1.
Lady Southern Cross
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The Lady Southern Cross was a Lockheed Altair monoplane owned by Australian pioneer aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. In this aircraft, Kingsford Smith made the first eastward trans-Pacific flight from Australia to the United States, in April 1934, Kingsford Smith ordered an aircraft from Lockheed for use in the MacRobertson Air Race in October of that year. The aircraft was rebuilt from a Lockheed Sirius originally built for George R. Hutchinson in 1930, the aircraft was delivered by ship to Sydney, Australia in July 1934, bearing Kingsford Smiths requested blue livery and the name ANZAC. However, before it could be flown in Australia, the Government objected to the use of ANZAC. With all paperwork finally complete, they began the flight to England on 29 September 1934, however, dust storms and stress failure of the engine cowling turned them back to Sydney, and they were forced to withdraw from the race. The race was won, and a new speed record set. Kingsford Smith and Taylor departed Archerfield Airport on 21 October 1934, for the journey from that the Southern Cross had made in 1928. After arriving safely in Oakland on 4 November 1934, the Lady Southern Cross was left in the care of Lockheed at Burbank, California for repair, overhaul and storage. With the Lady Southern Cross substantially repaired and rebuilt in Burbank, aviator C. J. Melrose claimed to have seen the Lady Southern Cross fighting a storm 150 miles from shore and 200 feet over the sea with fire coming from its exhaust. Lockheed confirmed the undercarriage leg to be from the Lady Southern Cross, botanists who examined the weeds clinging to the undercarriage leg estimated that the aircraft itself lies not far from the island at a depth of approximately 15 fathoms. The undercarriage leg is now on display at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. In 2009 a Sydney film crew claimed they were 100% certain they found the Lady Southern Cross, however, this claim was treated with scepticism by well-known businessman and pilot, Dick Smith, while Kingsford Smiths biographer, Ian Mackersey, described it as complete nonsense. Southern Cross Ian Mackersey Ron Cuskelly
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Lockheed Corporation
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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, the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company was established in San Francisco in 1912 by the brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead. Following the Model F-1, the company invested heavily in the design, however, the asking price of $2500 could not compete in a market that was saturated with post World War 1 $350 Curtiss JN-4s and De Haviland trainers. The Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company closed its doors in 1921, in 1926, Allan Loughead, Jack Northrop, and Kenneth Jay secured funding to form the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Hollywood. This new company utilized some of the technology originally developed for the Model S-1 to design the Vega Model. In March 1928, the relocated to Burbank, California. From 1926-28 the company produced over 80 aircraft and employed more than 300 workers who by April 1929 were building five aircraft per week, in July 1929, majority shareholder Fred Keeler sold 87% of the Lockheed Aircraft Company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In August 1929, Allan Lockheed resigned, the Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $40,000, ironically, Allan Lockheed himself had planned to bid for his own company, but had raised only $50,000, which he felt was too small a sum for a serious bid. In 1934, Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and his brother Courtlandt S. Gross was a co-founder and executive, succeeding Robert as Chairman following his death in 1961. The company was named the Lockheed Corporation in 1977, in the 1930s, Lockheed spent $139,400 to develop the Model 10 Electra, a small twin-engined transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production, amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, flew it in their failed attempt to circumnavigate the world in 1937. Subsequent designs, the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra expanded their market. The Lockheed Model 14 formed the basis for the Hudson bomber and its primary role was submarine hunting. The Model 14 Super Electra were sold abroad, and more than 100 were license-built in Japan for use by the Imperial Japanese Army, the P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. It filled ground-attack, air-to-air, and even strategic bombing roles in all theaters of the war in which the United States operated, the Lockheed Vega factory was located next to Burbanks Union Airport which it had purchased in 1940. During the war, the area was camouflaged to fool enemy aerial reconnaissance
4.
Lockheed Model 8 Sirius
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Its basic role was intended to be as a utility transport. A total of 15 Sirius aircraft were constructed in 1929 and 1930, the first and best known Sirius was bought by Lindbergh, and in 1931, as NR-211, it was retrofitted to be a float plane. Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh flew it to the Far East, the aircraft was damaged in Hankou, China, when it accidentally capsized while being lowered off the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, and had to be sent back to Lockheed to be repaired. In 1931, György Endresz and Sándor Magyar made a successful US–Hungary transatlantic flight with a Lockheed Sirius 8A aircraft named Justice for Hungary. In 1933, the Lindberghs set out again with their Sirius, now upgraded with a powerful engine, a new directional gyro. This time, their route would take them across the northern Atlantic, with no particular destination, while at a refueling stop in Angmagssalik, Greenland, the Inuit of the area gave the Sirius a nickname, Tingmissartoq or one who flies like a bird. The aircraft was in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City until 1955 and 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. Lockheed 8 Sirius Single-engine, two-seat, long-range, high-performance aircraft, Sirius 8 First production version, similar to the Lockheed 8 Sirius, one built. Sirius 8A Equipped with a tail surface, eight built. Sirius 8C Four-seat version fitted with an enclosed cabin seating two passengers, located between the engine and the cockpit, one built. DL-2 Metal fuselage and wooden wings, one built by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. Spain Spanish Republican Air Force Data from Lockheed Aircraft since 1913 General characteristics Crew, two Length,27 ft 1 in Wingspan,42 ft 9 1⁄4 in Height,9 ft 3 in Wing area,294
5.
Charles Lindbergh
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Charles Augustus Lindbergh, nicknamed Slim, Lucky Lindy, and The Lone Eagle, was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, explorer, and environmental activist. At age 25 in 1927, he went from obscurity as a U. S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame by making his Orteig Prize–winning nonstop flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris. He covered the 33 1⁄2-hour,3,600 statute miles alone in a single-engine purpose-built Ryan monoplane and this was the first solo transatlantic flight, and the first non-stop flight between North America and mainland Europe. Lindbergh was an officer in the U. S. Army Air Corps Reserve, and he received the United States highest military decoration and his achievement spurred interest in both commercial aviation and air mail, and Lindbergh himself devoted much time and effort to promoting such activity. Lindberghs historic flight and instantaneous world fame led to tragedy, in March 1932, his infant son, Charles Jr. was kidnapped and murdered in what was widely called the Crime of the Century and described by H. L. Mencken as the biggest story since the resurrection. The case prompted the United States Congress to upgrade kidnapping from a crime to a federal crime once the kidnapper had crossed state lines with his victim. By late 1935 the hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into exile in Europe. Before the United States formally entered World War II, some people accused Lindbergh of being a fascist sympathizer, in his later years, Lindbergh became a prolific prize-winning author, international explorer, inventor, and environmentalist. Lindbergh had six children with his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4,1902, and spent most of his childhood in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Washington, D. C. Charles parents separated in 1909 when he was seven, congressman from 1907 to 1917, was one of the relatively few Congressmen to oppose the entry of the U. S. into World War I. Lindberghs mother was a teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Lindbergh also attended over a dozen schools from Washington, D. C. From an early age, Lindbergh had exhibited an interest in the mechanics of motorized transportation, including his familys Saxon Six automobile, and later his Excelsior motorbike. By the time he started college as an engineering student, he had also become fascinated with flying. A few days later Lindbergh took his first formal flying lesson in that same machine and he also briefly worked as an airplane mechanic at the Billings, Montana municipal airport. With the onset of winter, however, Lindbergh left flying, though Lindbergh had not touched an airplane in more than six months, he had already secretly decided he was ready to take to the air by himself. After a half-hour of dual time with a pilot who was visiting the field to pick up another surplus JN-4, Lindbergh flew solo for the first time in the Jenny he had just purchased for $500. After spending another week or so at the field to practice, Lindbergh took off from Americus for Montgomery, Alabama, some 140 miles to the west and he went on to spend much of the rest of 1923 engaged in almost nonstop barnstorming under the name of Daredevil Lindbergh
6.
Detroit Aircraft Corporation
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The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10,1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929, the Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp. Marine Aircraft Corp. Parks Air College and Affiliated Companies, Detroit Aircraft Export Co, gliders, Inc. and Eastman Aircraft Corp. It also owned a 90% interest in the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company, practically all of the stock of the Lockheed Aircraft Company. During the Great Depression the Detroit Aircraft holding company found that losses from other operations were draining the company coffers. On October 27,1931, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation went into receivership, chairman, M. Bjelivuk, Edward S. Evans President, C. B. Hunter Ryan Aircraft Corporation, Incorporated into Detroit Aircraft on July 5,1929, Ryan Aircraft acquired the assets and business of the Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Corporation, the successor to Ryan Air Lines. Ryan Aircraft manufactured four and six-place cabin monoplanes at their St. Louis facility, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation owned Ryan Aircrafts entire capital stock. Aircraft Development Corporation, Incorporated on July 12,1929, in Michigan to take over and continue development and construction of airships for commercial, military. Company held patents covering design and construction of Metalclad rigid airships, the first Metalclad airship, the ZMC-2, was constructed for the U. S. Navy in 1929. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock, edsel Ford, William May and William Stout, invested in the venture in an effort to make Detroit the manufacturing center of the dirigible industry. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11,1929, to take over and continue the development of automatic riveting machines, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Incorporated in Michigan, Nov.15,1926, owned and operated an airport on Grosse Ile, an island in the Detroit River. The airport covered 403 acres of land and has water approaches on three sides,3.000 feet in diameter, and an airship hangar. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock, Incorporated in Michigan, June 11,1929, to specialise exclusively in all-metal amphibian and flying boat construction for commercial and naval uses. Manufactured an all-metal six-place cabin amphibian plane, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Manufactured the Sea Rover and Sea Pirate flying boat ranging In price from $7,500 to $10,000, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Incorporated in Michigan, May 20,1929. to acquire design, DAC controlled 90% with the UK company holding 10% of the stock
7.
Vega Aircraft Corporation
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The Vega Aircraft Corporation was a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Company responsible for much of its parent companys production in World War II. The company was first formed in August 1937 as the AiRover Company to produce a new aircraft design. It was soon renamed to honor Lockheeds first aircraft design, the Vega, the AiRover Model 1 was a Lockheed Model 9 Orion fitted with a Unitwin engine, which featured two engines driving a single shaft. The AiRover Model 2 was a new design named the Vega Starliner, one Starliner prototype was built and tested, but the design did not go into production. In 1940, with World War II already underway in Europe, the company began by producing five North American NA-35 trainers under license with North American Aviation. Production by Vega really got underway with the Hudson, a patrol bomber designed for use by the Royal Air Force, Vega entered a partnership between three companies to produce the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of over 12,000 B-17s produced by wars end,2,750 were built by Vega, the company also built two experimental B-17 variants, the Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress and the Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress. By the end of 1943, Vega had merged back into Lockheed, Aircraft designs produced by the Vega Aircraft Corporation during its existence as a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Francillon, René J, Lockheed Aircraft since 1913
8.
Menasco Motors Company
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Albert S. Menasco organized the Menasco Motors Company in 1926 to convert WWI surplus Salmson Z-9 water-cooled nine-cylinder radials into air-cooled engines for private use. In 1929, Menasco designed his own engine, the 4-A, the first of what was to become Menascos main product line, Menasco designed and built a variety of four- and six-cylinder inverted air-cooled aircraft engines, some with supercharging. During WWII, Menasco manufactured aircraft landing gear for North American, Lockheed, Republic, General Dynamics, after WWII, aircraft landing gear became Menascos main product. The best-known Menasco engines are the air-cooled, inverted inline four- and six-cylinder engine series known as the Pirate and Buccaneer, al Menasco was deeply involved with air racing and his engines were popular with racers who needed a small displacement engine. None of the supercharged engines were production designs with ATC ratings. One of the obvious benefits Menasco offered was his willingness to build custom engine combinations to fit special airplanes for reasonable prices. An important advantage of owning a Menasco engine was Als appreciation of the economics of using off the shelf interchangeable parts whenever possible and this company was the only supplier of inverted in-line engines in the early thirties. They had reasonably high power, and an availability of complete engines. Production of certified engines did not begin until 1936 when Art Chester was hired by Menasco for research and development for the C4S, Chester was a race pilot who had a reputation for getting the most horses out his four-Cylinder Menasco, and keeping it reliable at the same time. A new engine was introduced in 1937, the six-cylinder C6S-4 model and it was the first Menasco that really had the power potential to win the Thompson Trophy race. The first prototype went to Rudy Kling for his new Folkerts SK-3 racer in early 1937, in 1938 the commercial version of the C6S-4 was ATC certified at 260 hp. Menasco opened a car dealership, tried his hand at grape cultivation and winemaking, beginning about 1946 landing gear manufacturing shifted to include commercial airliners. By the end of the 1990s Menasco Aerosystems was the worlds largest producer of aircraft landing gear, with plants in California, Texas. A few of the aircraft that gear sets were made for include the A7, F102, C130, C141, the Space Shuttle, F16, F16E, F18, F18E, YF22, B-1, C5A, C5B, B52, and tip gear for the B36. Gear sets for Boeing include the 707,727,737,757,777, gear sets were also made for the Lockheed L-1011, Boeing, Douglas, Convair, Martin, McDonnel, Republic, North American and other aircraft manufacturers. Menasco landing gear became the standard, as its reputation for quality was acknowledged across the aircraft industry. Menasco built the gear that allowed the space shuttle to land on a runway. Malabar Machine Company was started in 1935 by Mr. E. P, “Ed” Grime as a machine shop for manufacturing items for customers
9.
United States Army Air Corps
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The United States Army Air Corps was the military aviation arm of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, the Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Armys middle-level command structure. The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II. This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces, the U. S. Army Air Service had a brief but turbulent history. In early 1926 the Military Affairs Committee of the Congress rejected all bills set forth before it on both sides of the issue. They fashioned a compromise in which the findings of the Morrow Board were enacted as law, while providing the air arm a five-year plan for expansion and development. The legislation changed the name of the Air Service to the Air Corps, thereby strengthening the conception of military aviation as an offensive, the Air Corps Act became law on 2 July 1926. Two additional brigadier generals would serve as assistant chiefs of the Air Corps, previous provisions of the National Defense Act of 1920 that all flying units be commanded only by rated personnel and that flight pay be awarded were continued. The Air Corps also retained the Prop and Wings as its branch insignia through its disestablishment in 1947, patrick became Chief of the Air Corps and Brig. Gen. James E. Fechet continued as his first assistant chief. The Air Corps Act of 2 July 1926 effected no fundamental innovation, the change in designation meant no change in status, the Air Corps was still a combatant branch of the Army with less prestige than the Infantry. The Air Corps Act gave authorization to carry out an expansion program. However, a lack of appropriations caused the beginning of the program to be delayed until 1 July 1927. The act authorized expansion to 1,800 airplanes,1,650 officers, none of the goals were reached by July 1932. Organizationally the Air Corps doubled from seven to fifteen groups, but the expansion was meaningless because all were seriously understrength in aircraft and pilots. Air Corps groups added 1927–1937 ¹Inactivated on 20 May 1937 ²Redesignated 17th Attack Group, 17th Bomb Group As units of the Air Corps increased in number, so did higher command echelons. The 1st Bomb Wing was activated in 1931, followed by the 3rd Attack Wing in 1932 to protect the Mexican border, the three wings became the foundation of General Headquarters Air Force upon its activation in 1935. In 1927 the Air Corps adopted a new scheme for painting its aircraft. The wings and tails of aircraft were painted yellow, with the words U. S
10.
United States Navy
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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, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
