An eclectic collection of Lockheed aeroplanes which would not normally qualify for inclusion in The Lockheed File because they did not take up an Australian identity. It comprises itinerants, might-have-beens, some that came to Australia to die and some that were just simply irresistable.

 

CONTENTS
L-9 Orion
NC12229 Spirit of Fun
L-12A Electra Junior
Sidney Cotton's Kolossal Lockheeds
Rausch Hudstar Part Hudson Part Lodestar
L-18 Lodestar
AeroNord of Sweden
L-18 Learstar
N5056 Mobile Home
L-75 Saturn
Aircrafts Pty Ltd
L-749 Constellation
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines
L-749 Constellation
The Stones' Connie
L-1049 Super Constellation
The NASA Super Connies
L-749 & L-1049 Connies
Visiting Constellations and Super Constellations
L-1329 JetStar JetStar Visitors
U-2 U-2 Operations in Australia
P-2 Neptune
U.S. Navy Neptune Visitors
P-2 Neptune
The Turtle - Truculent or otherwise
P-2 Neptune
Aeronavale Neptune Visitors
C-130 Hercules
Hercules Visitors
L-188 Electra
Electra Visitors
L-188 Electra
The Santana Electra
P-3 Orion
Orion Visitors
US-3A Viking
Viking Visitor
L-300 StarLifter
StarLifter Visitors
L-500 Galaxy
Galaxy Visitors
L-1011 TriStar
TriStar Visitors
F-22A Raptor
First USAF Visitors
F-35B Lightning II
First US Marines Visitors

 

Constructor's Number v Manufacturer's Serial Number



L-9 Orion

Orion 9A Special NC12229 (msn 187) The Spirit of Fun arrived in Sydney on the S.S. Monterey on 13th October 1932. The following day the Orion was taken by barge to Anderson Park at Neutral Bay from where it was flown to Mascot. The aircraft was undertaking a round-world tour by Arthur M. Loew of MGM Studios and Joseph Rosthal. The pilot was Captain J.P. Dickson. The Orion departed for Melbourne on 15th October from where it flew to Wyndham W.A., eventually departing Australia on 17th October bound for Bali. The aircraft later crashed after hitting a tree on take-off from Victoria Falls, Rhodesia on 17th November, killing Capt Dickson and injuring Loew and Rosthal.



[Picture 1: D D Smith Collection, Northern Territory Library PH0323/0022]
[Picture 2: John Hopton Collection]
[Picture 3: CAHS Terry Martin]
 [Picture 4: AirHistory.net]
Sidney Cotton's Electra Junior


Although it never came to Australia, this aeroplane once belonged to a very famous Australian. Electra Junior N12EJ (msn 1203), formerly G-AFTL, was used for espionage flights over Germany and the Meditterranean in 1939 by Sidney Cotton.
This aeroplane now has its own page. Please see G-AFTL
See also Sidney Cotton's Kolossal Lockheeds
Swedish Lodestar
In 1951 a Lodestar of the Swedish company AeroNord visited Brisbane while en route to New Zealand with a consignment of Electrolux vacuum cleaner parts which were urgently required because of a shipping strike. The Lodestar in question, SE-BTI (msn 2492) departed Sweden on 17th September 1951 and arrived at Whenuapai, New Zealand on 3rd October 1951. The Lodestar was flown by Captain Bertil Krokstedt. The aircraft returned to Sweden on 26th October 1951.

[Historical notes from the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand Journal]

[Picture: Grulke Collection via Peter Gates]
The Hudstar

One very interesting type which is thought to have been headed for Australia was the unique Rausch Super 18 "Hudstar" which was principally a Hudson with a Lodestar rear fuselage and tail group grafted on. It is believed that this aircraft was the "Lodestar" which had been entered by Rausch Aviation (USA) in the 1953 London to Christchurch air race. However, the entry was evidently withdrawn before the race commenced. The conversion was based on AT-18 Hudson NC33367 (msn 7463) with the rear fuselage of Lodestar N94538 (msn 2095). The resultant aircraft was 25.5 inches longer than a standard Lodestar. The Hudstar flew for the first time on 8th October 1952 as NX367. It was destroyed in a fatal crash in 1977.

[Picture 1: Ron Cuskelly Collection]
[Picture 2: Barry Admans via Queensland Air Museum]
[Picture 3: Ron Cuskelly Collection]

Learstar

Built as a Lockheed 18-56 Lodestar with the MSN 2500, the aircraft was delivered to the USAAF as a C-60A serial 42-56027 on 25JUN43. Postwar the aircraft was passed on to several civil operators under the registrations NC88744, N88744 and N14M. Between 26OCT56 and 14FEB57 the aircraft was converted to an executive aircraft by Bill Lear (later famous for the LearJet). Now known as a Learstar II the aircraft was sold to American Can Company on 03DEC57 as N14M. After being flown by several corporate operators as N1414, N505S and N5056, the aircraft was acquired by Merryl D. Schulke, an orthodontist of Orlando, Florida on 29MAR73 as N5056. Fitted out inside as a mobile home and named Air Challenger, the aircraft was used to take the Schulke family on a round-world trip. Known sectors were: Fiji-Auckland on 06APR74, Auckland-Christchurch on 11APR74, Auckland-Melbourne on 04APR74 and Shannon-Blackbushe-Munich on 15AUG74. Schulke sold the aircraft on 22NOV74 and it was subsequently impounded on several occasions for drug smuggling. When last heard of, the aircraft was registered CP-2046 and stored impounded at El Trompillo, Bolivia where it was most likely broken up.

(Source: Marson, Peter J., The Lockheed Twins, Air-Britain, 2001)

[Picture 1: Nigel Daw]
[Picture 2 & 3: Roger McDonald]

Saturn
One of the more obscure Lockheeds almost came to Australia with an order for the Saturn from Ron Adair of Brisbane-based Aircrafts Pty Ltd as a Lodestar replacement. Import Licences Nos. 250, 251 and 252, each for one Saturn, were issued on 7th June 1945 but subsequently cancelled. In the event, only two Saturns were built and the type never went into production owing to the ready availability of cheap DC-3s and similar aircraft post-war.

[Thanks to John Hopton for this previously unknown fact]

[Picture: Lockheed]
BCPA Connie
Although British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines ultimately chose the Douglas DC-6, the Constellation had been under consideration, as evidenced by this artist's impression of a Connie in BCPA livery. BCPA was registered in New South Wales in June 1946 with headquarters in Sydney. Capital was subscribed by the Australian government (50%), the New Zealand government (30%) and the U.K. government (20%). Services were operated to San Francisco and Vancouver, initially with DC-4s and finally with DC-6s. The airline was placed in liquidation in May 1954 and its services taken over by Qantas.

[Picture: Lockheed via John Hopton & Trevor Boughton]
Rolling Stones' Connie
Read the full story of the Stones' Connie here

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
Constellation Visitors
View a selection of photos of Connies that visited Australia here.

[Picture: Eric Allen]
NASA Connies

Read more about the NASA Super Constellations here.

[Picture: Geoff Goodall]
U-2 Operations in Australia

On 26 October 1960, three Lockheed U-2 arrived at RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria to commence Operation Crowflight VI as part of a U.S. Department of Defence High Altitude Sampling Program (HASP). This was the first recorded presence of the U-2 in Australia. Read more here.

[Picture: Eric Allen]
JetStar Visitors

Read more about JetStar visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
Aeronavale Neptune Visitors

Read more about Aeronavale Neptune visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
Hercules Visitors

Read more about Hercules visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
Electra Visitors

Read more about Electra visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
The Santana Electra

Read more about the Santana Electra here.

[Picture: Mike Madden]
Orion Visitors

Read more about special P-3 Orion visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
Viking Visitor

Read more about S-3A Viking visits here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
StarLifter Visitors

Read more about StarLifter visitors here.

[Picture: Eric Allen]
Galaxy Visitors

Read more about Galaxy visitors here.

[Picture: Ron Cuskelly]
TriStar Visitors

Read more about TriStar visitors here.

[Picture: Geoff Goodall]
F-22A Raptor Visitors

The first F-22A Raptors to visit Australia were displayed at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon on 1-6 March 2011 but the aircraft did not fly during the airshow because of the lack of an authorised display pilot. Raptor attendances at the Avalon airshow are summarised in the following table.

01-06MAR11 06-4108, 06-4115 (static only)
26FEB-03MAR13 09-4173, 10-4194 (both flew)
24FEB-01MAR15 03-4060, 03-4051
28FEB-05MAR17 05-4090, 07-4139, 07-4151

On 10FEB17 a squadron of twelve F-22A deployed to Tindal, NT for combined exercises. Three of these aircraft later positioned to Avalon for the biennial airshow. Raptors also deployed to RAAF Amberley for Exercise Talisman Sabre in July 2019.

[Picture: Robert Frola]
F-35B Lightning II Visitors

The first F-35Bs to visit Australia arrived in Sydney onboard the USS Wasp on 18JUN19. It was reported that the ship carried at least ten USMC F-35B. The USS Wasp later participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre off the Queensland coast. Aircraft photographed were:

Code BuNo Unit
05/VK 169169 VMFA-121
06/VK 169292 31st MEU
08/VK 169294 VMFA-121

Other serials reported by observers in Sydney were: 168309, 169164 and 169412 (13/VK).

[Pictures: Eric Allen]


ISSUE
DATE
REMARKS
28
07DEC22
 Added another photo of the unique Hudstar.
27
30OCT22
 With the importation of Australia's first Starfighter there is now a dedicated page for this aircraft.
26
27MAR20
 Added a new section on Galaxy visitors.
25
22MAR20
 Added a new section on StarLifter visitors.
24
14JAN20
 All entries for the TriStar have been consolidated on to one page.
23
22NOV19
 Added a new section on C/N v MSN.
22
03OCT19
 Added a new section on Electra visitors.
21
01SEP19
 Added a new section on Hercules visitors.
20
18AUG19
 Added another photo of the L-9 Orion NC12229.
19
15AUG19
 Added a new section on Connie visitors.
18
02AUG19
 Added a new section on the Learstar N5056.
17
25JUL19
 Added a new section on the JetStar and Viking.
16
22JUL19
 Added new sections on the F-22A and F-35B for the purpose of recording first visits to Australia.
15
16JUL19
 Revised the layout and added a contents table. Also added a new section on Aeronavale Neptunes.
14
24MAY19
 Added U-2 visits to Australia.
13
23JUN18
 Added the NASA Super Constellations.
12
18JUN06
 Added a photo of TriStar N763BE.
11
06MAY06
 Added a photo of a model of a TriStar in Ansett Airlines livery.
Added a reference to the 1974 TriStar demonstration tour of Australia.
10
06MAR06
 Retired Lockheed employee Carl Yelverton has unearthed a photo of a TriStar model in TAA colours.
9
12JAN05
 Sidney Cotton's famous Electra Junior G-AFTL has been moved to a separate page.
8
11JAN05
 Added another photo of Orion NC12229. Thanks to John Hopton.
Added another series of photos of the scrapping of TriStar VR-HOF. Thanks to David Campbell.
Also added a section on the unique Hudstar.
7
13FEB04
 Added a photo of Orion NC12229 thanks to Tim Kalina and the Northern Territory Library.
Also added a reference to Ansett Airlines having chartered a TriStar from Hawaiian Air.
6
13NOV01
 Added a link to a page of images of the scrapping of TriStar VR-HOF.


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