Lockheed Model 9 Orion

The Lockheed Model 9 Orion is a single-engined passenger aircraft built in 1931 for commercial airlines. Designed by Richard A. von Hake, it was the last wood aircraft Lockheed produced and was faster than any American military aircraft of its time. It reused elements of earlier Lockheed designs, mainly the Altair, with a forward top cockpit like the Vega and the NACA cowling introduced on the Air Express, and had an enclosed cabin seating six; its Approved Type Certificate came on 6 May 1931. The first Orion entered service with Bowen Air Lines in May 1931, and Northwest Airways and American Airways later flew it. Its speed made it a natural for air racing, and Laura Ingalls set women's east-west and west-east records with one in 1935. Rules of 1934 on single-engine aircraft in instrument conditions and the need for a copilot ended its use as a US passenger airliner, and a modified Orion Explorer crashed in Alaska on 15 August 1935, killing Wiley Post and Will Rogers.