The Lockheed-Detroit YP-24 was a 1930s prototype two-seat

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

produced by Detroit Lockheed. An attack version called the A-9 was also proposed. The YP-24 is most remarkable for being the first fighter aircraft to bear the Lockheed name.

Design and development

In 1930, Detroit Aircraft Corporation undertook a private venture to develop a new fighter ("pursuit aircraft" in contemporary terminology) for

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

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 the Altair.

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loca ...

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 a V-1570-27 engine better low-altitude performance."Fact Sheet: Detroit-Lockheed YP-24."
Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved: 15 July 2017.

Operational history

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 The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

forced Detroit Aircraft into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

with Lockheed following suit in June 1932. Although Lockheed 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.Andrade 1979, p. 144. However, after Robert Woods left Detroit Aircraft for

Consolidated Aircraft The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 in aviation, 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the ...

, he continued to develop the YP-24/A-9 concept into Consolidated Y1P-25/Y1A-11 which eventually entered service as

Consolidated P-30 The Consolidated P-30 (PB-2) was a 1930s United States two-seat fighter aircraft. An attack version called the A-11 was also built, along with two Y1P-25 prototypes and YP-27, Y1P-28, and XP-33 proposals. The P-30 is significant for being the fi ...

."Fact Sheet: Consolidated P-30."
Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved: 15 July 2017.

Specifications (YP-24)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Andrade, John M. ''U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. . * Bowers, Peter M. and Enzo Angellucci. ''The American Fighter''. New York: Orion Books, 1987. . * Francillon, René J. ''Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913''. London: Putnam, 1982. . * Francillon, René J. ''Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. . * Swanborough, Gordon and Peter M. Bowers. ''United States Military Aircraft Since 1909''. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Publications, 1989. .

External links

{{Wright Field project numbers Detroit Aircraft Corporation aircraft Lockheed P-24 Lockheed P-24 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931