TheLockheed Altair was a single-engined sport aircraft produced byLockheed Aircraft Limited in the 1930s. It was a development of theLockheed Sirius with a retractable undercarriage, and was the first Lockheed aircraft and one of the first aircraft designs with a fully retractable undercarriage.
Lockheed designed an alternative wing fitted with a retractable undercarriage for the Lockheed Sirius as a result of a request fromCharles 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 theDetroit Aircraft Corporation, and one byAiRover. The AiRover Altair, dubbedThe Flying Testbed, was powered by aMenasco Unitwin engine, which used two engines to drive a single shaft.[2] The Unitwin was used in theVega Starliner, which never went into production.
Charles Kingsford Smith’s Lockheed Altair, Sydney, 1934
The prototype Altair was purchased by theUnited States Army Air Corps and designatedY1C-25, with a second Altair, fitted with a metal construction fuselage was also purchased by the Army as theY1C-23 and used as a staff transport, as was a single similar aircraft operated by theUS Navy as theXRO-1.[3]
Altairs were used on a number of record-breaking long-range flights.Lady Southern Cross was used by Australian aviatorCharles Kingsford Smith to carry out the first flight from Australia to the United States. TheLady Southern Cross departedArcherfield Airport on October 20, 1934 and arrived atOakland, California on November 4. Kingsford Smith and his co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge disappeared in the early hours of November 8, 1935, flyingLady Southern Cross during an attempt on the record for flying between England and Australia.[4]
Two Altairs were used by the Japanese newspaperMainichi Shimbun as high-speed passenger and cargo aircraft, one remaining in use until 1944.[5]
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.
One aircraft built for the Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, it was converted into an Altair 8D aircraft, later named theLady Southern Cross.
