Lockheed Sirius

The Lockheed 8 Sirius was single engine, propeller driven monoplane designed and built by Jack Northrop and Gerard Vultee while they were engineers at Lockheed in 1929, at the request of Charles Lindbergh. Two versions of the same basic design were built for the United States Air Force, one made largely of wood with a fixed landing gear, and one with a metal skin and retractable landing gear, designated Y1C-25 and Y1C-23, respectively. Its basic role was intended to be utility transport.

History

The first and best known Sirius was bought by Lindbergh, and in 1931 was retrofitted to be a sea plane. He and his wife, Anne, would fly it to the Far East, and she would write a book about their experiences there entitled "North to the Orient". The aircraft was damaged in Hankou, China when it accidentally capsized while being lowered off the HMS "Hermes", and had to be sent back to Lockheed to be repaired.

In 1933, the Lindberghs set out again with the plane, now upgraded with a more powerful engine, a new directional gyro, and an artificial horizon. This time their route would take them across the northern Atlantic, with no particular destination, but primarily to scout for potential new airline routes. While at a refueling stop in Angmagssalik, Greenland, the Inuit of the area gave the plane a nickname, "Tingmissartoq" or "one who flies like a bird". They continued on their flight and travelled to many stops in Europe, Russia, then south to Africa, back across the southern Atlantic to Brazil and appeared back over the skies of New York City at the end of 1933, after 30,000 miles and 21 countries, where droves of people turned out to greet them as they landed.

The aircraft was in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City until 1955, when ownership of it was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. It was given to the Smithsonian Institution in 1959, and it went on display at the National Air and Space Museum when the original facility opened on the National Mall in 1976.

Specifications

Dimensions:
*Wing span: 42 ft 9.25 in
*Length: 27 ft 1 in
*Wing Span: 42 ft 9.25 in
*Weights: 2,978 lb empty, 4,600 lb. loaded.

Performance:
*Max Speed: 185 mph
*Cruise Speed: 150 mph
*Range: 975 miles
*Service Ceiling: 20,000 ft

Engine:
*One 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp.
*Later upgraded to a 710 hp Wright SR-1839 Cyclone.

References

* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/lockheed_sirius.htm Aircraft of the Smithsonian: Lockheed 8 Sirius]
* [http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4515/sirius.htm Lockheed Sirius "Tingmissartoq"]
* [http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/article.php3?id_article=27 Lockheed Sirius in Geneva (1933)]

See also

* List of Lockheed aircraft