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Lockheed Model 9 Orion

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General Info

Lockheed
Model 9 Orion

Model 9B Orion No.HB-LAH

(Taken May,1935)

Role Airliner

National origin US

Manufacturer Lockheed Aircraft Limited

Designer Richard A. von Hake

First flight 1931

Introduction 1931

Number built 35 or 36

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History Lockheed/Martin Aircraft
Lockheed Model 9 Orion

The Lockheed Model 9 Orion is a single-engined passenger aircraft built in 1931 for commercial airlines. It was faster than any American military aircraft of that time. Designed by Richard A. von Hake, it was the last wood aircraft produced by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

The Orion was the last design using many identical elements from the Lockheed designs preceding it. It primarily used all the elements of the Altair, but included a forward top cockpit similar to the Vega, plus the NACA cowling introduced in the Air Express.[1] Lockheed used the same basic fuselage mold and wing for all these wooden designs (the Explorer wing was unique), hence the close similarities between them. The Orion featured an enclosed cabin with seating for six passengers. The Orion received its Approved Type Certificate on 6 May 1931.[2] Gerard F. Vultee was Lockheed's chief engineer in 1928 through 1931 and was involved in the designs of all the Lockheed variants of that time and specifically designed Charles Lindbergh's Sirius..

Surviving aircraft

In all, Lockheed built a total of 35 Orions costing US$25,000 each new (equivalent to US$481,072 in 2022). It is not known if any survived past the 1940s except the one that survives to the present day. This lone remaining Orion was originally built as an experimental Altair with a metal fuselage. This Altair (built in 1931) was damaged in a belly landing accident in Columbus, Ohio, in 1933. It was returned to Lockheed where it was converted in 1934 to an Orion 9C configuration by the original designer of the Orion, Richard A. von Hake, and others who worked for free during a slow period when the Lockheed factory was going into bankruptcy. .

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Lockheed Model 9 Orion

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