Allan Loughead
Encyclopedia
Allan Haines Loughead later changed to Allan Haines Lockheed, was an American aviation
pioneer and engineer. He formed the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company
along with his brother, Malcolm Loughead
that became Lockheed Corporation
.
Loughead legally changed his name to Allan Lockheed in 1934. He went on to form two other aircraft manufacturing companies in the 1930s. Both were unsuccessful. After World War II
, he continued his career as a real estate salesman while occasionally serving as an aviation consultant. Allan Lockheed kept an informal relationship with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation until his death in 1969 in Tucson, Arizona
.
.
Flora Loughead was a well-known novelist and journalist. After separating from her husband, Flora took the children to Santa Barbara, California
where the brothers experimented with kites. Later, Flora moved them to a fruit ranch near Alma, California
, where the brothers became interested in the gliding experiments of Professor John J. Montgomery
. The Loughead brothers attended elementary school only, but were ardently mechanically inclined from an early age.
Victor Loughead, who was interested in automobiles and airplanes, moved to Chicago
, where he became associated with James E. Plew, a wealthy automobile dealer. There, in 1909, Victor wrote a book, Vehicles of the Air, which became a popular treatise on aircraft design and aviation history. In 1904, Malcolm became a mechanic with the White Steam Car Company
in San Francisco.
Allan Loughead went to San Francisco in 1906 where he found work as a mechanic with pay of $6 a week. By 1909 was driving race cars.
biplane. Plew hired Allan Loughead to convert the Montgomery glider into a powered aircraft. When Allan left for Chicago, he said, "I expect to see the time when aviation will be the safest means of transportation at 40 to 50 miles per hour, and the cheapest, and I'm not going to have long white whiskers when that happens. The airplane will take over both land and water travel. Flying has no barriers."
Allan and Malcom Loughead installed a 2-cylinder, 12 HP motor on the Montgomery glider with Victor acting as engineer. Allan Loughead's first flight was in Chicago in 1910 when he climbed aboard a home-made aircraft and operated its ailerons while its builder, George Gates
, operated the rudder and elevators. It was the first dual-pilot controlled flight in history.
When two of Plew's trained pilots could not get the Curtiss airborne, Allan said, "I've got a $20 gold piece that says I'll make it fly, and I'm offering three-to-one odds! Any takers?" There being none, he got the plane into the air on the second try. Later he said of this flight, "It was partly nerve, partly confidence and partly damn foolishness. But now I was an aviator!" The Curtuis pusher was powered by a 30 H.P. engine.
When Plew withdrew from aviation after two of his planes wrecked and a student was killed, Loughead became a flight instructor with the International Aeroplane Manufacturing Company in Chicago, and also put on aerial exhibitions for 25 percent of the gate receipts. Later he said, "I was really rich the first week out. I made something like $850." Unfortunately, during an exhibition at Hoopeston, Illinois, his rain-soaked plane failed to climb enough and it ended up dangling from some telephone wires. At that point, he decided to build a better plane of his own so he could collect all of the gate receipts.
That first flight occurred on June 15, 1913. The flight reached an altitude of 300 feet and a speed of 60 miles per hour. Allan then returned to take Malcolm for a ride. The Model G made three flights that day..
Allan Lockheed recalled in 1942 that the Model G was built mostly with hand tools and called the aircraft "one of the first successful three place tractor seaplanes in the United States."
While the Model G, the first plane to bear the Loughead (Lockheed) name, was far ahead of its time, few would pay $10 to fly in it. Mamlock soon lost his enthusiasm for aviation and seized the plane. He told the Lougheads if they wanted it back, they would have to repay his $4,000. Consequently, in the hopes of striking it rich, the Loughead brothers spent two unsuccessful years prospecting in California's gold country.
With the financial aid of Paul Meyer
, Allan and Malcolm Loughead bought the Model G back in 1915 and opened a flying concession at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. In five months, they took 600 paying passengers aloft and netted $4,000. Henry Ford
was one person who turned down a ride, saying, "I would not take even a straightaway flight four feet above the bay in anybody's aeroplane for all the money in California."
In early 1916, the Loughead brothers moved the operation to Santa Barbara, where they were swamped by people wanting to make their first flight. In addition, they made charter flights to the off-shore islands, and local movie companies used the plane to take special film footage from the air.
John K. "Jack" Northrop
. Northrop was skilled in drafting and mathematics, and the Lougheads quickly put him to work helping to design the F-1.
When the United States entered World War I
in 1917, Allan Loughead went to Washington, D.C. to try to get a Navy
contract to build the F-1 in quantity. The Navy informed Lockheed that it would purchase only previously approved designs. Later, Loughead said of this visit, "Down there I lost all the patriotism I ever had." However, he did return with a contract to build two Curtiss flying boats and an agreement for the Navy to test the F-1.
When the F-1 was completed, Allan Loughead and a crew of three flew it from Santa Barbara to San Diego in April 1918, setting a record of 181 minutes for the 211 mile flight. After the Navy completed its tests, the F-1 was returned to Loughead Aircraft and was then converted into the F-lA land-plane. Lockheed now hoped to interest the Army
in it as a long-range bomber or transport plane. However, the war ended before its conversion was completed.
The Lougheads decided to demonstrate the long-range potential of the F-lA by making the first flight from Santa Barbara to Washington, D.C. Their crew included pilot Orvar "Swede" Meyerhoffer, co-pilot Aaron R. Ferneau, and mechanic Leo G. Flint. They took off from Santa Barbara on November 23 and headed over the Coastal Mountains. Enroute they encountered severe weather, but the weather cleared by the time they crossed the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona. However, near Tacna, Arizona, an engine failed and Meyerhoffer made a rough landing on the desert. Flint worked on the engine while Meyerhoffer and Ferneau caught a train back to Yuma to have the broken tailskid repaired. Then the trio cleared a make-shift runway, took off safely and landed at Gila Bend, Arizona, for fuel. However, on the second takeoff attempt, the engine quit, and the plane crashed nose first into the ground. That ended the F-lA's transcontinental flight.
When Loughead Aircraft completed its two HS-2L flying boats for the Navy in early 1919, it then converted the damaged F-lA landplane back into the F-1 flying boat for its sightseeing flight operations. Among their most notable passengers were King Albert
and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, who the Lockheeds flew at the request of the U.S. government. Albert and Elisabeth were so impressed with their flight out to Santa Cruz Island that they presented Allan and Malcolm with the Belgium Order of the Golden Crown. In addition, local movie studios gladly paid $50 an hour for flight time in the F-1 and $50 an hour while on standby.
In 1919, Loughead Aircraft entered the small aircraft market with the revolutionary single-seat S-1 Sport Biplane
. Intended to be "the poor man's airplane", it featured an innovative molded plywood monocoque fuselage for which the Lougheads, Northrop and Tony Stadlman received a patent. Its foldable wings allowed the plane to be stored in a garage, and the lower wings could be rotated to act as ailerons and airbrakes. Because no suitable engines were available, the company designed and built its own 25-horsepower water-cooled engine for the S-1.
The S-1 was tested successfully at Redwood City, CA in 1919 by Gilbert Budwig and flew well. After the S-1 completed its test flights, the pilot said it was the most flyable plane he had ever flown. The plane went on to make hundreds of flights and proved to be a very successful design.
At an aircraft show in San Francisco, thousands admired the little S-1 aircraft, but not a single person ordered the $2,500 plane. Only then did Allan Loughead realize that the government's sale of war surplus aircraft for as little as $300 had killed the market for new aircraft. As a result, Loughead Aircraft closed its doors in 1920 and its assets were liquidated in 1921.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Loughead formed the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company in 1919 to promote a revolutionary four-wheel hydraulic brake system that he had invented. Tired of his name being mispronounced "Log-head," Malcolm officially changed the spelling to match its pronunciation. Walter Chrysler
introduced the Lockheed brake system on the first Chrysler car in 1924. Malcolm sold his business to Bendix
in 1932.
In the summer of 1922, Allan Loughead operated a unique ride concession at Catalina Island off Los Angeles. Called "The Thrill Of Avalon," it consisted of a touring car body mounted on two seaplane floats and powered by an aircraft engine driving a pusher propeller. However, the skimmer proved to be too rough and noisy to be popular and lasted only a year. Later, when asked if he made any profit on the venture, Allan laughed and said, "No, we went broke, which was not a new experience!"
In 1922, Allan Loughead became a real estate salesman in the Hollywood area. He wrote in 1942 that the real estate business was "not particulary interesting, but from a financial standpoint [it was] very successful."<
Whenever possible, Loughead and Jack Northrop would get together and discuss ideas about new aircraft. By now Northrop was an engineer with the Douglas Aircraft Company
.
In 1926, Allan Loughead and Jack Northrop decided that the time was right to build a high-speed monoplane with room for four passengers and a pilot in a streamlined fuselage using their patented monocoque construction. As a result, Northrop began drawing up such a plane at home. The plans called for the plane to be powered by the new Wright Whirlwind
engine. The only disagreement arose over the wing. Northrop wanted to use a self-supporting cantilever design that eliminated all wing struts. Loughead believed the public wouldn't want to fly in a plane with no visible wing supports. In the end, Northrop won out.
The company set up operations in a garage in Hollywood in January 1927. However, while Loughead continued his real estate business, he showed up every afternoon to help on the plane. The first major task was to build a concrete mold, shaped like an elongated bath tub, for molding half of the laminated wood fuselage. Two halves were made and then fastened to a skeleton framework of wood to form the complete fuselage. Next came the construction of the plywood-covered cantilever wing, the tail surfaces, the landing gear and mounting the engine. When it was finished, the company had invested nearly $17,500 in the plane, which was named the Vega
. The result was an incredibly successful high-speed monoplane with a range of a thousand miles, a cruising speed of 185 miles per hour, and capacity for six people.
The timing of the Vega was propitious. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh
's flight from New York to Paris renewed a tremendous interest in aviation. Soon after, James D. Dole, president of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, offered a prize of $25,000 to the first person to fly from North America to Hawaii
after August 12, 1927. As a result, George Hearst
, publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, bought the Vega for only $12,500 and entered it in the Dole Race under the name Golden Eagle. Later Loughead said, "The sales price represented a loss, but we were happy to absorb it. The prestige of selling the Vega to Hearst was tremendous." Besides, Hearst also ordered a Vega seaplane for a flight to Australia.
All the Lockheed personnel were on hand when the first Vega was trucked to a hayfield near Inglewood, California
. There test pilot Eddie Bellande took it up on its first flight. Upon landing, he yelled, "Boys, she's a dandy, a real joy to fly!"
as his navigator. The plane was provided with many safety features and equipped for 30 days of survival at sea. At noon on August 16, the starter's flag went down at Oakland's unfinished airport and the Travel Air Oklahoma took off first. Minutes later, the privately-built El Encanto
groundlooped off the runway. Then the Breese Pabco Pacific Flyer failed to get airborne. However, at 12:30 p.m. the Golden Eagle lifted easily from the ground and headed out over the Golden Gate for Honolulu. It was followed by the Buhl Miss Doran, the Breese Aloha , the Travel Air Woolaroc, and the Swallow Dallas Spirit. However, the Miss Doran, Oklahoma and Dallas Spirit soon returned with difficulties. Only the Miss Doran was able to go airborne again, and by 2 PM, Loughead knew the Lockheed Vega was the fastest plane in the race.
None of the planes carried radio transmitters - all Loughead could do was to await the news from Hawaii. The airplanes were supposed to arrive about 1 PM the next day. The next morning, Jim Dole and the Race Committee gathered on Wheeler Field at Honolulu. After a long wait, the Travel Air Woolaroc landed after 26 hours and 16 minutes in the air, and Art Goebel and Bill Davis
crawled out to claim the $25,000 first prize. Two hours later, the Breese Aloha landed, and Martin Jensen and Paul Schluter laid claim to the $10,000 second prize. Then as the minutes ticked away, it became apparent that the Golden Eagle and Miss Doran were down in the Pacific. Despite an extensive air and sea search, no trace of either plane was ever found.
explorer Captain George Hubert Wilkins had spied the Golden Eagle from his San Francisco hotel window while it was on a test flight. He was so impressed that he went to the Oakland airport to learn more about it. Then he drove down to Hollywood and met with Loughead, Northrop, and others and pored over its drawings. In the end, he placed an order for the third Vega equipped for Arctic exploration. After it was flight tested in January 1928, by Eddie Bellande, he said, "She's a pippin!".
Wilkins selected Arctic flyer Carl Ben Eielson to pilot the Vega on a planned flight from Alaska
, the northernmost settlement in Alaska
, over the Arctic region to the island of Spitsbergen
near Norway
. After Eielson tested the plane, it was shipped to Fairbanks, Alaska
. Eielson and Wilkins then flew it to Barrow. From there, after waiting three weeks for good weather, they were able to take off from a crude ice runway and head for the island of Spitsbergen.
For the first 500 miles, the weather was clear. Then dense clouds forced them to change course frequently. They made landfall at Grant Land
in Canada
's Northern reaches. Then, as they edged around the northern tip of Greenland
, they ran into more bad weather. Within 200 miles of their goal, they encountered a raging blizzard. Ruel was now dangerously low, but Eielson spun down through a hole in the clouds and landed safely on snow covered land.
Unable to see anything in the blizzard, the men curled up in the cabin. The blizzard blew for the next four days. Finally, on the fifth day the weather cleared, and the men spent six hours clearing a makeshift runway in the snow. When they finally got airborne, they saw the radio masts of Green Harbor, Spitsbergen ahead. In less than a half hour, they landed there after spending 20.5 hours in the air and five days on the ground within sight of their goal!
Wilkin's flight across the Arctic was hailed as one of the greatest in aviation. Wilkins was knighted by King George V of the United Kingdom
, while Eielson received the Distinguished Flying Cross
and the Harmon Trophy
from President Herbert Hoover
. Even before he returned to the United States, Wilkins began planning an expedition to Antarctica and ordered a low-wing Lockheed Explorer seaplane. But he soon changed his order to a high-wing Vega seaplane. After he and Eielson arrived in Antarctica in December, 1928, they used the Vegas to make the first flights in history over the continent and to explore much of its uncharted territory from the air. Thus the Vega became the first plane to discover new land, and Wilkins named many of its features after his friends and backers. He named the Lockheed Mountains after the builder of his plane.
, in March 1928. Lockheed received an order for 20 Vegas worth $250,000, which was the largest commercial aircraft order to date. The nation's fledgling airlines also soon recognized the potential of the Vega as an airmail and passenger plane. Also, Northrop designed the parasol wing Air Express
for Western Air Express as an airmail and a passenger plane. The Vega, Explorer and Air Express, and the variants that stemmed from them, were used by the biggest names in aviation, Art Goebel, Bob Cantwell, Frank Hawks
, Amelia Earhart
, Wiley Post
, Roscoe Turner
, Jimmy Doolittle
, and others, to set a number of distance, speed and endurance records. This led Allan Loughead to coin the famous phrase, "It Takes a Lockheed to Beat a Lockheed."
In 1928 the company sales exceeded one million dollars.
The Lockheed Vega remained the primary product of the Lockheed Corporation. The Vega was a high-wing, cantilever monoplane manufactured using the two-piece moulded-under-pressure streamlined plywood fuselage skin construction developed at Santa Barbara. The plane was manufactured in both four-passnger and six-passenger variants. By April 1929, the company was turning out five planes per week with less than 300 employees. The retail sales price of thes planes averaged about $17,000 each.
became the new Lockheed chief engineer. Part of the reason Northrop left was that Lockheed's management refused to invest in developing new metal aircraft and chose to make the most money it could from its proven wood designs.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation
, a holding company with assets of $28 million, began acquiring a portfolio of aviation companies. In July 1929, Fred E. Keeler, an investor who owned 51 percent of Lockheed, decided to sell the company assets to Detroit Aircraft Company. The acquisition was through an exchange of stock.
Unhappy with this situation, Allan Loughead resigned as president and general manager on June 3, 1929, and later sold his Detroit Aircraft stock for $23 a share. With the stock market crash in October 1929, Detroit Aircraft stock fell to 12.5 cents a share and by 1932 Lockheed Aircraft was bankrupt.
and Courtland Gross, and including Walter Varney
bought the Lockheed company out of receivership in 1932. Allan Lockheed returned as a consultant but no longer had any formal management role with his namesake company.. The Lockheed Aircraft Company went on to become a major aerospace and defense company, and in 1995 merged with Martin Marietta
to form Lockheed Martin
.
and developed the experimental Olympia Duo-four, a five-place high-wing monoplane with two engines mounted side-by-side in the wood monocoque fuselage nose. It had a plywood-covered wing and wheel pants. The fuselage was covered with a two-piece moulded-under-pressure plywood skin. He made numerous flights in this plane demonstrating its extremely safe single-engine performance. This fourth commercial aircraft venture by Loughead lasted until 1934.
In 1934, Loughead, tired of the many mispronunciations of his name, legally changed it from Loughead to Lockheed.
Lockheed spent the period from 1935 to 1936 as a consultant.
In 1937, Lockheed formed the Alcor Aircraft Corporation in San Francisco and developed the Alcor C-6-1, an 8-place, low-wing plane that also had excellent single-engine performance. Unfortunately, the prototyp C-6-1 was lost over San Francisco Bay. During a 1938 test flight, the Alcor prototype went out of control. A pilot and a passenger bailed out, "leaving the plane to descend in slow circles until it hit the waters of the Golden Gate and sank, as related in the 1957 Lockheed history, "Of Men and Stars." The Alcor company folded in 1939.
"I guess Alcor was the final burnout for Dad," said his son, Allan Jr. "He got only enought money from the insurance to pay off the creditors and close the doors."
Afterwards, Lockheed continued to make design studies of aircraft, such as fighters and bombers, for war use.
In 1941, Lockheed became Vice President of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, where he served as general manager of the Aviation Division and Director of Aircraft Engineering.
In August 1941, U.S. Commerce Secretary Jesse H. Jones appointed Lockheed to the Cargo Plane Committee, which also included Andre Preister, William Bushnell Stout
, Luther Harris, and J.W. Crowley. The committee was charged with drawing up basic design recommendations for a cargo plane for the Aviation Division of the Defense Supplies Corporation. The committee's work was completed and accepted in January 1942.
In October 1942, Lockheed became the general manager of the Aircraft Division of Grand Rapids Store Equipment Company, making parts for Navy fighters.
After the war, Allan Lockheed continued his career as a real estate salesman in California, while also occasionally serving as an aviation consultant.
In the mid-1950s, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation asked Allan Lockheed to return as a consultant, mainly to help on the "Of Men and Stars" history being prepared by Lockheed public relations writer Phil Juergens." Lockheed's son John Lockheed said that "Dad was delighted to come back to Lockheed." Allan Lockheed, Jr., said, "It was a tremendous boost to his morale to be able to rejoin the company."
In 1961, Allan Lockheed moved to Tucson, Arizona
, where he lived in semi-retirement. However, he continued to do consulting work with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Once, when someone asked Lockheed what he did in the early days of aviation, he answered, "I survived!"
in Dayton, Ohio
, in 1986. His daughter, Beth, was present, and his son John accepted the award on Lockheed's behalf.
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
pioneer and engineer. He formed the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company
Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company
The Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company was formed by brothers Malcolm Loughead and Allan Loughead in 1912 in Santa Barbara, CA. The company later went on to become the Lockheed Corporation....
along with his brother, Malcolm Loughead
Malcolm Loughead
Malcolm Loughead formed the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company along with his brother, Allan Loughead. This company went on to become the Lockheed Corporation....
that became Lockheed Corporation
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
.
Loughead legally changed his name to Allan Lockheed in 1934. He went on to form two other aircraft manufacturing companies in the 1930s. Both were unsuccessful. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he continued his career as a real estate salesman while occasionally serving as an aviation consultant. Allan Lockheed kept an informal relationship with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation until his death in 1969 in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
.
Early life
Allan Loughead was born in Niles, California in 1889, the youngest son of Flora and John Loughead. He had a half-brother Victor, a sister Hope, and a brother Malcolm LougheadMalcolm Loughead
Malcolm Loughead formed the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company along with his brother, Allan Loughead. This company went on to become the Lockheed Corporation....
.
Flora Loughead was a well-known novelist and journalist. After separating from her husband, Flora took the children to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
where the brothers experimented with kites. Later, Flora moved them to a fruit ranch near Alma, California
Alma, California
Alma is a ghost town in Santa Clara County in California, United States. It lies beneath the waters of the Lexington Reservoir above Los Gatos. The location is latitude 37.18N and longitude 121.98W. It was 551 feet above sea level....
, where the brothers became interested in the gliding experiments of Professor John J. Montgomery
John J. Montgomery
John Joseph Montgomery was an aviation pioneer, inventor, professor at Santa Clara College.On August 28, 1883 he made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights of the United States, in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California...
. The Loughead brothers attended elementary school only, but were ardently mechanically inclined from an early age.
Victor Loughead, who was interested in automobiles and airplanes, moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he became associated with James E. Plew, a wealthy automobile dealer. There, in 1909, Victor wrote a book, Vehicles of the Air, which became a popular treatise on aircraft design and aviation history. In 1904, Malcolm became a mechanic with the White Steam Car Company
White Motor Company
White Motor Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio.-History:...
in San Francisco.
Allan Loughead went to San Francisco in 1906 where he found work as a mechanic with pay of $6 a week. By 1909 was driving race cars.
Early Experience with Aviation
In Chicago, Victor Loughead convinced Plew to acquire rights to one of the Montgomery's gliders and to buy a Curtiss pusherCurtiss Model D
|-See also:-External links:...
biplane. Plew hired Allan Loughead to convert the Montgomery glider into a powered aircraft. When Allan left for Chicago, he said, "I expect to see the time when aviation will be the safest means of transportation at 40 to 50 miles per hour, and the cheapest, and I'm not going to have long white whiskers when that happens. The airplane will take over both land and water travel. Flying has no barriers."
Allan and Malcom Loughead installed a 2-cylinder, 12 HP motor on the Montgomery glider with Victor acting as engineer. Allan Loughead's first flight was in Chicago in 1910 when he climbed aboard a home-made aircraft and operated its ailerons while its builder, George Gates
George Gates
Captain George Brian Gates was a World War I flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.He joined the Royal Naval Air Service in June 1917.-Honors and awards:Distinguished Flying Cross ...
, operated the rudder and elevators. It was the first dual-pilot controlled flight in history.
When two of Plew's trained pilots could not get the Curtiss airborne, Allan said, "I've got a $20 gold piece that says I'll make it fly, and I'm offering three-to-one odds! Any takers?" There being none, he got the plane into the air on the second try. Later he said of this flight, "It was partly nerve, partly confidence and partly damn foolishness. But now I was an aviator!" The Curtuis pusher was powered by a 30 H.P. engine.
When Plew withdrew from aviation after two of his planes wrecked and a student was killed, Loughead became a flight instructor with the International Aeroplane Manufacturing Company in Chicago, and also put on aerial exhibitions for 25 percent of the gate receipts. Later he said, "I was really rich the first week out. I made something like $850." Unfortunately, during an exhibition at Hoopeston, Illinois, his rain-soaked plane failed to climb enough and it ended up dangling from some telephone wires. At that point, he decided to build a better plane of his own so he could collect all of the gate receipts.
Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company
Loughead returned to San Francisco in 1912 and went to work as an auto mechanic. There, he and his brother, Malcolm, spent their spare time building a three-place seaplane to operate from San Francisco Bay. They constantly ran out of money until they convinced Max Mamlock of the Alco Cab Company to invest $4,000 in the plane. Finally, after 18 months, their Model G was christened the ALCO NO. 1 in 1913, and Allan Loughead made a successful flight in it from the waters of the Golden Gate entrance to San Francisco Bay.That first flight occurred on June 15, 1913. The flight reached an altitude of 300 feet and a speed of 60 miles per hour. Allan then returned to take Malcolm for a ride. The Model G made three flights that day..
Allan Lockheed recalled in 1942 that the Model G was built mostly with hand tools and called the aircraft "one of the first successful three place tractor seaplanes in the United States."
While the Model G, the first plane to bear the Loughead (Lockheed) name, was far ahead of its time, few would pay $10 to fly in it. Mamlock soon lost his enthusiasm for aviation and seized the plane. He told the Lougheads if they wanted it back, they would have to repay his $4,000. Consequently, in the hopes of striking it rich, the Loughead brothers spent two unsuccessful years prospecting in California's gold country.
With the financial aid of Paul Meyer
Paul Meyer
Marie-Paul-Hyacinthe Meyer , was a French philologist.-Biography:Meyer was born in Paris and educated at the Lycée Louis le Grand and the École des Chartes, specializing in the Romance languages....
, Allan and Malcolm Loughead bought the Model G back in 1915 and opened a flying concession at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. In five months, they took 600 paying passengers aloft and netted $4,000. Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
was one person who turned down a ride, saying, "I would not take even a straightaway flight four feet above the bay in anybody's aeroplane for all the money in California."
In early 1916, the Loughead brothers moved the operation to Santa Barbara, where they were swamped by people wanting to make their first flight. In addition, they made charter flights to the off-shore islands, and local movie companies used the plane to take special film footage from the air.
Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company
In 1916, the brothers organized the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara to build a huge 10-place, twin-engined F-1 flying boat for their aerial sightseeing business. They began its construction in a rented garage, which soon attracted the attention of 20-year oldJohn K. "Jack" Northrop
John Knudsen Northrop
John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop was an American aircraft industrialist and designer, who founded the Northrop Corporation in 1939.-Entering aviation:...
. Northrop was skilled in drafting and mathematics, and the Lougheads quickly put him to work helping to design the F-1.
When the United States entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1917, Allan Loughead went to Washington, D.C. to try to get a Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
contract to build the F-1 in quantity. The Navy informed Lockheed that it would purchase only previously approved designs. Later, Loughead said of this visit, "Down there I lost all the patriotism I ever had." However, he did return with a contract to build two Curtiss flying boats and an agreement for the Navy to test the F-1.
When the F-1 was completed, Allan Loughead and a crew of three flew it from Santa Barbara to San Diego in April 1918, setting a record of 181 minutes for the 211 mile flight. After the Navy completed its tests, the F-1 was returned to Loughead Aircraft and was then converted into the F-lA land-plane. Lockheed now hoped to interest the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in it as a long-range bomber or transport plane. However, the war ended before its conversion was completed.
The Lougheads decided to demonstrate the long-range potential of the F-lA by making the first flight from Santa Barbara to Washington, D.C. Their crew included pilot Orvar "Swede" Meyerhoffer, co-pilot Aaron R. Ferneau, and mechanic Leo G. Flint. They took off from Santa Barbara on November 23 and headed over the Coastal Mountains. Enroute they encountered severe weather, but the weather cleared by the time they crossed the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona. However, near Tacna, Arizona, an engine failed and Meyerhoffer made a rough landing on the desert. Flint worked on the engine while Meyerhoffer and Ferneau caught a train back to Yuma to have the broken tailskid repaired. Then the trio cleared a make-shift runway, took off safely and landed at Gila Bend, Arizona, for fuel. However, on the second takeoff attempt, the engine quit, and the plane crashed nose first into the ground. That ended the F-lA's transcontinental flight.
When Loughead Aircraft completed its two HS-2L flying boats for the Navy in early 1919, it then converted the damaged F-lA landplane back into the F-1 flying boat for its sightseeing flight operations. Among their most notable passengers were King Albert
Albert I of Belgium
Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934.-Early life:Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...
and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, who the Lockheeds flew at the request of the U.S. government. Albert and Elisabeth were so impressed with their flight out to Santa Cruz Island that they presented Allan and Malcolm with the Belgium Order of the Golden Crown. In addition, local movie studios gladly paid $50 an hour for flight time in the F-1 and $50 an hour while on standby.
In 1919, Loughead Aircraft entered the small aircraft market with the revolutionary single-seat S-1 Sport Biplane
Loughead S-1 Sport
-External links:*...
. Intended to be "the poor man's airplane", it featured an innovative molded plywood monocoque fuselage for which the Lougheads, Northrop and Tony Stadlman received a patent. Its foldable wings allowed the plane to be stored in a garage, and the lower wings could be rotated to act as ailerons and airbrakes. Because no suitable engines were available, the company designed and built its own 25-horsepower water-cooled engine for the S-1.
The S-1 was tested successfully at Redwood City, CA in 1919 by Gilbert Budwig and flew well. After the S-1 completed its test flights, the pilot said it was the most flyable plane he had ever flown. The plane went on to make hundreds of flights and proved to be a very successful design.
At an aircraft show in San Francisco, thousands admired the little S-1 aircraft, but not a single person ordered the $2,500 plane. Only then did Allan Loughead realize that the government's sale of war surplus aircraft for as little as $300 had killed the market for new aircraft. As a result, Loughead Aircraft closed its doors in 1920 and its assets were liquidated in 1921.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Loughead formed the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company in 1919 to promote a revolutionary four-wheel hydraulic brake system that he had invented. Tired of his name being mispronounced "Log-head," Malcolm officially changed the spelling to match its pronunciation. Walter Chrysler
Walter Chrysler
Walter Percy Chrysler was an American machinist, railroad mechanic and manager, automotive industry executive, Freemason, and founder of the Chrysler Corporation.- Railroad career :...
introduced the Lockheed brake system on the first Chrysler car in 1924. Malcolm sold his business to Bendix
Bendix
- People :* Bendix Hallenstein - New Zealand businessman* Henry Bendix - fictional character from Wildstorm comics* John E. Bendix - American Civil War and New York Guard general* Max Bendix - American composer, conductor, violinist* Reinhard Bendix - sociologist...
in 1932.
Real Estate Business
From 1920 to 1922, Allan Loughead was the Los Angeles sales manager for Lockheed brakes.In the summer of 1922, Allan Loughead operated a unique ride concession at Catalina Island off Los Angeles. Called "The Thrill Of Avalon," it consisted of a touring car body mounted on two seaplane floats and powered by an aircraft engine driving a pusher propeller. However, the skimmer proved to be too rough and noisy to be popular and lasted only a year. Later, when asked if he made any profit on the venture, Allan laughed and said, "No, we went broke, which was not a new experience!"
In 1922, Allan Loughead became a real estate salesman in the Hollywood area. He wrote in 1942 that the real estate business was "not particulary interesting, but from a financial standpoint [it was] very successful."<
Whenever possible, Loughead and Jack Northrop would get together and discuss ideas about new aircraft. By now Northrop was an engineer with the Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
.
In 1926, Allan Loughead and Jack Northrop decided that the time was right to build a high-speed monoplane with room for four passengers and a pilot in a streamlined fuselage using their patented monocoque construction. As a result, Northrop began drawing up such a plane at home. The plans called for the plane to be powered by the new Wright Whirlwind
Wright Whirlwind
The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about 975 in³ and power ratings of 300-450 hp...
engine. The only disagreement arose over the wing. Northrop wanted to use a self-supporting cantilever design that eliminated all wing struts. Loughead believed the public wouldn't want to fly in a plane with no visible wing supports. In the end, Northrop won out.
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Loughead and Northrop now set out to form an aircraft company. Loughead's accountant friend, Kenneth Jay, introduced them to Fred S. Keeler, a successful brick, tile and china manufacturer. After reviewing their proposal, he agreed to help finance the project. As a result, using $22,500 from Keeler and $2,500 from Loughead, the four formed the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in December 1926, with Keeler as president, Loughead as vice president and general manager, Northrop as Chief Engineer and Stadlman as Factory Superintendent. They specifically incorporated the "Lockheed" spelling to associate themselves with Malcolm's successful brake company.The company set up operations in a garage in Hollywood in January 1927. However, while Loughead continued his real estate business, he showed up every afternoon to help on the plane. The first major task was to build a concrete mold, shaped like an elongated bath tub, for molding half of the laminated wood fuselage. Two halves were made and then fastened to a skeleton framework of wood to form the complete fuselage. Next came the construction of the plywood-covered cantilever wing, the tail surfaces, the landing gear and mounting the engine. When it was finished, the company had invested nearly $17,500 in the plane, which was named the Vega
Lockheed Vega
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Allen, Richard Sanders. Revolution in the Sky: Those Fabulous Lockheeds, The Pilots Who Flew Them. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1964....
. The result was an incredibly successful high-speed monoplane with a range of a thousand miles, a cruising speed of 185 miles per hour, and capacity for six people.
The timing of the Vega was propitious. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
's flight from New York to Paris renewed a tremendous interest in aviation. Soon after, James D. Dole, president of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, offered a prize of $25,000 to the first person to fly from North America to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
after August 12, 1927. As a result, George Hearst
George Hearst
George Hearst was a wealthy American businessman and United States Senator, and the father of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst.-Early life and education:...
, publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, bought the Vega for only $12,500 and entered it in the Dole Race under the name Golden Eagle. Later Loughead said, "The sales price represented a loss, but we were happy to absorb it. The prestige of selling the Vega to Hearst was tremendous." Besides, Hearst also ordered a Vega seaplane for a flight to Australia.
All the Lockheed personnel were on hand when the first Vega was trucked to a hayfield near Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. There test pilot Eddie Bellande took it up on its first flight. Upon landing, he yelled, "Boys, she's a dandy, a real joy to fly!"
Dole Race
World War I flyer Jack Forst was picked to pilot the Golden Eagle with Gordon ScottGordon Scott
Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960.-Early life, education and military service:He was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland,...
as his navigator. The plane was provided with many safety features and equipped for 30 days of survival at sea. At noon on August 16, the starter's flag went down at Oakland's unfinished airport and the Travel Air Oklahoma took off first. Minutes later, the privately-built El Encanto
El Encanto
El Encanto is a town and municipality in the Amazonas Department, Colombia. It is located in the mouth of the Caraparaná River, tributary of the Putumayo River ....
groundlooped off the runway. Then the Breese Pabco Pacific Flyer failed to get airborne. However, at 12:30 p.m. the Golden Eagle lifted easily from the ground and headed out over the Golden Gate for Honolulu. It was followed by the Buhl Miss Doran, the Breese Aloha , the Travel Air Woolaroc, and the Swallow Dallas Spirit. However, the Miss Doran, Oklahoma and Dallas Spirit soon returned with difficulties. Only the Miss Doran was able to go airborne again, and by 2 PM, Loughead knew the Lockheed Vega was the fastest plane in the race.
None of the planes carried radio transmitters - all Loughead could do was to await the news from Hawaii. The airplanes were supposed to arrive about 1 PM the next day. The next morning, Jim Dole and the Race Committee gathered on Wheeler Field at Honolulu. After a long wait, the Travel Air Woolaroc landed after 26 hours and 16 minutes in the air, and Art Goebel and Bill Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
crawled out to claim the $25,000 first prize. Two hours later, the Breese Aloha landed, and Martin Jensen and Paul Schluter laid claim to the $10,000 second prize. Then as the minutes ticked away, it became apparent that the Golden Eagle and Miss Doran were down in the Pacific. Despite an extensive air and sea search, no trace of either plane was ever found.
Arctic Exploration
Gloom fell over the Lockheed factory, even though a factory demonstrator Vega was underway. However, ArcticArctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer Captain George Hubert Wilkins had spied the Golden Eagle from his San Francisco hotel window while it was on a test flight. He was so impressed that he went to the Oakland airport to learn more about it. Then he drove down to Hollywood and met with Loughead, Northrop, and others and pored over its drawings. In the end, he placed an order for the third Vega equipped for Arctic exploration. After it was flight tested in January 1928, by Eddie Bellande, he said, "She's a pippin!".
Wilkins selected Arctic flyer Carl Ben Eielson to pilot the Vega on a planned flight from Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...
, the northernmost settlement in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, over the Arctic region to the island of Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
near Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. After Eielson tested the plane, it was shipped to Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
. Eielson and Wilkins then flew it to Barrow. From there, after waiting three weeks for good weather, they were able to take off from a crude ice runway and head for the island of Spitsbergen.
For the first 500 miles, the weather was clear. Then dense clouds forced them to change course frequently. They made landfall at Grant Land
Grant Land
Grant Land is the northern lobe of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Situated on the north coast, Cape Columbia, is the northernmost point of Canada, only 770 km from the North Pole, and was used as the final point on land for Peary's North Pole expedition in 1909.At its highest point, it is ...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's Northern reaches. Then, as they edged around the northern tip of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, they ran into more bad weather. Within 200 miles of their goal, they encountered a raging blizzard. Ruel was now dangerously low, but Eielson spun down through a hole in the clouds and landed safely on snow covered land.
Unable to see anything in the blizzard, the men curled up in the cabin. The blizzard blew for the next four days. Finally, on the fifth day the weather cleared, and the men spent six hours clearing a makeshift runway in the snow. When they finally got airborne, they saw the radio masts of Green Harbor, Spitsbergen ahead. In less than a half hour, they landed there after spending 20.5 hours in the air and five days on the ground within sight of their goal!
Wilkin's flight across the Arctic was hailed as one of the greatest in aviation. Wilkins was knighted by King George V of the United Kingdom
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, while Eielson received the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
and the Harmon Trophy
Harmon Trophy
The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix , and aeronaut...
from President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. Even before he returned to the United States, Wilkins began planning an expedition to Antarctica and ordered a low-wing Lockheed Explorer seaplane. But he soon changed his order to a high-wing Vega seaplane. After he and Eielson arrived in Antarctica in December, 1928, they used the Vegas to make the first flights in history over the continent and to explore much of its uncharted territory from the air. Thus the Vega became the first plane to discover new land, and Wilkins named many of its features after his friends and backers. He named the Lockheed Mountains after the builder of his plane.
Move to Burbank
The Wilkins expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic brought Lockheed Aircraft a flood of orders and forced it to move into new facilities in Burbank, CaliforniaBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, in March 1928. Lockheed received an order for 20 Vegas worth $250,000, which was the largest commercial aircraft order to date. The nation's fledgling airlines also soon recognized the potential of the Vega as an airmail and passenger plane. Also, Northrop designed the parasol wing Air Express
Air Express
Air Express Tanzania was an airline based in Tanzania. It was founded in 2002, and ceased in 2006....
for Western Air Express as an airmail and a passenger plane. The Vega, Explorer and Air Express, and the variants that stemmed from them, were used by the biggest names in aviation, Art Goebel, Bob Cantwell, Frank Hawks
Frank Hawks
Frank Monroe Hawks served in the U.S. Army in World War I and was known during the 1920s and 1930s as a record breaking aviator, using a series of Texaco-sponsored aircraft, setting 214 point-to-point records in the United States and Europe...
, Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
, Wiley Post
Wiley Post
Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...
, Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner was an aviator who was a three time winner of the Thompson Trophy.-Background:Turner was born in Corinth, Mississippi, the eldest son of a poor but respectable farmer. He came to realize that he did not want to be a farmer and found that he was attracted to mechanical devices instead...
, Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
, and others, to set a number of distance, speed and endurance records. This led Allan Loughead to coin the famous phrase, "It Takes a Lockheed to Beat a Lockheed."
In 1928 the company sales exceeded one million dollars.
The Lockheed Vega remained the primary product of the Lockheed Corporation. The Vega was a high-wing, cantilever monoplane manufactured using the two-piece moulded-under-pressure streamlined plywood fuselage skin construction developed at Santa Barbara. The plane was manufactured in both four-passnger and six-passenger variants. By April 1929, the company was turning out five planes per week with less than 300 employees. The retail sales price of thes planes averaged about $17,000 each.
Acquisition by Detroit Aircraft Corporation
In mid-1928, Jack Northrop left Lockheed Aircraft to start a company of his own. Gerald Vultee later to found Vultee AircraftVultee Aircraft
The Vultee Aircraft Corporation became an independent company in 1939 and had limited success before merging with the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1943 to form the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, or Convair.-History:...
became the new Lockheed chief engineer. Part of the reason Northrop left was that Lockheed's management refused to invest in developing new metal aircraft and chose to make the most money it could from its proven wood designs.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation
Detroit Aircraft Corporation
The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929...
, a holding company with assets of $28 million, began acquiring a portfolio of aviation companies. In July 1929, Fred E. Keeler, an investor who owned 51 percent of Lockheed, decided to sell the company assets to Detroit Aircraft Company. The acquisition was through an exchange of stock.
Unhappy with this situation, Allan Loughead resigned as president and general manager on June 3, 1929, and later sold his Detroit Aircraft stock for $23 a share. With the stock market crash in October 1929, Detroit Aircraft stock fell to 12.5 cents a share and by 1932 Lockheed Aircraft was bankrupt.
Receivership
A group of investors headed by brothers Robert GrossRobert Gross
Robert Gross may refer to:* Robert Arthur Gross , American composer and violinist* Robert E. Gross , businessman in the field of aviation* Robert E. Gross , pioneering paediatric surgeon...
and Courtland Gross, and including Walter Varney
Walter Varney
Walter Thomas Varney was an American aviation pioneer who founded forerunners of two major U.S. airlines United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Varney was also one of the most prominent airmail contractors of the early 20th Century.Varney served as a pilot in the Aviation Section, U.S...
bought the Lockheed company out of receivership in 1932. Allan Lockheed returned as a consultant but no longer had any formal management role with his namesake company.. The Lockheed Aircraft Company went on to become a major aerospace and defense company, and in 1995 merged with Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta
Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of The Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. The combined company became a leader in chemicals, aerospace, and electronics. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. The...
to form Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
.
Later career
In 1930, Loughead formed the Lockheed Brothers Aircraft Corporation in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
and developed the experimental Olympia Duo-four, a five-place high-wing monoplane with two engines mounted side-by-side in the wood monocoque fuselage nose. It had a plywood-covered wing and wheel pants. The fuselage was covered with a two-piece moulded-under-pressure plywood skin. He made numerous flights in this plane demonstrating its extremely safe single-engine performance. This fourth commercial aircraft venture by Loughead lasted until 1934.
In 1934, Loughead, tired of the many mispronunciations of his name, legally changed it from Loughead to Lockheed.
Lockheed spent the period from 1935 to 1936 as a consultant.
In 1937, Lockheed formed the Alcor Aircraft Corporation in San Francisco and developed the Alcor C-6-1, an 8-place, low-wing plane that also had excellent single-engine performance. Unfortunately, the prototyp C-6-1 was lost over San Francisco Bay. During a 1938 test flight, the Alcor prototype went out of control. A pilot and a passenger bailed out, "leaving the plane to descend in slow circles until it hit the waters of the Golden Gate and sank, as related in the 1957 Lockheed history, "Of Men and Stars." The Alcor company folded in 1939.
"I guess Alcor was the final burnout for Dad," said his son, Allan Jr. "He got only enought money from the insurance to pay off the creditors and close the doors."
Afterwards, Lockheed continued to make design studies of aircraft, such as fighters and bombers, for war use.
In 1941, Lockheed became Vice President of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, where he served as general manager of the Aviation Division and Director of Aircraft Engineering.
In August 1941, U.S. Commerce Secretary Jesse H. Jones appointed Lockheed to the Cargo Plane Committee, which also included Andre Preister, William Bushnell Stout
William Bushnell Stout
William Bushnell Stout was an inventor, designer whose work in automotive and aviation fields was notable. Stout designed an aircraft that eventually became the Ford Trimotor and was an executive at the Ford Motor Company.-Early years:William Bushnell Stout was born March 16, 1880 in Quincy,...
, Luther Harris, and J.W. Crowley. The committee was charged with drawing up basic design recommendations for a cargo plane for the Aviation Division of the Defense Supplies Corporation. The committee's work was completed and accepted in January 1942.
In October 1942, Lockheed became the general manager of the Aircraft Division of Grand Rapids Store Equipment Company, making parts for Navy fighters.
After the war, Allan Lockheed continued his career as a real estate salesman in California, while also occasionally serving as an aviation consultant.
In the mid-1950s, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation asked Allan Lockheed to return as a consultant, mainly to help on the "Of Men and Stars" history being prepared by Lockheed public relations writer Phil Juergens." Lockheed's son John Lockheed said that "Dad was delighted to come back to Lockheed." Allan Lockheed, Jr., said, "It was a tremendous boost to his morale to be able to rejoin the company."
In 1961, Allan Lockheed moved to Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, where he lived in semi-retirement. However, he continued to do consulting work with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Once, when someone asked Lockheed what he did in the early days of aviation, he answered, "I survived!"
National Aviation Hall of Fame
Lockheed was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of FameNational Aviation Hall of Fame
The American National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, in 1986. His daughter, Beth, was present, and his son John accepted the award on Lockheed's behalf.