A speedy, single-seater, low-wing monoplane, one of the first with retractable landing gear, flown by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith on his trans-Pacific flight in 1928.
From Aero Digest, April, 1935:
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, California
• President and General Manager: Robert E. Gross. Vice-president and Sales Manager: Carl B. Squier. Vice-president and Chief Engineer: Hall L. Hibbard. Export representatives: Miranda Bros., Inc., 6 E. 45,th Street, New York City, N. Y. Hosken Trading Company, 56 Pine Street, New York City, New York. Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek, N.-V., Amsterdam, Holland.
One-place low-wing monoplane. Approval number 2-423. P. & W. Wasp SlD1 engine, 550 horsepower. Span 42 feet 9.25 inches. Length overall 28 feet 11 inches. Height overall 9 feet 3 inches. Wing area 294.1 square feet. Power loading 10.54 pounds per horsepower. Wing loading 19.72 pounds per square foot.
Empty weight 3550 pounds. Useful load 2250 pounds. Gross weight 5800 pounds. Fuel capacity 175 gallons. Oil capacity 12 gallons.
Maximum speed 220 miles per hour. Cruising speed 205 miles per hour. Landing speed 63 miles per hour. Service ceiling 22,000 feet. Rate of climb 1400 feet per minute. Cruising range 1150 miles.
Fuselage: monocoque construction of spruce, plywood covered. Wing: wood construction, plywood covered, two-spar type; electrically-operated flaps of all-metal stressed skin. Tail group: stressed skin, all wood; retractable landing gear equipped with General streamline tires, Autofan mechanical wheels and brakes and Aerol shock absorbers. Fafnir, Norma-Hoffmann, and SKF bearings for controls.
Standard equipment includes Exide battery, Pyrene fire extinguishers, parking brake. bonding and shielding, Eclipse electric starter. Bosch generator, oil radiator, master switch, Hamilton Standard metal controllable-pitch propeller.
Instruments: Pioneer airspeed indicator. altimeter, rate of climb, turn and bank, tachometer, compass, clock, manifold pressure gauge, fuel pressure warning light. Kollsman triple engine gauge. Weston engine temperature indicator. Motometer fuel gauges.
Lockheed/Detroit XRO-1 Altair: The metal fuselage-wooden winged Lockheed XRO-1 Altair carried the distinction of being the first aircraft with retractable gear operated by the U. S. Navy. This aircraft appeared at Langley in the summer of 1932. Photo dated: 07/28/1932, image from NASA Langley Research Center – Multimedia Repository
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[...] US Navy also used the Altair as the XRO-1, the first Navy aircraft with a retractable landing gear. LOCKHEED Altair 8E < History of Airplanes Yes! We must have the Altair, too! [...]
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