The Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 was a 1930s prototype two-seat fighter aircraft produced by Detroit Lockheed . An attack version called the A-9 was also proposed. The YP-24 is most notable for being the first fighter aircraft to bear the Lockheed name.
37-407: In 1930, Detroit Aircraft Corporation undertook a private venture to develop a new fighter ("pursuit aircraft" in contemporary terminology) for US Army Air Corps based on the successful Lockheed Altair transport plane. Designed by Robert J. Woods, the aircraft was completed in 1931 with Detroit Aircraft fabricating the metal fuselage and Lockheed providing the wooden wings, essentially identical to
74-644: A V-1570-27 engine better low-altitude performance. On 19 October 1931, the sole aircraft crashed. The aircraft had a partially stuck landing gear, and Wright Field pilots painted messages on the side of their P-12D and O-25C aircraft, indicating to test pilot Lt. Harrison Crocker to bail out. Shortly after, in October 1931, events in the Great Depression forced Detroit Aircraft into bankruptcy with Lockheed following suit in June 1932. Although Lockheed
111-482: A circular plate suspended from the hangar roof by a cable and free to rotate as each 18-inch (46 cm) wide strip Alclad was added. In this manner, each end of the ship slowly grew as succeeding rows were added, looking like a bulls eye at first and later like a huge inverted teacup. Both sections were under construction continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week, once the hull was started. The riveting machine fed three small aluminum wires from large spools to make
148-417: A much longer time would pass before additional helium needed to be added. As the airship neared completion a decision had to be made on how best to fill it with helium. Once the two halves were completed they were suspended horizontally from cables attached to the hangar ceiling, and the two halves were joined with a final array of rivets. Since helium mixes freely with air and is hard to separate from it, it
185-425: A pilot, copilot and flight engineer-navigator, with space for one or two additional passengers. The ZMC-2 was constructed out of Alclad , corrosion resistant aluminium sheet formed from high-purity aluminium surface layers metallurgically bonded to high strength aluminium alloy core material. The result was about as strong as carbon or mild steel. The downside was that Alclad was thicker than sheet aluminum, making
222-436: A seam about a quarter inch wide composed of three rivets, one above the other in a staggered pattern. In theory the machine could sew about 50 feet of seam in an hour, but in practice about 10 or more feet was the average. The sheets of Alclad used were eight to nine thousandths of an inch thick. As the each section of the hull grew internal annular rings were added at appropriate distances to give stiffness and reinforcement to
259-458: A tender for air-launched aircraft, similar to plans the U.S. Navy had for future dirigibles. The $ 4.5 million need for construction was never approved by Congress. The ZMC-2 was operated with a zero internal pressure at speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), sufficient for it to be considered a 'rigid' airship. With its low fineness ratio of 2.83, the ZMC-2 was difficult to fly. By 1936,
296-721: The Consolidated Y1P-25/Y1A-11 which eventually entered service as the Consolidated P-30 . Data from Lockheed Aircraft since 1913 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Related lists Detroit Aircraft Corporation The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit , Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name
333-677: The Sea Rover and Sea Pirate flying boat ranging In price from $ 7,500 to $ 10,000. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Blackburn Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, May 20, 1929. to acquire design and patent rights on entire line of metal aircraft of Blackburn Airplane & Motor Co., Ltd. of England. DAC controlled 90% with the UK company holding 10% of the stock. Detroit Aircraft Export Co. Incorporated in December 1928 for
370-454: The ZMC-2 , was constructed for the U.S. Navy in 1929. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Edsel Ford , William May and William Stout , invested in the venture in an effort to make Detroit the manufacturing center of the dirigible industry. The Ford name was not closely associated with the ZMC-2 at the insistence of Henry and Edsel Ford, but Ford laboratories, on the property of
407-584: The 1920s. However, in 1929, the management of Lockheed voted to sell majority share ownership to the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. In July 1929, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation acquired 87 percent of the assets of Lockheed Aircraft Company . Park's Air College and Affiliated Companies, Inc. , see Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology . ZMC-2 The ZMC-2 (Zeppelin Metal Clad 200,000 cubic foot capacity)
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#1732779596114444-637: The Aircraft Development Corporation, a division of Detroit Aircraft Corporation , on a site shared with, and later acquired by Naval Air Station Grosse Ile . The ZMC-2 was the brainchild of Ralph Hazlett Upson , a balloonist and engineer who had previously won the Gordon Bennett Cup for balloon racing in Europe, bringing the cup to the United States for the first time. Upson teamed up with Carl B. Fritsche of Detroit and together they formed
481-686: The Altair. Wright Field assigned the prototype the designation XP-900 . Vance Breese was hired to be the chief test pilot for the project. The aircraft was purchased by USAAC in September 1931 and redesignated YP-24 , serial number 32-320 . Early testing was sufficiently impressive to generate an order for five Y1P-24 fighters and four Y1A-9 attack aircraft intended to replace the Berliner-Joyce P-16 . The A-9 differed in having four forward-firing machine guns, underwing racks for bombs, and
518-423: The Detroit Aircraft Corporation, with backing from Henry Ford and Edsel Ford , as well as Charles Kettering of General Motors , Alex Dow, president of Detroit Edison , and William B. Stout , a local industrialist. Chief of hull design was the young Czech-American designer Vladimir Pavlecka . The airship was constructed in a special hangar built in 1925 for the construction of the ZMC-2, and expandable for
555-693: The Detroit River. The airport covered 403 acres (1.63 km ) of land and has water approaches on three sides. Contains a circular landing field. 3,000 feet (910 m) in diameter, and an airship hangar . Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Marine Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to specialise exclusively in all-metal amphibian and flying boat construction for commercial and naval uses. Manufactured an all-metal six-place cabin amphibian plane. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Eastman Aircraft Corp. Incorporated in Michigan. Nov. 26, 1928. Manufactured
592-714: The Mahoney-Ryan Aircraft Corporation, the successor to Ryan Air Lines. Ryan Aircraft manufactured four and six-place cabin monoplanes at their St. Louis facility, adjacent to the municipal airport. The Detroit Aircraft Corporation owned Ryan Aircraft's entire capital stock. Aircraft Development Corporation : was incorporated on July 12, 1929 in Michigan to take over and continue development and construction of "metal-clad" airships for commercial, military and naval uses. Company held patents covering design and construction of "Metalclad" rigid airships and airship mooring towers. The first "Metalclad" airship,
629-576: The airship had travelled over 80,000 miles (130,000 km) with little sign of corrosion. In its lifetime the ZMC-2 logged 752 flights and 2265 hours of flight time. In its final years its use had dropped significantly. Between December 1938 and April 1941 it only logged five hours of flight time. Considered by the Navy as too small for anti-submarine patrols, the aging ZMC-2 was decommissioned and scrapped in 1941 after nearly 12 years of service. General characteristics Performance The ZMC-2 plays
666-423: The bottom, and then recovering any helium that did mix with it. Only a few weeks before this procedure was to begin a bright young engineer noted that once filled with CO 2 the ZMC-2 would be many thousands of pounds heavier than when filled with air. The rest of the airship's assembly had to be postponed for several weeks while additional reinforcing panels and stronger connectors were attached in order to support
703-639: The capital stock of the Lockheed Aircraft Company and a 40% interest in Winton Aviation Engine Co. During the Great Depression the Detroit Aircraft holding company found that rising losses from other operations were draining the company coffers. On October 27, 1931, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation went into receivership . The heavier than air portions of the company were amalgamated under Lockheed, while
740-479: The construction of much larger metal-clad airships the company envisioned would be produced later. The hangar was 120 feet (37 m) tall, with a floor that measured 120 by 180 feet (37 by 55 m). It remained the largest structure on the Naval Air Station property until 1960, when it was dismantled and the roof reused in the construction of a bowling alley in nearby Trenton, Michigan . The ZMC-2
777-477: The helium expanded or contracted with the heating or cooling of the atmosphere or to adapt to changes of atmospheric pressure with altitude, and to control fore and aft trim. In operation the ZMC-2 was susceptible to heating and cooling effects of the sun causing it to pop and buckle in the evenings if pressure from blowers was not applied. During its service life the ZMC-2 was found to have a gas diffusion rate much lower than that of fabric-hulled blimps, meaning that
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#1732779596114814-441: The hull skin. In addition, lightweight longitudinal channels were added between the circular rings, giving the internal structure the appearance of a huge bird cage. The helium gas was contained by the hull only, no fabric was used to contain the helium. Inside the hull were two large airbag cells, called ballonets , made of rubberized fabric and containing air. These cells could be expanded or contracted to control pressure as
851-538: The increased weight of the CO 2 filled airship. The airship was first flown on August 19, 1929, and transferred to Lakehurst, New Jersey in October 1929. The airship was nicknamed "the Tin Blimp". Its first Navy skipper was Red Dugan, who expressed reluctance at operating the airship, believing it unsafe. Dugan's concerns were proven wrong, though he later lost his life in the crash of another airship, Akron . It
888-703: The lighter than air divisions were formed into a new unit called the Metalclad Airship Corporation. This company is not related to the Detroit Aircraft Company, incorporated in 2011, and developing the Vertical Takeoff electric vehicle called the MOBi. The operator will be Airspacex. Ryan Aircraft Corporation : Incorporated into Detroit Aircraft on July 5, 1929, Ryan Aircraft acquired the assets and business of
925-513: The newly completed Ford Airport conducted tests on the ZMC-2 and paid $ 500,000 for the 225-foot (69 m) dirigible mooring at Ford's airport Aviation Tool, Co. Incorporated in Michigan, June 11, 1929, to take over and continue the development of automatic riveting machines and their application to all types of aircraft. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Grosse Ile Airport , Inc. Incorporated in Michigan, Nov. 15, 1926. Owned and operated an airport on Grosse Ile, an island in
962-473: The purpose of handling export sales in South and Central China. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. Gliders, Inc. Engaged exclusively in the manufacture of sailplanes . Factory located In Detroit, Detroit Aircraft Corp. owned entire capital stock. The Lockheed Aircraft Company of Santa Barbara, California had been a going concern all throughout
999-413: The ship several hundred pounds heavier than originally envisioned. The aircraft was already under construction, and over 20 feet of the nose completed using duraluminum when the decision was made to switch to Alclad. The reason for the switch was that duraluminum is highly susceptible to corrosion, particularly in a salt water environment, the exact sort of environment a Navy blimp operates in. The ZMC-2
1036-409: Was 24 feet (7.3 m) feet long by 6 feet (1.8 m) feet wide. It contained three fuel tanks to give a maximum cruising range of about 600 miles (970 km). The ZMC-2 was powered by two Wright Whirlwind J5 engines of 200 horsepower (150 kW) each, carried on outriggers and mounted in a tractor arrangement, rather than the pusher position usually employed on blimps. At first the landing gear
1073-413: Was an unusual hollow steel ball about the size and shape of an American football, mounted on a tripod attached to the car. This was done to create a shape with less drag in order to guarantee the Navy's requirement of a 62 miles per hour (100 km/h) top speed. Later, after the ZMC-2 had attained this speed with ease, the ball was replaced with a conventional swivelling soft tire. The crew consisted of
1110-555: Was changed in 1929. The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Aircraft Development Corp., Aviation Tool Co., Grosse Ile Airport, Inc., Marine Aircraft Corp., Park's Air College and Affiliated Companies, Detroit Aircraft Export Co., Gliders, Inc., and Eastman Aircraft Corp. It also owned a 90% interest in the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company , practically all of
1147-651: Was considered very successful as a sub-scale test vehicle, but the company that built it did not weather the Great Depression well, and by the time a successor might have been built, there was little interest in pursuing it. In the year before the Depression, the U.S. Army was seeking funding for an airship based on the ZMC-2, that would have been larger than the German Graf Zeppelin , and powered by eight engines of 600–800 hp (450–600 kW ; 610–810 PS )}. The U.S. Army planned to use it as
Lockheed YP-24 - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-421: Was impractical to pump helium directly into the airship until the air was removed. It was decided that the airship would first be filled with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a heavy gas that mixes less freely with helium and which is easier to separate from helium. Once filled with CO 2 the helium could be pumped in under pressure from valves at the top of the chamber, forcing the CO 2 out through valves located on
1221-520: Was nicknamed the " Tin Bubble" and was also sometimes called a "tinship". The skin was not tin but Alclad . The airship was roughly teardrop shaped and had eight small stabilizer fins, four of which had rudders . It was held together with over 3.5 million rivets , which were applied by an innovative sewing machine-like device which produced airtight seams. The ZMC-2 was 52 feet (16 m) in diameter and 150 feet (46 m) feet long. The control car
1258-518: Was resuscitated by a group of investors only five days after it closed doors, the financial hardships had taken their toll and the P-24/A-9 project was cancelled with no aircraft built beyond the original prototype. Four pre-production Y1P-24s, 32-321/324 , were cancelled. However, after Robert Woods left Detroit Aircraft for Consolidated Aircraft , he continued to develop the YP-24/A-9 concept into
1295-415: Was supported on springs from a framework that ran on concentric circular rails set into the floor of the hangar. There were two sets of circular rails, one at each end of the building. Three riveting machines were made, one for each set of tracks, and one for reserve when repairs might be needed. The reason for two sets of tracks was that the hull was built in two sections, front and rear. Each end started from
1332-825: Was the first aircraft constructed from Alclad in the US, and no previous experience could be drawn upon for its handling. To assemble the ZMC-2 a skin-riveting machine was developed by the Aviation Tool Co. , a division of the Detroit Aircraft Corporation . The device was invented by Edward J. Hill, who had come to work on the ZMC-2 after leaving the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. The machine consisted of an aluminum casting, weighing about 100 pounds, and
1369-469: Was the only successfully operated metal-skinned airship ever built. Constructed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile by The Aircraft Development Corporation of Detroit, the ZMC-2 was operated by the U.S. Navy at Lakehurst, New Jersey from 1929 until its scrapping in 1941. While at Lakehurst it completed 752 flights, and logged 2265 hours of flight time. The ZMC-2 was built in Grosse Ile, Michigan by
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