https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Vega
The Vega is a six-passenger high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed
Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of
record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-range
design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly the Atlantic single-handed
in one, and Wiley Post used his to prove the existence of the jet stream after
having flown around the world twice.
Designed by John Knudsen Northrop and Gerard Vultee, both of whom would later
form their own companies, the aircraft was originally intended to serve with
Lockheed's own airline routes. They set out to build a four-seat aircraft that
was not only rugged, but one of the fastest aircraft of its era. Using a wooden
monocoque fuselage, plywood covered cantilever wings and the best engine
available, the Vega delivered on the promise of speed.
The fuselage was built from sheets of plywood, skinned over wooden ribs. Using a
large concrete mold, a single half of the fuselage shell was laminated in
sections with glue between each layer and then a rubber bladder was lowered into
the mold and inflated with air to compress the lamination into shape against the
inside of the mold. The two fuselage halves were then nailed and glued over a
separately constructed rib framework. With the fuselage constructed in this
fashion, the wing spar couldn't cut through the fuselage, so the single spar
cantilever wing was mounted atop the aircraft. Only the engine and landing gear
remained essentially unstreamlined, and on the production versions the
undercarriage had teardrop shaped "spats" covering the wheels, while only the
earliest versions lacked NACA cowlings and had the engine cylinders exposed to
the airstream. It was powered by the Wright Whirlwind air-cooled radial engine,
which delivered 225 horsepower (168 kW).
The Vega could be difficult to land. In her memoir, Elinor Smith wrote that it
had "all the glide potential of a boulder falling off a mountain." In addition,
forward and side visibility from the cockpit was extremely limited; Lane
Wallace, a columnist for Flying magazine, wrote that "Even [in level flight],
the windscreen would offer a better view of the sky than anything else, which
would make it more of a challenge to detect changes in attitude or bank angle.
On takeoff or landing, there'd be almost no forward visibility whatsoever."
Specifications (Vega 5)
General characteristics
Crew: one (pilot)
Capacity: six passengers
Length: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Wingspan: 41 ft in (12.49 m)
Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Wing area: 259 sq ft (25.548 m2)
Airfoil: Clark Y
Empty weight: 2,565 lb (1,163 kg)
Loaded weight: 4,500 lb (2,041 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 185 mph (298 km/h)
Cruise speed: 165 mph (265 km/h)
Range: 725 mi (1,165 km)
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,570 m)
Rate of climb: 1,300 ft/min (6.6 m/s)
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