The Loughead S-1 "Sport-1" was an early single seat

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

made by the Loughead brothers, the forerunner to Lockheed.

Design and development

The S-1 was developed to produce aircraft with existing capacity and skill of Loughead workers after the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

contracts. The aircraft specifications were to be

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

, affordable, as well as capable of being stored in a garage and towed by a car. The S-1 was originally intended to be a two-seater, but was switched to a single place design to make production costs lower. The two cylinder engine was designed in-house by Anthony Stadlman. The

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

was built using an all-wood, multi-layer

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

laid up in concrete molds. The process would be later applied to the larger and more famous

Lockheed Vega The Lockheed Vega is an American five- to seven-seat high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very l ...

aircraft. The wings folded along the side of the aircraft for storage. Roll control was via a system that pivoted the entire lower wing surfaces. They also could be pivoted a full 90 degrees as a massive air brake.

Operational history

Only one prototype was built and test flown in 1920 by Gilbert G. Budwig. The S-1 was not marketable against the flood of surplus World War I aircraft on the market at the time. The company was liquidated soon afterward in 1921 and reformed again with the new Lockheed Vega based on the S-1 in 1926. The prototype does not exist, the engine is currently in private ownership.

Specifications (S-1)

Notes

*US Patent #1,425,113, 8, August 1922

References

{{reflist

External links

Image of an S-1
1920s United States civil utility aircraft Sesquiplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1920