert Hawk III Fury MQM-105 Polecat RQ-3 RQ-170 SR-72 X-44 (UAV)

Trainers

Helicopters

Experimental

Light aircraft

Missiles

Engines

J37/T35

Model
numbers

1
2
3
4
5
6¹
7
8
- A/D
9
10
11
12
13¹
14
15
16
17¹
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25¹
26
27
28¹
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36¹
37
38¹
39¹
40
41
42
44
45
49
50
51
52
60
61
62
75
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
99
100
104
105
122
129
133
136
137
140
141
144
149
170
171
182
185
186
188
189
193
199
200
204
206
207
210
212
222
244
245
246
249
282 (I)
282 (II)
285
286
288
293
295
296
298
300
301
320
322
325
329
330
331
346
349
351
379
380
382
389
400 (I)
400 (II)
402
407
414
422
437
449
475
480
489
500
520
522
549
580
595
622
645
649
680
685
704
749
760
780
785
822
823
840
849
880
901
915
934
949
977
980
981
984
985
995
1000
1010
1011
1020
1026
1049
- A
1060
1080
1090
1132
1149
1195
1200
1201
1235
1236
1237
1249
1329
1400
1449
1549
1600
1649
1700
1800
1980
2000
2329

Vega	1 2 3¹ 4¹ 5 6 7–10¹ 11 12–14¹ 15 16¹ 17 18 19¹ 20¹ 21 22 23 24 25¹ 26 27–32¹ 33 34 35 36¹ 37 38¹ 39¹ 40 41 42 43

¹ Not assigned

v t e United States military transport aircraft designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems
Army/Air Force sequence (1925-1962)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20 C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-28 C-29 C-30 C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34 C-35 C-36 C-37 C-38 C-39 C-40 C-41 C-41A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47 C-47F C-47T AC-47 C-48 C-49 C-50 C-51 C-52 C-53 C-54 C-55 C-56 C-57 C-58 C-59 C-60 C-61 C-62 C-63 C-64 C-65 C-66 C-67 C-68 C-69 C-70 C-70B C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77 C-77B–D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 C-83A C-83B C-84 C-85 C-86 C-87 C-88 C-89 C-90 C-91 C-92 C-93 C-94 C-95 C-96 C-97 KC-97 C-98 C-99 C-100 C-101 C-102 C-103 C-104 C-105 C-106 C-107 C-108 C-109 C-110 C-111 C-112 C-113 C-114 C-115 C-116 C-117 C-117D C-118 C-119 AC-119 C-120 C-121 C-121F EC-121 C-122 C-123 C-123A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127² C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 EC-130/H HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 C-131 NC-131H C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135 KC-135 C-136 C-137² YC-137 (I) YC-137 (II) C-137 C-138¹ C-139¹ C-140 C-141 C-142
Tri-service sequence (1962-present)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7² C-7 RC-7 C-8 C-9 C-10² C-10 KC-10 C-11 C-12 RC-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20² C-20A–D C-20F–J C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-27J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36³ C-37 C-37B C-38 C-39¹ C-40 C-41 C-42¹ C-43¹ C-44¹ C-45 C-46
Revived original sequence (2005-present)	C-143 C-144 C-145 C-146 C-147
Non-sequential designations	C-767 C-767B C-880
Related designations	CT-39 CT-43 CV-2 CV-7
¹ Not assigned • ² Assigned to multiple types • ³ Unconfirmed

USN/USMC transport designations pre–1962

T-series (pre–1931)

Atlantic Aircraft	TA

R-series (1931–1962)

Atlantic Aircraft	RA -4
Budd	RB
Curtiss	RC R2C⁴ R3C⁴ R4C R5C
Douglas	RD R2D R3D R4D R4D-8 R5D R6D
Bellanca	RE
Kinner	RK
Kreider-Reisner	RK² R2K
Martin	RM
Lockheed	RO R2O R3O R4O R5O R6O R7O-1/-2 to "V" (see below, at "Lockheed")
Stinson	RQ R2Q² R3Q
Fairchild	RQ R2Q R3Q² R4Q
Ford	RR
Sikorsky	RS
Northrop	RT
Lockheed	from "O" (see above, at "Lockheed") R6V R7V-1/-2 R8V
Convair	RY R2Y R3Y R4Y