The Lockheed Model 8 Sirius was a single-engined,
propeller-driven
monoplane designed and built by
Jack Northrop and Gerard Vultee while they were engineers at
Lockheed in 1929, at the request of
Charles Lindbergh. Two versions of the same basic design were built for the
United States Air Force, one made largely of wood with a fixed landing gear, and one with a metal skin and retractable landing gear, designated
Y1C-25 and
Y1C-23, respectively. Its basic role was intended to be as a utility transport.[1]
History
A total of 15 Sirius aircraft were constructed in 1929 and 1930.[2]
The first and best known Sirius was bought by Lindbergh, and in 1931, as NR-211, it was retrofitted to be a
float plane.[3] Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh flew it to the
Far East, where she wrote a book about their experiences there entitled North to the Orient.[3] The aircraft was damaged in
Hankou,
China, when it accidentally capsized while being lowered off the
aircraft carrierHMS Hermes, and had to be sent back to Lockheed to be repaired.[4]
In 1931, György Endresz and Sándor Magyar made a successful US–Hungary transatlantic flight with a Lockheed Sirius 8A aircraft named "Justice for Hungary".[5]
In 1933, the Lindberghs set out again with their Sirius, now upgraded with a more powerful engine, a new directional gyro, and an
artificial horizon. This time, their route would take them across the northern
Atlantic, with no particular destination, but primarily to scout for potential new airline routes for
Pan Am.[6]
While at a refueling stop in
Angmagssalik,
Greenland, the
Inuit of the area gave the Sirius a nickname, "
Tingmissartoq" or "one who flies like a bird". They continued on their flight and made many stops in
Europe,
Russia, then south to
Africa, back across the southern Atlantic to
Brazil and back over
New York City at the end of 1933, after 30,000 miles and 21 countries; droves of people turned out to greet them as they landed.[3]