Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar

The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is an American passenger transport aircraft of the Second World War era, developed from the Model 14 Super Electra within the Model 10 Electra family. Sales of the Model 14 had disappointed because it cost more to operate than the Douglas DC-3, so Lockheed stretched the fuselage by 5 feet 6 inches to fit two more rows of seats. The prototype was converted from a fourth Model 14, one returned by Northwest Airlines after a series of crashes, and first flew in that form on 21 September 1939; the first newly built Model 18 flew on 2 February 1940. The type certificate came on 30 March 1940 and Mid-Continent Airlines was the first customer. Only 31 went to US airlines, with South African Airways, New Zealand National Airways Corporation, Trans-Canada Air Lines and BOAC the largest customers, and 625 were built in all. Many American Lodestars were impressed as the C-56, new-build ones flew as the C-60 and R5O, and after the war many became executive transports.