The First Lockheed Electras

The Lockheed 10 Electra and it’s descendents witnessed the transformation of Lockheed from a small, financially-troubled company to a giant of the aircraft industry. The company’s ancestry can be traced back to 1913 when the Loughead brothers, Allan and Malcolm, built the first ‘Lockheed’ airplane, a single float seaplane known as the Model G. By 1918, the Lougheads had moved down the California coast to Santa Barbara and incorporated their activities as the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Somewhat wanting for business, the company folded in 1921. In another venture, Malcolm conceived and later patented the use of hydraulic brakes for automobiles. Despite initial rejection by the automotive industry, his ideas were adopted by Chrysler in 1924 and eventually by the entire industry. Meanwhile, Allan maintained his interest in aviation and eventually founded a new company in Burbank in December, 1926.

To their undoubted displeasure, the brothers’ Scottish name was frequently mispronounced ‘log-head.’ A phonetic spelling was, therefore, adopted for both Allan’s Lockheed Aircraft Company and Malcolm’s Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company.

The primary asset of Allan’s new company was its engineering talent, consisting initially of John K. Northrop, an architectural draftsman and part-time auto mechanic. The first tangible product of this asset was a five to seven-place, high-wing, single-engine monoplane of wooden construction. The Vega, as it was known, came on the aviation scene during the glamour period that preceded ordinary day-to-day working aviation and was the subject of many record breaking flights during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. The expression, “It takes a Lockheed to beat a Lockheed,” was frequently heard in aviation circles. The molded plywood fuselage construction was easily adapted to other configurations, and a number of variants, including low-wing Orions, were also produced.

With business thriving — over 80 airplanes had been produced — controlling interest in Lockheed was sold in 1929 to the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. This was to have been an automotive-style holding company dabbling in several phases of aviation, but Lockheed proved to be the only part capable of profitable operation. After struggling to remain solvent, the parent company went into receivership in 1931. Although its assets were subsequently liquidated, Lockheed continued to operate in receivership on a modest basis.

A New Beginning — The Electra is Born
Recognizing the potential that existed, Carl Squier, the Lockheed general manager, together with Robert Gross and Lloyd Stearman, assembled the financial backing to purchase the company for $40,000. Although there would be difficult times ahead, the company was finally on its way to financial security.

The immediate task facing the new management was to get production and sales going again. The market was successfully exploited to the tune of 22 additional single-engine models, mostly airline-ordered Orions. The more important task was, . . .