Tag Archives: Wright J-5C Whirlwind

24–25 October 1928

Harry Tucker’s Lockheed Vega, X4769. (National Archives)

24–25 October 1928: Captain Charles B.D. Collyer, Air Service, United States Army, and Harry J. Tucker flew Tucker’s Lockheed Vega, X4769, from New York to Los Angeles, non-stop, in 24 hours, 55 minutes.

A contemporary newspaper article reported the event:

YANKEE DOODLE SETS NEW MARK

Monoplane Flies Across Continent to Los Angeles in 24 Hours, 55 Minutes

Mines Field, Los Angeles, Oct. 25—(AP)—Setting a new record for a trans-continental non-stop airplane flight from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, the monoplane Yankee Doodle arrived here at 2:12 p.m. today from New York.

The unofficial time of the flight as announced by Capt. C.D.B. Collyer, pilot and Harry Tucker, owner and passenger, was 24 hours 55 minutes. The best previous time for the westward flight was 26 hours and 50 minutes, made in 1923 by Lieutenants John MacReady [John A. Macready] and Oakley Gelley [Oakley George Kelly].

530 Gallons Carried

The Yankee Doodle hopped off at Roosevelt Field at 4:16:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time yesterday. The little cigar-shaped white-winged plane was loaded with 530 gallons of gasoline, just about enough for a 24-hour flight, and a check began shortly after landing to determine how much of the fuel was left.

The westward flight covered approximately the course flown over by Col. Arthur Goebel when he piloted his plane to a new West-East non-stop trans-continental record of 18 hours and 55 minutes several weeks ago.

This was the fourth time Tucker has sent his plane into a coast-to-coast grind. The first West to East attempt was unsuccessful but on the second attempt Goebel piloted the machine through to the record.

The Cornell Daily Sun, Ithaca, New York, Friday, October 26, 1928, Volume XLIX, Number 29 at Page 1, Column 5

Captain Charles B.D. Collyer

Charles Bascum Drury Collyer was born at Nashville, Tennessee, 24 August 1896, the son of Rev. Charles Thomas Collyer. He traveled throughout the world, and lived for a time in Seoul, Korea. Collyer attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a military college at Blacksburg, Virginia, as a member of the class of 1919.

Collyer served in the United States Army as a private, first class, being discharged 1 May 1919. He held a commission as a second lieutenant, Aviation Section, Signal Reserve Corps. He was employed as chief pilot, Liberty Flyers, Inc., at Savannah, Georgia.

From 28 June to 22 July 1928, Collyer had flown around the world with John Henry Mears. Collyer was president of the Aviation Services Corporation of New York, which had been formed “to do unusual things in aviation.”

Harry J. Tucker

Harry J. Tucker was variously described as an “auto tycoon” and a “wealthy Santa Monica, California, businessman.” He was born in 1891.

Charles B.D. Collyer and Harry Tucker were killed 3 November 1928 when Yankee Doodle crashed in fog near Venezia, in Yavapai County, Arizona. Collyer was buried at Arlington, National Cemetery, Virginia.

Yankee Doodle was the seventh Lockheed Vega produced (c/n 7). The Vega was a single-engine, high-wing monoplane designed by John Knudsen (“Jack”) Northrop and Gerrard Vultee. The prototype flew for the first time 4 July 1927 at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California.

The Vega was very much a state-of-the-art aircraft for its time. It used a streamlined monocoque fuselage made of strips of vertical-grain spruce pressed into concrete molds and bonded together with cassein glue. These were then attached to former rings. The wing and tail surfaces were fully cantilevered, requiring no bracing wires or struts to support them. They were built of spruce spars and ribs, covered with 3/32-inch (2.4 millimeters) spruce plywood.

Three-view drawing of the Lockheed Vega from a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics publication. (NASA)

The Lockheed Vega 1 was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit and could carry up to four passengers in the enclosed cabin. It was 27.5 feet (8.38 meters) long with a wingspan of 41.0 feet (12.50 meters) and height of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.59 meters). The total wing area (including ailerons) was 275 square feet (25.55 square meters). The wing had no dihedral. The leading edges were swept slightly aft, and the trailing edges swept forward. The Vega 1 had an empty weight of 1,650.0 pounds (748.4 kilograms) and a gross weight of 3,200 pounds (1,452 kilograms).

The early Vegas were powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) Wright Whirlwind Five (J-5C) nine-cylinder radial engine. This was a direct-drive engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1. The J-5C was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 220 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. It was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long, 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter, and weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).

The Vega had a cruising speed of 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour) with the engine turning 1,500 r.p.m., and a top speed of 135 miles per hour (217 kilometers per hour)—very fast for its time. The airplane had a rate of climb of 925 feet per minute (4.7 meters per second) at Sea Level, decreasing to 405 feet per minute (2.1 meters per second) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Its service ceiling was 15,900 feet (4,846 meters), and the absolute ceiling was 17,800 feet (5,425 meters). The airplane had a fuel capacity of 100 gallons (379 liters), giving it a range of 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) at cruise speed.

Twenty-eight Vega 1 airplanes were built by Lockheed Aircraft Company at the factory on Sycamore Street, Hollywood, California, before production of the improved Lockheed Vega 5 began in 1928 and the company moved to its new location at Burbank, California.

The techniques used to build the Vega were very influential in aircraft design. It also began Lockheed’s tradition of naming its airplanes after stars and other astronomical objects.

Lockheed Vega NX4769 at NAS North Island, 1928. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
Lockheed Vega X4769 at NAS San Diego, 1928. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

4 July 1927

Lockheed Vega s/n 1, now marked NC2788 (SDASM)
The first Lockheed Vega 1 NX913 taking off at Rogers Airport, 4 July 1927. (Water and Power Associates)

4 July 1927: The first Lockheed Aircraft Company Vega 1, NX913, made its maiden flight with test pilot Edward Antoine (Eddie) Bellande at Rogers Airport, Los Angeles, California. The airport was at the present location of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, west of downtown Los Angeles.

Bellande was a U.S. Marine Corps flight instructor, and a stunt pilot, test pilot and airline pilot. By the time he had retired in 1943, he was second in seniority among the pilots at Trans World Airways (TWA).

Rogers Airport, 1922. (Los Angeles Public Library)
Edward Antoine (“Eddie”) Bellande sits with famed motion picture hero, Rin Tin Tin, ca. 1925. (Unattributed)
Edward Antoine (“Eddie”) Bellande sits with famed motion picture hero, Rin Tin Tin, ca. 1925. (E. A. Bellande Collection)

The Lockheed Vega was a single-engine, high-wing monoplane designed by John Knudsen (“Jack”) Northrop and Gerrard Vultee. Both men would later have their own aircraft companies.

The Vega was very much a state-of-the-art aircraft for its time. It used a streamlined monocoque fuselage made of strips of vertical-grain spruce pressed into concrete molds and bonded together with cassein glue. These were then attached to former rings. The wing and tail surfaces were fully cantilevered, requiring no bracing wires or struts to support them. They were built of spruce spars and ribs, covered with 3/32-inch (2.4 millimeters) spruce plywood.

Concrete molds used to form the fuselage halves for the Lockheed Vega. (SDASM)
Components of the first Lockheed Vega 1 before assembly at the Lockheed Aircraft Company, Hollywood, California, 1927. (SFO Museum)
Components of the first Lockheed Vega 1 before assembly at the Lockheed Aircraft Company, Hollywood, California, 1927. (SFO Museum)
Fuselage construction at the Lockheed factory. (Lockheed Martin/SDASM)

The Lockheed Vega 1 was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit and could carry up to four passengers in the enclosed cabin. It was 27.5 feet (8.38 meters) long with a wingspan of 41.0 feet (12.50 meters) and height of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.59 meters). The total wing area (including ailerons) was 275 square feet (25.55 square meters). The wing had no dihedral. The leading edges were swept slightly aft, and the trailing edges swept forward. The Vega 1 had an empty weight of 1,650.0 pounds (748.4 kilograms) and a gross weight of 3,200 pounds (1,452 kilograms).

The Vega 1 engine was an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) air-cooled Wright Aeronautical Corporation Model J-5C Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial engine. This was a direct-drive engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1. The J-5C was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 220 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. It was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long, 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter, and weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).

The Vega had a cruising speed of 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour) with the engine turning 1,500 r.p.m., and a top speed of 135 miles per hour (217 kilometers per hour)—very fast for its time. The airplane had a rate of climb of 925 feet per minute (4.7 meters per second) at Sea Level, decreasing to 405 feet per minute (2.1 meters per second) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Its service ceiling was 15,900 feet (4,846 meters), and the absolute ceiling was 17,800 feet (5,425 meters). The airplane had a fuel capacity of 100 gallons (379 liters), giving it a range of 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) at cruise speed.

The first Vega 1, NX913, Golden Eagle, nears completion at the Lockheed Aircraft Company, Hollywood, California, 1927. (SFO Museum)
The first Vega 1, NX913, Golden Eagle, nears completion at the Lockheed Aircraft Company, Hollywood, California, 1927. (SFO Museum)

Twenty-eight Vega 1 airplanes were built by Lockheed Aircraft Company at the factory on Sycamore Street, Hollywood, California, before production of the improved Lockheed Vega 5 began in 1928 and the company moved to its new location at Burbank, California.

The techniques used to build the Vega were very influential in aircraft design. It also began Lockheed’s tradition of naming its airplanes after stars and other astronomical objects.

Lockheed Vega 1, NX913, left profile. There is no registration number painted on the rudder in this photograph. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
Lockheed Vega 1 NX913 was sold to George Randolph Hearst to enter in the Dole Derby California-to-Hawaii Air Race, and named “Golden Eagle.” (JMF Haase Collection, SDASM Archives)
Lockheed Vega s/n 1, NX913. (SDASM)
Lockheed Vega 1, marked NC2788. (SDASM)
The first Lockheed Vega, now marked NC2788, at Oakland, California, August 1927. (Left to right) Jack Frost, Eddie Bellande, Jack Northrop, Allan Loughead, Ken Jay. (Vintage Air)

Golden Eagle, with its pilot, Jack Frost, and navigator Gordon Scott, was lost while crossing the Pacific Ocean in the disastrous Dole Derby California-to-Hawaii Air Race, 16 August 1927.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

11 May 1927

Charles A. Lindbergh at Louie’s Lunch Room, Lambert Field, 11 May 1927. (Mario Cavagnaro, St. Louis Star/Missouri Historical Museum)

11 May 1927: At 8:20 a.m., Central time, Charles A. Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis touched down at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, and taxied to the National Guard hangars where he shut down the Wright J-5C Whirlwind engine. The overnight flight from Rockwell Field on North Island, San Diego, California, took 14 hours, 25 minutes, a new speed record.

It is just eighty days since Lindbergh left St. Louis by train to meet with Ryan Airlines Company to discuss designing and building an airplane that would become the Ryan NYP, N-X-211, the Spirit of St. Louis.

Though the members of the syndicate that is funding his New York-to-Paris flight have planned celebrations, Lindbergh is anxious to continue on to New York City.

Ryan NYP N-X-211, Spirit of St. Louis, Lambert Field, 11 May 1927.
Ryan NYP N-X-211, Spirit of St. Louis, Lambert Field, 11 May 1927.

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes