Lockheed Air Express

<h2 id="description">Description</h2>
<p>The Air Express design incorporated the original fuselage of the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_Vega/ATMYeSVj">Vega</a>, but in order to meet the requirements of <a href="/facts/Western_Airlines/McLfyaXr">Western Air Express</a>, the wing was raised to a <a href="/facts/Parasol_wing/2fLoovyH">parasol configuration</a> above the fuselage and the cockpit was moved behind the wing, while a more powerful <a href="/facts/Pratt_%2526_Whitney_Wasp/Uo2CfPgz">Pratt & Whitney Wasp</a> engine was fitted to ease operations over the <a href="/facts/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)/tKcI8PeH">Sierra Nevada</a> mountains.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The design was a commercial success for the company although only seven were built, plus one Air Express Special.
</p><p>No Air Expresses have survived to the present day. One, registered NR3057, was flown by <a href="/facts/Roscoe_Turner/cwryhp0r">Roscoe Turner</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="variants">Variants</h2>
Lockheed 3 Air Express
Single-engined passenger and mail transport aircraft, seating between four and six passengers in an enclosed cabin, able to carry up to 1,000-lb (454-kg) of mail, powered by a 410-hp (306-kW) <a href="/facts/Pratt_%2526_Whitney_Wasp/Uo2CfPgz">Pratt & Whitney Wasp</a> radial piston engine; seven built.
Air Express Special
One-off version built for <a href="/facts/Laura_Ingalls_(aviator)/Bc88puwo">Laura Ingalls</a>, for a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight in 1931; one built.
<h2 id="operators">Operators</h2>
 <a href="/facts/Brazil/QHkG46GL">Brazil</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Panair_do_Brasil/Axt7v4Cr">Panair do Brasil</a></li></ul>
 <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/American_Airlines/lpwGQXER">American Airways</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/New_York%2c_Rio%2c_and_Buenos_Aires_Line/0SFFUgRw">New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Pan_American_Airways/oo9dqPeH">Pan American Airways</a></li>
<li>Texas Air Transport</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Western_Air_Express/McLfyaXr">Western Air Express</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="specifications">Specifications</h2>

<p><i>Data from</i> Lockheed Aircraft since 1913 <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></p><p>General characteristics
</p><ul><li>Crew: 1</li>
<li>Capacity: 4 passengers or 100 cu ft (2.8m³) mail</li>
<li>Length: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)</li>
<li>Wingspan: 42 ft 6 in (12.95 m)</li>
<li>Height: 8 ft 4.5 in (2.553 m)</li>
<li>Wing area: 288 sq ft (26.8 m2)</li>
<li>Empty weight: 2,533 lb (1,149 kg)</li>
<li>Gross weight: 4,375 lb (1,984 kg)</li>
<li>Powerplant: 1 × <a href="/facts/Pratt_%2526_Whitney_Wasp_series/Uo2CfPgz">Pratt & Whitney Wasp</a> C , 420 hp (310 kW)</li></ul>
<p>Performance
</p>
<ul><li>Maximum speed: 176 mph (283 km/h, 153 kn) (with <a href="/facts/NACA_cowling/GG5zJg80">NACA cowling</a>)</li>
<li>Cruise speed: 151 mph (243 km/h, 131 kn)</li>
<li>Range: 750 mi (1,210 km, 650 nmi)</li>
<li>Service ceiling: 17,250 ft (5,260 m)</li>
<li>Rate of climb: 1,460 ft/min (7.4 m/s)</li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<p>
Related development
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Lockheed_Vega/ATMYeSVj">Lockheed Vega</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lockheed_Explorer/yUxGf3VV">Lockheed Explorer</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lockheed_Sirius/JneABx49">Lockheed Sirius</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lockheed_Altair/a5Kot88X">Lockheed Altair</a></li></ul>
<p>

Related lists
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_Lockheed_aircraft/2doQYTTt">List of Lockheed aircraft</a></li></ul>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lockheed Air Express.

Notes

Bibliography
<ul><li>Francillon, René J. <i>Lockheed Aircraft since 1913</i>. London:Putnam, First edition, 1982. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-370-30329-6.</li>
<li>Francillon, René J, <i>Lockheed Aircraft since 1913</i>. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, 1987.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Francillon 1982, p.85. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Francillon 1982, pp. 84–85. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Francillon 1982, p.89. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Lockheed Air Express open-in-new

Lockheed Air Express