Lockheed
The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company ) was an American aerospace company based in Burbank (Los Angeles County) . The manufacturer , founded in 1912, merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995 .
history
Origins
In 1912 the brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead founded the Alco Hydro-Airplane Company , which quickly went bankrupt after no customers could be found for the first product, the Loughead Model G. In 1916 the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was founded and developed the Loughead F-1 aircraft. They stayed afloat with licensed products during the First World War , but had to file for bankruptcy in 1921.
After the company's collapse, Allan Loughead created the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Hollywood , California in 1926 , the actual nucleus of the now well-known company. The new name was derived from the pronunciation of the name Loughead and later the Loughead brothers also adopted this name as a family name. In 1929 the Detroit Aircraft Corporation acquired the company.
The Great Depression ruined the aircraft market. A group of investors around the brothers Robert and Courtland Gross took over the insolvent Detroit Aircraft in 1932 for $ 40,000.
In 1934 Robert E. Gross took over the management of the new Lockheed Corporation , based at Burbank Airport . A few years later the company moved to Calabasas .
The first successful aircraft was the Vega , of which 141 copies were built. Numerous flight records have been set with her.
In the 1930s, Lockheed developed the L-10 Electra , a small twin-engine transport aircraft, for $ 139,400 . Forty machines were sold in the first year of production. On the basis of the Electra, the Hudson bomber was created , which was used during the Second World War by the US naval aviators and the Royal Air Force , primarily for fighting submarines.
War production
At the beginning of the Second World War , Lockheed's chief developer Clarence Johnson designed the twin-engine P-38 Lightning interceptor . The P-38 was the only American fighter to be built throughout the war.
Lockheed and his daughter Vega produced 19,278 aircraft during the war, including 2,600 Lockheed Ventura , 2,750 B-17 ( Boeing- licensed), 2,900 Hudsons and 9,000 Lightnings.
Post war production
During the war, Lockheed, together with Trans World Airlines (TWA), developed the L049 Constellation , which was able to transport 43 passengers from New York to London in thirteen hours . The first copies of the Constellation (or "Connie") were delivered to the military. Only after the war did the airlines receive the aircraft they had ordered. Nonetheless, Lockheed had secured itself more than a year ahead of the competition and was therefore significantly involved in the modernization of civil aviation.
Lockheed later developed a larger transport machine, the two-deck R6V Constitution , with which the Constellation was to be replaced. In the end, only two prototypes of this inadequately motorized aircraft were built.
Skunk Works
In 1943, Lockheed secretly began developing a jet-powered fighter aircraft. This P-80 Shooting Star , later called the F-80, was the first American jet fighter to be shot down.
With the P-80, Lockheed's secret development work began, which was carried out by the Advanced Development Division , better known as Skunk Works (German: Skunkerwerk ). This department was responsible for numerous designs, including the U-2 from the late 1950s, the SR-71 Blackbird from 1962 and the F-117 Nighthawk from the 1970s. Skunk Works often created very powerful models in a very short time and with limited resources. The name "Skunk Works" later became synonymous with secret projects.
Projects during the Cold War
In 1954, the C-130 Hercules , a four-engine transport aircraft, made its maiden flight. The version C-130J is built until today (2016).
In 1956, Lockheed received the development contract for the Polaris medium-range missile , which can be launched from submarines. The Poseidon and Trident nuclear missiles followed later.
In the 1960s, Lockheed began developing two large aircraft: the C-5 Galaxy military transport and the L-1011 TriStar , a wide-body civil aircraft . Both projects were characterized by delays and cost overruns. Lockheed had to correct the design flaws of the C-5 at its own expense. The Tristar, which was in direct competition with the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 , suffered from the late delivery of the newly developed Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. Both projects resulted in heavy losses for the company in the 1970s.
Other Lockheed designs include the F-104 Starfighter from the late 1950s, the world's first fighter jet with double the speed of sound, and the C-141 Starlifter .
The Lockheed bribery affairs
The Lockheed scandals include a series of bribes by Lockheed officials in the 1950s to 1970s. Around the turn of 1975/76, a Senate subcommittee found that Lockheed executives were paying members of friendly governments to ensure the sale of military aircraft. In 1976 it was announced that a total of $ 22 million in bribes had been paid.
The scandal caused violent political clashes in the Federal Republic of Germany , the Netherlands , Italy and Japan . The scandal contributed to Lockheed's demise after the Tristar proved to be a financial failure.
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Company history
- 1912: the Alco Hydro-Airplane Company is founded
- 1916: The company is renamed the Lougheed Aircraft Manufacturing Company
- 1926: Lockheed Aircraft Company is formed
- 1929: Lockheed becomes part of the Detroit Aircraft
- 1932: Robert and Courtland Gross take over the company after the collapse of Detroit Aircraft; Name changed to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
- 1933: "Kelly Johnson accepted a position at Lockheed
- 1939: First flight of the Lockheed P-38 (10,000 built)
- 1943: First flight of the Lockheed Constellation
- 1943: Lockheed founds Skunk Works subsidiary in Burbank, California
- 1944: First flight of the Lockheed P-80
- 1948: The successful T-33 model is derived from the P-80 (6500 built)
- 1950: First flight of the Lockheed Super Constellation
- 1954: First flight of the C-130 Hercules
- 1954: First flight of the F-104 Starfighter
- 1955: First flight of the U-2
- 1962: First flight of the Lockheed A-12
- 1963: First flight of the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter
- 1968: First flight of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
- 1970: First flight of the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
- 1975: Chief designer "Kelly" Johnson retires
- 1976: Lockheed scandal
- 1977: The company is renamed Lockheed Corporation for non-aviation activities
- 1984: The TriStar program is discontinued due to a lack of further orders
- 1985: Takeover of the Metier Management Systems
- 1986: Takeover of Sanders Associates
- 1991: Lockheed, General Dynamics and Boeing begin development of the F-22 Raptor
- 1993: Takeover of the aircraft construction subsidiary of General Dynamics , manufacturer of the F-16 Fighting Falcon
- 1995: Lockheed Corporation merges with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin
- 2001: Winner of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition
- 2006: First flight of the Lockheed Martin F-35
- 2014: The Hercules has been in production for 60 years
- 2015: Lockheed Martin buys Sikorsky
- 2017: Lockheed introduces a new civil version of the Hercules (L-100J)
Divisions
Lockheed's activities were divided into a variety of groups and divisions, some to this day as part of Lockheed Martin.
Aeronautical Systems Group
- Lockheed-California Company (CALAC), Burbank, California
- Lockheed-Georgia Company (GELAC), Marietta, Georgia
- Lockheed Advanced Aeronautics Company, Saugus, California
- Lockheed Aircraft Service Company (LAS), Ontario, California
- Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc. (LAT), Burbank, California
Missiles, Space, and Electronics Systems Group
- Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc. Sunnyvale, California
- Lockheed Space Operations Company Titusville, Florida
- Lockheed Engineering and Management Services Company, Inc., Houston, Texas
- Lockheed Electronics Company, Inc., Plainfield, New Jersey
Marine Systems Group
- Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company , Seattle, Washington
- Lockport Marine Company, Portland, Oregon
- Advanced Marine Systems, Santa Clara, California
Information Systems Group
- Datacom Systems Corporation, Teaneck, New Jersey
- CADAM Inc., Burbank, California
- Lockheed Data Plan, Inc., Los Gatos, California
- DIALOG Information Services, Inc, Palo Alto, California
- Metier Management Systems, London, England
- Integrated Systems and Solutions, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Products
A list of the main Lockheed aircraft and other products.
Civil aircraft
- Vega
- Orion
- Model 10 Electra
- Model 12 Electra Junior
- Model 14 Super Electra
- Model 18 Lodestar
- Saturn
- Constellation
- Super constellation
- Starliner
- L-188 Electra
- Jetstar
- L-1011 TriStar
Military transport aircraft
- C-69 / C-121, military version of the Constellation
- Lockheed R6V Constitution
- C-130 Hercules
- C-141 Starlifter
- C-5 Galaxy
Warplanes
- P-38 Lightning
- P-80 Shooting Star
- T-33 T-Bird
- F-94 Starfire
- F-104 starfighter
- F-117 Nighthawk
- F-22 Raptor
- F-35 Lightning II
spotter
- Lockheed Hudson
- PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon
- P2V Neptune
- P-3 Orion
- Lockheed U-2 (TR-1)
- SR-71 Blackbird ( A-12 ) ( M-21 ) ( YF-12 )
- S-3 Viking
- YO-3A Quiet Star
helicopter
Guided missiles
Space technology
Ships
Web links
- Lockheed Brothers (English)
- Lockheed Martin (English)
- Lockheed scandal in Japan (English)
- Lockheed advertising film on company history, development and production, approx. 1940: