Lockheed Explorer

The Lockheed Explorer was the least successful aircraft of wood the Lockheed Aircraft Company. It consisted of the body of the Lockheed Vega and mounted under the hull, cantilevered wing. The pilot's seat was located in an open cockpit behind the wings.

History

The work for the Explorer began in 1927 with the Australian polar explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins. He explored with her initially Antarctica, but decided later, when aufzeigten some disadvantages, for an equipped with floats Vega. Then an attempt was made with the Explorer a non-stop flight between the U.S. and Japan, supported by businessman John Buffelen and members of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce. Under the name City of Tacoma, the first attempt at a Pacific crossing the Explorer in disaster when during the boot ended over spilled overcrowded tanks. Two further experiments with newer Explorers also failed.

In 1935, parts of the Explorer and the Orion combined to form a sort of " crossroads ". The machine crashed on 15 August the same year from Alaska and ripped the pilot Wiley Post and Will Rogers to death.

Overall, Lockheed built only four examples, all of which were destroyed in crashes.

Specifications

527080
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