Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Light commercial transport

Power Plant:

One 336 kw (450 hp) Pratt & Whitney SC-1 Wasp nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

Specifications:

Armament:

History:

The prototype of the Lockheed Vega, powered by a 168 kw (225 hp) Wright J-5 radial engine, was flown for the first time on 4 July 1927. A Vega was the first aircraft to fly over both the north and south pole. Involved in the design were the Loughead Brothers and John Northrop. In the 1920s Captain George H Wilkins, an Australian, who later became Sir Hubert Wilkins, sponsored by Detroit businessmen and American newspapers, flew four aircraft from fogbound Alaska airstrips towards the North Pole but failed to reach the pole due to weather.

In 1927 Captain Wilkins met Allan Loughead, one of the founders of Lockheed, and Jack Northrop, and ordered a Vega (X3903 – c/n 4) off the production line fitted with a Wright J-5 Whirlwind engine with extra fuel tanks and able to be fitted with skis or wheels. It was used for the 1928 Detroit News – Wilkins Arctic Expedition and flown by Lt Carl Ben Eielson and Capt Wilkins from Barrow in Alaska to Green Harbour in Spitzbergen, making the first Trans-Arctic flight. Afterwards it was stored at Deception Island in the South Shetland Island Group and was used again in the 1928-29 and 1929-30 Wilkins-Hearst expeditions.

In September 1928 Wilkins left for another expedition, this time using two Vegas (X3903 – c/n 4 and X7439 – c/n 17) and more than 258,980 square km of land (100,000 square miles) was described, mapped and photographed. Between expeditions the aircraft were dismantled and stored in an iron shed on Deception Island. During the 1929-30 expedition more than 4,828 km (3,000 miles) was flown and 1,931 km (1,200 miles) of coastline charted. Both the aircraft were sold to the Argentine Government and Wilkins anticipated c/n 4 would be placed in a Museum in Buenos Aires but, after sustaining minor damage, it was left to decay at Maron Airport.

The Vega made a name for itself in setting records, some 34 in all being accumulated. Long distance flights using the Vega included the prototype built for George Hearst (X2788 – c/n 1 – Golden Eagle – ex NX913), which was an entrant in the Dole Race from San Francisco to Hawaii commencing on 16 August 1927 flown by J S Frost and G Scott but was never seen again. Amelia Earhart set a record by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 1932; and later was the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo in a Vega (NC7952 – c/n 22). This aircraft survives at the National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.

Probably the most famous was Wiley Post, with Australian Harold Gatty as navigator, who flew around the world in June 1931. This aircraft, a Model 5B (NR105W – c/n 122) named Winnie May, covered 24,902 km (15,474 miles) in 8 days 15 hrs 51 mins, of which 107 hrs 2 mins was spent in the air. This machine is also preserved in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. Another flight was that of Jimmie Mattern and Benny Griffin (c/n 122 NR105W) who flew in 1933 from New York across the Atlantic in 10 hrs 50 mins to Berlin, continued on over the Ural mountains to Siberia and returned via Alaska.

Production continued until 1933, by which time some 131 had been built in a variety of models with a number of engine types and models: eg the Model I had the 164 kw (220 hp) Wright Whirlwind; the 2D had the 224 kw (300 hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior; and the 5 and 5C had the 336 kw (450 hp) Wasp Junior.  The fuselage frame was built up of two plywood shells that were formed in a concrete tub that was assembled over circular wooden formers and stringers, being covered with fabric. The wing framework was built up of solid spruce spars and spruce and plywood built up ribs, covered in plywood veneer and fabric covering.

One Vega has been registered in this region.  This aircraft, a DL-1A Vega Special, was built in 1930 as NC372E (c/n 155). It had a 373 kw (500 hp) variant of the Wasp radial engine and a max speed at 1,829 m (6,000 ft) of 314 km/h (195 mph), a cruising speed of 174 km/h (170 mph) and an initial rate of climb of 381 m/min (1,250 ft/min).   It was sold to Lt Com Glen Kidston of London in September 1930, and was shipped to the UK in January 1931 where it was registered (G-ABGK – c/n 155). Kidston was proposing to build the type under licence in the UK.  

It was first flown in the UK at Croydon aerodrome on 31 January 1931. On 21 February it set a London – Paris intercity record of 1 hour 12 mins. Long range-tanks were installed and it left Netheravon in the United Kingdom on 31 March 1931 flown by Owen Cathcart-Jones, with the aircraft’s owner, Glen Kidston, a radio operator and a mechanic on board, broke the record to Capetown, South Africa arriving on 6 April 1931, in a time of 6 days 9 hours at an average speed of 216 km/h (134 mph).  The DL-1 was a high-wing monoplane with seating for seven and was similar to other Vega models, ie the 5-B and 5-C, but had a metal monocoque fuselage developed in Detroit, the wing being of the standard Lockheed all-wood cantilever construction.

The aircraft was shipped back to the United Kingdom, the owner having been killed in the crash of a Puss Moth in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa, and was test flown by Cathcart-Jones on 5 December 1932.  It was flown to a number of events around the United Kingdom, including a demonstration to the Maharajah of Jodhpur on 25 October 1932. In August 1934 it was test flown at Hanworth by Capt James Woods on behalf of  Horrie Miller, who proposed to enter it in the Centenary Air Race from England to Australia. It was prepared for the race by G N Wikner and as race entrant No 36 it left Mildenhall at 0639 hrs on 20 October 1933 crewed by James Woods and Donald Bennett. Named Puck, it flew from Mildenhall to Marseilles, Rome and Athens on the first day; then on to Aleppo in Syria, where the aircraft turned over after a heavy landing, ruining any chance of completing the race.

The aircraft was shipped to Fremantle, WA and conveyed to the MacRobertson Miller Aviation Co workshops at Maylands, WA where it was repaired, being test flown by Horrie Miller on 22 August 1935.  On 5 October that year it was entered in the Perth Aerial Derby, beating a RAAF Hawker Demon. It was used for a period on commercial charter work, Miller requesting the allotment of the registration VH-BGK but VH-UVK being allotted on 23 June 1936.  It was regularly flown to Adelaide, SA, Kalgoorlie, WA, the RAAF Base at Bullsbrook [later RAAF Pearce], WA, Darwin, NT, Geraldton, WA etc. An application was made to the Department of Civil Aviation for it to become part of the MMA fleet but this was rejected.

The aircraft was impressed by the RAAF as A42-1 on 5 November 1941 for communications duties, up to this time having 246 hours in the logbook, and served with Nos 24 and 33 Squadrons, and No 3 Communications Flight, but flew less than 46 hours in RAAF service.  On 17 June 1942 it ground-looped at Cairns, QLD suffering serious wing damage and was conveyed to Townsville, QLD, being placed in storage. On 12 October 1942 it was taken to Aircrafts Pty Ltd of Archerfield, QLD, where it was re-built. It was then issued to No 3 Communications Unit, and in March 1944 issued to the Department of Civil Aviation for disposal.  In August 1945 some interest was shown in the aircraft by Butler Air Transport.

In 1944 Ansett Airways attempted to acquire the aircraft for services between Melbourne and Hamilton, VIC but the aircraft was deemed unserviceable.  In October 1945 James Woods advised he wished to purchase the aircraft but the Department indicated that due to its instability problems it would not renew the Certificate of Registration.  It seems at about the same time the aircraft was being chopped into firewood at RAAF Base Richmond, NSW.

A total of ten Vegas in the DL series was built, the first of these being c/n 135, and the last c/n 161.  The first, known as a DL-1 (NC497H – c/n 135), was used by Amelia Earhart to set a number of speed / load records for women.

It is interesting to note that when Sir Charles Kingsford Smith returned from the United States to Australia in 1935 he announced to the press that he had obtained rights from the Lockheed Aircraft Corp to build the Lockheed Vega in Australia and was intending to float a company at Mascot, NSW, to produce the design but these plans never came to fruition.