Allan Lockheed facts for kids

Allan Haines Lockheed (born Allan Haines Loughead) was an American aviation pioneer and engineer. He was born on January 20, 1889, and passed away on May 26, 1969. Allan, along with his brother Malcolm Loughead, started the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company. This company later grew into the famous Lockheed Corporation.

Allan legally changed his name to Lockheed in 1934. He went on to create two more aircraft companies in the 1930s, though they were not as successful. After World War II, he worked as a real estate salesman. He also sometimes gave advice as an aviation consultant. Allan Lockheed kept in touch with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation until he passed away in 1969 in Tucson, Arizona.

Allan Lockheed's Early Life

Allan Loughead was born in Niles, California, in 1889. He was the youngest son of Flora and John Loughead. He had an older half-brother named Victor, a sister named Hope, and a brother named Malcolm Loughead.

His mother, Flora Haines Loughead, was a well-known writer and journalist. After she and Allan's father separated, Flora moved the children to Santa Barbara, California. There, Allan and Malcolm loved experimenting with kites. Later, they moved to a fruit ranch near Alma, California. The brothers became very interested in the gliding experiments of Professor John Joseph Montgomery. Allan and Malcolm only went to elementary school, but they were very good with machines from a young age.

Allan's half-brother Victor was interested in cars and airplanes. He moved to Chicago and in 1909, Victor wrote a book called Vehicles of the Air. This book became very popular for its ideas on aircraft design and aviation history. In 1904, Malcolm became a mechanic for the White Motor Company in San Francisco.

Allan Loughead also went to San Francisco in 1906. He worked as a mechanic, earning $6 a week. By 1909, he was driving race cars.

First Steps in Aviation

In Chicago, Victor Loughead convinced an automobile dealer named James E. Plew to buy a Curtiss pusher biplane. Plew hired Allan Loughead to help turn a glider into a powered aircraft. When Allan left for Chicago, he said he believed aviation would become the safest and cheapest way to travel.

Allan and Malcolm Loughead put a small 12-horsepower engine on the glider. Allan's first flight was in Chicago in 1910. He helped control a homemade aircraft while another person handled the rudder and elevators.

When two trained pilots couldn't get the Curtiss plane to fly, Allan stepped up. He bet that he could make it fly. On his second try, he got the airplane into the air. He later said, "It was partly nerve, partly confidence and partly [...] foolishness. But now I was an aviator!"

After Plew left the aviation business, Allan became a flight instructor. He also performed aerial shows, earning a share of the ticket money. He once made $850 in a week, which was a lot of money back then! However, during a show, his plane got tangled in telephone wires. After that, he decided to build a better aircraft himself.

Starting Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company

In 1912, Loughead returned to San Francisco and worked as a car mechanic. In his free time, he and Malcolm built a three-seat seaplane. They often ran out of money. Finally, they convinced Max Mamlock to invest $4,000 in their plane. After 18 months, their Model G was ready in 1913. Allan Loughead made a successful first flight from the waters of the Golden Gate in San Francisco Bay.

That first flight was on June 15, 1913. The plane reached 300 feet high and flew at 60 miles per hour. Allan then took Malcolm for a ride. The Model G made three flights that day.

Allan Lockheed later remembered that the Model G was built mostly with hand tools. He called it "one of the first successful three place tractor seaplanes in the United States."

The Model G was the first plane to carry the Loughead (Lockheed) name. It was very advanced for its time. But few people wanted to pay $10 for a ride. Mamlock lost interest and took the plane. He said the brothers would have to pay him back $4,000 to get it back. So, the Loughead brothers spent two years looking for gold in California, but they didn't find any.

With help from Paul Meyer, Allan and Malcolm bought the Model G back in 1915. They started a flying business at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. In five months, they gave rides to 600 paying passengers and earned $4,000. Henry Ford was one person who didn't want a ride. He said he wouldn't fly "for all the money in California."

In early 1916, the Loughead brothers moved their business to Santa Barbara. Many people wanted to take their first flight. They also flew charter trips to nearby islands. Local movie companies even used the plane to film scenes from the air.

Founding Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company

In 1916, the brothers started the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara. Their goal was to build a large 10-seat, two-engine F-1 flying boat. They planned to use it for their sightseeing business. They began building it in a rented garage. This caught the eye of 20-year-old John K. "Jack" Northrop. Northrop was good at drawing and math, so the Lougheads hired him to help design the F-1.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Allan Loughead went to Washington, D.C. He wanted to get a Navy contract to build many F-1 planes. The Navy told him they would only buy designs they had already approved. Loughead later said he "lost all the patriotism" he had during that visit. However, he did get a contract to build two Curtiss flying boats. The Navy also agreed to test the F-1.

When the F-1 was finished, Allan Loughead and his crew flew it from Santa Barbara to San Diego in April 1918. They set a record for the 211-mile flight, completing it in 181 minutes. After the Navy tested it, the F-1 was returned to Loughead Aircraft. It was then changed into the F-lA land-plane. Loughead hoped the Army would use it as a long-range bomber or transport plane. But the war ended before the changes were finished.

The Lougheads tried to show how far the F-lA could fly. They attempted the first flight from Santa Barbara to Washington, D.C. Their crew faced bad weather. Near Tacna, Arizona, an engine stopped working, and they had a rough landing. The plane crashed on a second takeoff attempt, ending the cross-country flight.

After building two HS-2L flying boats for the Navy in early 1919, Loughead Aircraft changed the damaged F-lA back into the F-1 flying boat. They used it for sightseeing flights again. Among their famous passengers were King Albert and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. The US government asked the Lougheads to fly them. The King and Queen were so impressed that they gave Allan and Malcolm the Belgian Order of the Golden Crown. Local movie studios paid $50 an hour to use the F-1 for filming.

In 1919, Loughead Aircraft also made a small, single-seat plane called the S-1 Sport Biplane. It was meant to be an "airplane for everyone." It had a special body made of molded plywood. Its wings could fold, so it could be stored in a garage. The company even built its own 25-horsepower engine for the S-1 because no other suitable engines were available.

The S-1 was tested successfully in Redwood City, California, in 1919. The pilot said it was the easiest plane he had ever flown. The plane made hundreds of flights and was a good design.

At an aircraft show in San Francisco, many people admired the S-1. But no one bought the $2,500 plane. Allan Loughead realized that the government was selling leftover warplanes for as little as $300. This made it impossible to sell new aircraft. So, Loughead Aircraft closed in 1920, and its assets were sold off in 1921.

Malcolm Loughead started the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company in 1919. He wanted to promote a new four-wheel hydraulic brake system he had invented. Malcolm was tired of people saying his name "Log-head," so he changed the spelling to "Lockheed" to match how it sounded. Walter Chrysler used the Lockheed brake system on the first Chrysler car in 1924. Malcolm sold his business in 1932.

Real Estate and New Ideas

From 1920 to 1922, Allan Loughead worked as a sales manager for Lockheed brakes in Los Angeles.

In the summer of 1922, Allan Loughead ran a ride business at Catalina Island. It was called "The Thrill Of Avalon." It was a car body mounted on two seaplane floats, powered by an aircraft engine. But it was too rough and noisy, so it only lasted a year. Loughead later laughed and said, "No, we went broke, which was not a new experience!"

In 1922, Allan Loughead became a real estate salesman in Hollywood. He wrote in 1942 that the real estate business was "not particularly interesting, but from a financial standpoint [it was] very successful."

Whenever they could, Loughead and Jack Northrop would meet to talk about new aircraft ideas. Northrop was now an engineer at the Douglas Aircraft Company.

In 1926, Allan Loughead and Jack Northrop decided to build a fast monoplane. It would carry four passengers and a pilot in a sleek body. Northrop drew the plans at home. The plane would use the new Wright Whirlwind engine. They disagreed about the wing design. Northrop wanted a self-supporting wing without visible supports. Loughead thought people wouldn't want to fly in a plane without visible wing supports. In the end, Northrop's idea won.

Creating Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

Loughead and Northrop decided to form an aircraft company. Loughead's accountant friend, Kenneth Jay, introduced them to Fred S. Keeler, a successful brick manufacturer. Keeler agreed to help pay for the project. So, in December 1926, they formed the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Keeler invested $22,500, and Loughead invested $2,500. Keeler became president, Loughead was vice president and general manager, and Northrop was Chief Engineer. They used the "Lockheed" spelling to connect with Malcolm's successful brake company.

The company started in a garage in Hollywood in January 1927. While Loughead continued his real estate work, he came every afternoon to help with the plane. They built a special concrete mold to shape the plane's wooden body. The first plane they built was called the Vega. It was a successful, fast monoplane that could fly 1,000 miles at 185 miles per hour and carry six people.

The timing for the Vega was perfect. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris made people very interested in aviation again. Soon after, James D. Dole, president of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, offered a $25,000 prize. It was for the first person to fly from North America to Hawaii. George Hearst, a newspaper publisher, bought the Vega for $12,500 and entered it in the Dole Air Race as the Golden Eagle. Loughead said, "The sales price represented a loss, but we were happy to absorb it. The prestige of selling the Vega to Hearst was tremendous." Hearst also ordered a Vega seaplane for a flight to Australia.

All the Lockheed staff were there when the first Vega was taken to a field near Inglewood, California. Test pilot Eddie Bellande flew it for the first time. When he landed, he shouted, "Boys, she's a dandy, a real joy to fly!"

The Dole Air Race

World War I pilot Jack Frost was chosen to fly the Golden Eagle, with Gordon Scott as his navigator. The plane had many safety features and enough supplies for 30 days at sea. On August 16, the race started at Oakland's airport. The Golden Eagle took off at 12:30 p.m. and headed for Honolulu. It was followed by other planes. Allan Loughead soon knew the Lockheed Vega was the fastest plane in the race.

None of the planes had radios. Allan Loughead could only wait for news from Hawaii. The planes were expected to arrive the next day. The next morning, the Travel Air Woolaroc landed after 26 hours, winning the $25,000 first prize. Two hours later, the Breese Aloha landed, winning the $10,000 second prize. It became clear that the Golden Eagle and another plane were lost in the Pacific. Even with a big search, no trace of either plane was found.

Arctic Adventures

Even though the Dole Race was sad, Lockheed was already building another Vega. Arctic explorer Captain George Hubert Wilkins had seen the Golden Eagle flying during a test. He was so impressed that he ordered the third Vega, specially equipped for Arctic exploration. After test flights in January 1928, the pilot said, "She's a pippin!"

Wilkins chose Arctic pilot Carl Ben Eielson to fly the Vega. They planned to fly from Barrow, Alaska, over the Arctic to the island of Spitsbergen near Norway. After Eielson tested the plane, it was shipped to Fairbanks, Alaska. Eielson and Wilkins then flew it to Barrow. After waiting three weeks for good weather, they took off from a rough ice runway.

For the first 500 miles, the weather was clear. Then thick clouds forced them to change course often. They reached Grant Land in Canada. Then, near Greenland, they hit more bad weather. Within 200 miles of their goal, they faced a huge blizzard. Fuel was very low, but Eielson landed safely on snow.

They couldn't see anything in the blizzard, so they stayed in the plane for four days. On the fifth day, the weather cleared. They spent six hours clearing a runway in the snow. When they took off, they saw the radio masts of Grønfjorden, Spitsbergen, ahead. In less than 30 minutes, they landed. They had been flying for 20.5 hours and stuck on the ground for five days, so close to their goal!

Wilkins' flight across the Arctic was called one of the greatest in aviation history. Wilkins was knighted by King George V of the United Kingdom. Eielson received the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Herbert Hoover. Before returning to the US, Wilkins planned a trip to Antarctica. He ordered another Vega seaplane. In December 1928, he and Eielson used the Vegas to make the first flights over Antarctica. They explored much of its unknown land from the air. The Vega became the first plane to discover new land. Wilkins named many places after his friends and supporters. He named the Lockheed Mountains after the company that built his plane.

Moving to Burbank

The Wilkins expeditions brought Lockheed Aircraft many orders. This meant they needed to move to bigger facilities in Burbank, California, in March 1928. Lockheed received an order for 20 Vegas, worth $250,000. This was the largest commercial aircraft order at that time. New airlines quickly saw that the Vega was great for carrying mail and passengers. Northrop also designed the Air Express for Western Air Express for mail and passengers. The Vega, Explorer, and Air Express planes were used by famous aviators like Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post. They set many distance, speed, and endurance records. This led Allan Loughead to create the famous saying, "It Takes a Lockheed to Beat a Lockheed."

In 1928, the company's sales went over one million dollars.

The Lockheed Vega remained the main product of the Lockheed Corporation. The Vega was a high-wing plane built using a special two-piece molded plywood body. It was made in four-passenger and six-passenger versions. By April 1929, the company was making five planes per week with fewer than 300 employees. Each plane sold for about $17,000.

Changes at Lockheed

In mid-1928, Jack Northrop left Lockheed Aircraft to start his own company. Gerald Vultee became the new chief engineer. Northrop left partly because Lockheed's leaders didn't want to invest in new metal aircraft. They preferred to keep making money from their proven wooden designs.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, a large company, started buying aviation companies. In July 1929, Fred E. Keeler, who owned 51 percent of Lockheed, decided to sell the company to Detroit Aircraft Company.

Allan Loughead was not happy with this. He resigned as president and general manager on June 3, 1929. He later sold his Detroit Aircraft stock. After the stock market crashed in October 1929, Detroit Aircraft stock fell sharply. By 1932, Lockheed Aircraft was bankrupt.

A New Start for Lockheed

A group of investors, led by brothers Robert Gross and Courtlandt S. Gross, bought the Lockheed company in 1932. Allan Lockheed returned as a consultant but did not have a formal management role. The Lockheed Aircraft Company later became a major aerospace and defense company. In 1995, it merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin.

Allan Lockheed's Later Career

In 1930, Loughead formed the Lockheed Brothers Aircraft Corporation in Glendale, California. He developed an experimental plane called the Olympia Duo-four. It was a five-seat plane with two engines in the front of its wooden body. He made many flights in this plane, showing how safely it could fly even with only one engine. This fourth aircraft company of Loughead's lasted until 1934.

In 1934, Loughead was tired of people mispronouncing his name. So, he legally changed it from Loughead to Lockheed.

From 1935 to 1936, Lockheed worked as a consultant, giving advice to others.

In 1937, Lockheed formed the Alcor Aircraft Corporation in San Francisco. He developed the Alcor C-6-1, an 8-seat plane that also had excellent single-engine performance. Sadly, the prototype C-6-1 was lost over San Francisco Bay during a test flight in 1938. The pilot and a passenger jumped out. The plane slowly circled down until it hit the water and sank. The Alcor company closed in 1939.

Allan Lockheed, Jr., his son, said, "I guess Alcor was the final burnout for Dad." He only got enough insurance money to pay off debts and close the company.

After this, Lockheed continued to study and design aircraft, including fighters and bombers for war use.

In 1941, Lockheed became Vice President of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He managed their Aviation Division and directed Aircraft Engineering.

In August 1941, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Jesse H. Jones appointed Lockheed to the Cargo Plane Committee. This committee was tasked with creating basic design ideas for a cargo plane for the Defense Supplies Corporation. Their work was finished and accepted in January 1942.

In October 1942, Lockheed became the general manager of the Aircraft Division of Grand Rapids Store Equipment Company. They made parts for Navy fighter planes.

After the war, Allan Lockheed continued his career as a real estate salesman in California. He also sometimes worked as an aviation consultant.

In the mid-1950s, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation asked Allan Lockheed to return as a consultant. He mainly helped with a history book called "Of Men and Stars." His son John Lockheed said that "Dad was delighted to come back to Lockheed." Allan Lockheed, Jr., added, "It was a tremendous boost to his morale to be able to rejoin the company."

In 1961, Allan Lockheed moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he lived in semi-retirement. He continued to advise the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Once, when someone asked Lockheed what he did in the early days of aviation, he answered, "I survived!"

Death

Allan Lockheed passed away from liver cancer in Tucson on May 28, 1969, at 80 years old.

Legacy

Lockheed was honored in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, in 1986. His daughter, Beth, was there, and his son John accepted the award for him.