Lockheed Model 18
| Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar | |
|---|---|
 C-60A “Lodestar” in the USAF Museum |
|
| Type: | Transport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
September 21, 1939 |
| Commissioning: |
1940 |
| Production time: |
1940 to 1943 |
| Number of pieces: |
625 |
The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar (in German Leitstern ) was a light twin-engine airliner made by the American manufacturer Lockheed .
history
After a series of crashes, Northwest Airlines returned its Lockheed 14 Super Electra to the manufacturer. One of these aircraft was converted into a prototype of the Lockheed Lodestar. By extending the fuselage by one and a half meters, two additional rows of seats could be installed. The new model made its maiden flight on September 21, 1939.
Although this increase in capacity was not enough to seriously compete with the larger Douglas DC-3 , at least 625 aircraft in different variants were sold. Different Pratt & Whitney and Wright Cyclone engines were used as drive .
The light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft Ventura was developed from the Lodestar .
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Lockheed was only able to sell 31 machines to US airlines, including National Airlines . The aircraft was more successful outside of the USA: 29 Lodestars were acquired by the government of the Dutch East Indies , 21 of which went to South African Airways . Other important customers were Trans-Canada Air Lines with twelve and BOAC with nine orders.
When the US increased its armaments efforts in 1940/41, different versions could be sold to the US Army Air Corps and the US Navy . Some machines went to the New Zealand Air Force. After the end of the war, these machines were sold to civilian customers and used primarily as business aircraft. Lear marketed its Lodestar tags as the Learstar . Two of them ( aircraft registration D-CABO and D-COCA ) were bought in Germany from the department store chain Horten AG and used for the owner's professional and private trips. The D-COCA , built in 1942, crashed into Lake Wörthersee on August 24, 1957 when approaching Klagenfurt Airport after a wing broke off. All three crew members died in the crash, the only occupants.
Civil users
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- Union Airways of New Zealand (1945-1947)
- National Airways Corporation (after 1947)
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- BOAC (9)
Military users
- Brazilian Air Force
- Air Force Dutch East India
- Norwegian Air Force
- United States Army Air Forces
- United States Navy
- United States Marine Corps
- United States Coast Guard
Versions
US Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces
- C-56 - Wright R-1820 engines, 1 copy
- C-56A to C-56E - Pratt & Whitney R-1690 engines, 25 copies
- C-57A - Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines, one example
- C-57B - Troop transport with Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines, 7 copies
- C-57C - former C-60A with Pratt & Whitney R-1830-51 engines, 3 copies
- C-57D - former C-57A with Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 engines, 1 copy
- C-59 - Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engines, 10 copies; later Lodestar IA of the Royal Air Force .
- C-60 - Wright R-1820-87 engines, 36 copies; later Lodestar II of the RAF
- C-60A troop transport with Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines, 125 copies
- XC-60B - C-60A, equipped with a de-icing system for test purposes, 1 copy
- C-60C - troop carrier with 21 seats, not built
- C-66 - Wright R-1820-87 engines, 1 copy; delivered to the Air Force of Brazil
- XR5O-1 - Wright R-1820-40 engines of 895 kW, 1 copy
- R5O-1 - Wright R-1820-97 engines of 895 kW, 3 copies; one machine later went to the United States Coast Guard .
- R5O-2 - Pratt & Whitney R-1690-25 engines with 634 kW, 1 copy
- R5O-3 - Pratt & Whitney R-1830-34A engines with 895 kW, VIP van with four seats, 2 copies
- R5O-4 - Wright R-1820-40 engines of 895 kW, 7-seater staff aircraft, 12 copies
- R5O-5 - RSO-4 with 14 seats, 14 copies
- R5O-6 - Former C-60A-5-LO with space for 18 paratroopers , 35 copies given to the US Marine Corps
production
Production of the Lodestar:
| version | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 18 Lodestar | 53 | 52 | 13 | 3 | 121 | |
| Lodestar Mk. II | 8th | 8th | ||||
| Lodestar NEIAF | 25th | 9 | 34 | |||
| C-56 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| C-56E | 2 | 2 | ||||
| C-57 | 12 | 1 | 13 | |||
| C-57B | 7th | 7th | ||||
| C-59 | 8th | 3 | 11 | |||
| C-60 | 11 | 11 | ||||
| C-60A | 87 | 242 | 3 | 332 | ||
| R5O-4 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| R5O-5 | 13 | 25th | 38 | |||
| R5O-6 | 35 | 35 | ||||
| TOTAL | 53 | 98 | 166 | 305 | 3 | 625 |
The “Statistical Digest of the USAF” mentions a production of 620 Lodestar in the years 1940 to 1943: 1940: 45, 1941: 98, 1942: 180, 1943: 297 Lodestar.
Incidents
From the first flight in 1939 to February 2019, the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar suffered 226 total losses. In 103 of them, 708 people were killed.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data model C-60 |
|---|---|
| crew | 3 |
| Passengers | 14th |
| length | 15.20 m |
| span | 20 m |
| height | 3.60 m |
| Empty mass | 5440 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 7940 kg |
| Top speed | 426 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 7740 m |
| Range | 2740 km |
| Engines | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1C3-G with 780 kW each |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Air-Britain Archive (English), December 2015, pp. 2015/154.
- ↑ accident report Learstar D-COCA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 24 August 2017th
- ^ Marson, Peter J .: The Lockheed Twins, Tonbridge 2001, pp. 351 ff.
- ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946, p. 100 ff.
- ↑ Accident statistics Lockheed 18 Lodestar , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 9, 2019.