View source for Engineering:Lockheed Air Express

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{|{{Infobox Aircraft Begin
 | name=Air Express
 | image=Lockheed Vega Air Express NASA GPN-2000-001390.jpg
 | caption=
}}{{Infobox Aircraft Type
 | type=Passenger and Mail transport
 | national origin=United States
 | manufacturer=[[Company:Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]]
 | designer=
 | first flight=April 1928
 | introduced=
 | retired=
 | status=
 | produced=
 | primary user=
 | number built=8
 | developed from= [[Engineering:Lockheed Vega|Lockheed Vega]]
 | variants with their own articles=
 | developed into=
}}
|}

The '''Lockheed Air Express''' was the second aircraft design created by the Lockheed Aircraft Company after its founding in 1927; the type first flew in April 1928.<ref name="Franc Lock 1 p85">Francillon 1982, p.85.</ref>

== Description ==
The Air Express design incorporated the original fuselage of the [[Engineering:Lockheed Vega|Vega]], but in order to meet the requirements of Western Air Express, the wing was raised to a parasol configuration above the fuselage and the cockpit was moved behind the wing, while a more powerful Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine was fitted to ease operations over the Sierra Nevada mountains.<ref name="Franc Lock 1 p84-5">Francillon 1982, pp. 84–85.</ref> The design was a commercial success for the company although only seven were built, plus one Air Express Special.

No Air Expresses have survived to the present day. One, registered NR3057, was flown by Roscoe Turner.

== Variants ==
;Lockheed 3 Air Express: Single-engined passenger and mail transport aircraft, seating between four and six passengers in an enclosed cabin, able to carry up to 1,000-lb (454-kg) of mail, powered by a 410-hp (306-kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial piston engine; seven built.
;Air Express Special: One-off version built for Laura Ingalls, for a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight in 1931; one built.

== Operators ==
;{{BRA}}
*Panair do Brasil
;{{USA}}
*American Airways
*New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line
*Pan American Airways
* Texas Air Transport
*Western Air Express

== Specifications ==
[[File:Lockheed_Air_Express_3-view_Aero_Digest_March_1929.png|thumb|Lockheed Air Express 3-view drawing from Aero Digest March 1929]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Lockheed Aircraft since 1913 <ref name="Franc Lock 1 p89">Francillon 1982, p.89.</ref><!-- the reference for the data given -->
|prime units?=imp<!-- "imp", "kts" or "met" to display the units in a given order. Without an entry here, no specifications will show -->
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|genhide=

|crew=1
|capacity=4 passengers or 100 cu ft (2.8m³) mail
|length m=
|length ft=27
|length in=6
|span m=
|span ft=42
|span in=6
|height m=
|height ft=8
|height in=4.5
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=288
|empty weight kg=1149
|empty weight lb=
|gross weight kg=1984
|gross weight lb=4375
|fuel capacity=
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney Wasp C
|eng1 type=
|eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 hp=420<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 shp=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 kn=<!-- jet/rocket engines -->
|eng1 lbf=<!-- jet/rocket engines -->
|eng1 kn-ab=<!-- afterburners -->
|eng1 lbf-ab=<!-- afterburners -->

|prop blade number=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->

<!--
        Performance
-->
|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=176
|max speed kts=
|max speed note= (with [[Physics:NACA cowling|NACA cowling]])
|cruise speed kmh=<!-- if max speed unknown -->
|cruise speed mph=151
|cruise speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=750
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=17250
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=1460
|more performance=

|avionics=
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
<!-- include as many lines as are appropriate. additional lines/entries with a carriage return. -->
|sequence=
|related=
* [[Engineering:Lockheed Vega|Lockheed Vega]]
* [[Engineering:Lockheed Explorer|Lockheed Explorer]]
* Lockheed Sirius
* [[Engineering:Lockheed Altair|Lockheed Altair]]
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
* List of Lockheed aircraft
|see also=

}}

== References ==
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
* Francillon, René J. ''Lockheed Aircraft since 1913''. London:Putnam, First edition, 1982. {{ISBN|0-370-30329-6}}.
* Francillon, René J, ''Lockheed Aircraft since 1913''. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, 1987.

{{Lockheed}}

[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Parasol-wing aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lockheed Air Express}}