The Lockheed L-18 Lodestar was a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era.
[edit] Design and development
The prototype of the Lockheed L-18, which first flew in 1939, was constructed from one of a batch of Lockheed L-14 Super Electras which had been returned to the manufacturer by Northwest Airlines after a series of crashes of L-14s. The fuselage was lengthened by 5 ft (1.5 m), enabling the fitting of two more rows of seats and hopefully making the aircraft more economical to operate. However, most US airlines were by then committed to purchasing the Douglas DC-3, and Lockheed found the Lodestar difficult to sell at home.
A total of 625 Lodestars of all variants were built.
[edit] Operational history
Overseas sales were a little better, with 29 bought by the government of the Netherlands East Indies. South African Airways (21), Trans-Canada Air Lines (12) and BOAC (9) were the biggest airline customers. Various Pratt & Whitney and Wright Cyclone powerplants were installed.
When the United States started to build up its military air strength in 1940-41, American operated, plus many new-build Lodestars were flown by the Army Air Force and U.S. Navy under various designations. Lend-lease aircraft were used by the RNZAF as transports.
After the war Lodestars returned to civilian service, mostly as executive transports such as Dallas Aero Service's DAS Dalaero conversion, Bill Lear's Learstar (produced by PacAero), and Howard Aero's Howard 250. A few of the latter were even converted to tricycle undercarriage.
Many of the New Zealand aircraft were later used for aerial topdressing.
A single Lodestar served with the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
[edit] Survivors
Around 10-15 are still airworthy in the USA alone.[citation needed] An example of a Lodestar converted for commercial use exists at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum in Houston, Texas.
[edit] Variants
- 18-07
- Powered by two 875hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1E2-G engines, 25 built plus two prototypes.[1]
- 18-08
- Powered by two 1200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G engines, 33 built.[1]
- 18-10
- Powered by two 1200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G engines, 39 built.[1]
- 18-14
- Powered by two 1200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S4C4-G engines, 4 built.[1]
- 18-40
- Powered by two 1200hp Wright Cyclone G-1820-G104A engines, 26 built.[1]
- 18-50
- Powered by two 1200hp Wright Cyclone G-1820-G202A engines, 13 built.[1]
[edit] US Army Lodestars
- C-56
- Powered by 1200hp Wright 1820-89 engines, one Model 18-50 for evaluation.[2]
- C-56A
- One impressed Model 18-07 with two Pratt & Whitney R-1690-54 engines.[2]
- C-56B
- Thirteen impressed Model 18-40s with two Wright 1820-97 engines.[2]
- C-56C
- Twelve impressed Model 18-07.[2]
- C-56D
- Seven impressed Model 18-08.[2]
- C-56E
- Two Model 18-40s impressed in 1943.[2]
- C-57
- As Model 18-14 powered by two 1200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-53 engines.[2]
- C-57A
- Allocated for impressed aircraft, not used.[2]
- C-57B
- Based on Model 18-08 fitted for trooping, 7 aircraft built.[2]
- C-57C
- Repowered C-60A with Pratt & Whitney R-1830-51 engines, 3 aircraft converted.[2]
- C-57D
- Repowered C-57C with Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 engines, 1 aircraft converted.[2]
- C-59
- Based on Model 18-07 powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1690-25 Hornet engines, 10 aircraft built. Transferred to Royal Air Force as Lodestar IA.
- C-60
- Model 18-56 powered by Wright R-1820-87 engines, 36 aircraft built. Some transferred to RAF as Lodestar II.
- C-60A
- As the C-60 but fitted out as a paratroop transport powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines, 325 aircraft built.[2]
- XC-60B
- One C-60A fitted with experimental de-icing equipment.[2]
- C-60C
- Proposed 21-seat troop transport aircraft, never built.
- C-66
- Powered by Wright R-1820-87 engines. 1 aircraft built 11-passenger interior for transfer to the Brazilian Air Force.[2]
[edit] US Navy Lodestars
- XR5O-1
- One Model 18-07 acquired for evaluation powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-40 engines.[2]
- R5O-1
- Staff transport powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-97 engines. 3 aircraft built, two for the USN and one for the United States Coast Guard.
- R5O-2
- Navy version of the C-59 powered by 850 hp (634 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1690-25 engines, 1 aircraft built.
- R5O-3
- Powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-34A engines. Originally 4-seater VIP transports, 3 aircraft built.
- R5O-4
- Powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-40 engines. Impressed. 7-seater staff transports, 12 aircraft built.
- R5O-5
- Navy version of the C-60 powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-40 engines. Similar to the R5O-4 but had 14-seats. 38 aircraft built and three former NEIAF aircraft.[2]
- R5O-6
- Navy version of the C-60A for the US Marine Corps, equipped with 18 paratroop seats, 35 built.[2]
[edit] Operators
Not all New Zealand machines ended topdressing: Union Airways of New Zealand converted several as airliners in 1945-6 and these were taken over by National Airways Corporation in 1947, as illustrated.
[edit] Military operators
Australia
Brazil
Canada
Israel
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
South Africa
United Kingdom
United States
[edit] Civil operators
- Brazil
- Canada
Chile
France- Air Afrique (5 Model 18-07s delivered new[1])
- Air France (3 Model 18-07s delivered new[1])
Finland
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- United Kingdom
- BOAC (9 Model 18-07s delivered new[1])
Portugal
United States
Venezuela
- LAV (1 Model 18-10 delivered new[1])
[edit] Specifications (C-60)
Data from[citation needed]
General characteristics
- Crew: Three
- Capacity: 14 passengers
- Length: 49 ft 10 in (15.2 m)
- Wingspan: 65 ft 6 in (20 m)
- Height: 11 ft 10 in (3.6 m)
- Wing area: 551 ft² (51.2 m²)
- Empty weight: 12,000 lb (5,440 kg)
- Loaded weight: 17,500 lb (7,940 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney Hornet S1C3-G, 1,050 hp (780 kW) each
Performance
Armament
none
[edit] See also
Related development
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Andrade, John (1979). U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0 904597 22 9.
- Francillon, René J. (1982). :Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. London: Putnam & Company. ISBN 0-370-30329-6.
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