View source for Lockheed Model 8 Sirius

{{Infobox aircraft
  |name = Model 8 Sirius
  |logo = Lockheed Sirius Logo.png
  |logo_size = 165px
  |image = File:Lockheed 8 Sirius 'Tingmissartoq' at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC.jpg
  |caption = Sirius at [[National Air and Space Museum]]
  |type = Utility transport
  |manufacturer = [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed Aircraft Limited]]
  |designer = [[John Knudsen Northrop|Jack Northrop]]<br />Gerard Vultee
  |first_flight = [[1929 in aviation|1929]]
  |introduction = 1929
  |retired =
  |status =
  |primary_user = 
  |more_users = 
  |produced = 
  |number_built = 15
  |variants = 
}}

The '''Lockheed Model 8 Sirius''' is a single-engined, [[propeller (aircraft)|propeller]]-driven [[monoplane]] designed and built by [[John Knudsen Northrop|Jack Northrop]] and Gerard Vultee while they were engineers at [[Lockheed Corporation|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 [[Lockheed Y1C-25|Y1C-25]] and [[Lockheed Y1C-23|Y1C-23]], respectively. Its basic role was intended to be as a utility transport.<ref>[http://www.airplanesandrockets.com/airplanes/lockheed-sirius-history-apr-1973-AAM.htm "Airplanes and Rockets": Lockheed Sirius History, April 1973."] ''American Aircraft Modeler''. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>

==History==
A total of 15 Sirius aircraft were constructed in 1929 and 1930.<ref> Donovan, M. Regis. [http://98.230.169.187:8080/aero/ShortHistory.html "A Short History of the Wooden Wonders."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208010203/http://98.230.169.187:8080/aero/ShortHistory.html |date=2015-12-08 }} ''rustysparks.com''. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>

The first and best known Sirius was bought by Lindbergh, and in 1931, as NR-211, it was retrofitted to be a [[sea plane|float plane]].<ref name="Smithsonian">[http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19600014000 "Lockheed Sirius "Tingmissartoq", Charles A. Lindbergh."] ''Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum''. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref> 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]]''.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> The aircraft was damaged in [[Hankou]], [[China]], when it accidentally capsized while being lowered off the [[aircraft carrier]] [[HMS Hermes (95)|HMS ''Hermes'']], and had to be sent back to Lockheed to be repaired.<ref>[http://www.lockheedmartin.ca/us/100years/stories/lindbergh.html "Lucky Lindy and His Lockheed Sirius."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207225706/http://www.lockheedmartin.ca/us/100years/stories/lindbergh.html |date=2015-12-07 }} ''Lockheed Martin''. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>

In 1931, György Endresz and Sándor Magyar made a successful US–Hungary transatlantic flight with a Lockheed Sirius 8A aircraft named ''Justice for Hungary''.<ref>Dawson, Brian. [http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/news_AHFHistory_justiceforhungaryflight.htm ""Justice for Hungary" - a historic flight, 1931."] ''American Hungarian Federation''. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>

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]].<ref>[http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Aerospace/Lockheed_early/Aero13.htm "Lockheed's Early Years, 1912-1940."] ''centennialofflight.net'', 2013. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>
While at a refueling stop in [[Tasiilaq|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.<ref name="Smithsonian"/>

The aircraft was in the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in New York City until 1955, when ownership was transferred to the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] in [[Dayton, Ohio]]. It was given to the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in 1959, and it went on display at the [[National Air and Space Museum]] when the original facility opened on the National Mall in 1976.<ref name="Smithsonian"/>

==Variants==
[[File:Lockheed Sirius Paul Mantz.jpg|thumb|right|Paul Mantz's Lockheed Sirius photo ship]]
;Lockheed 8 Sirius: Single-engine, two-seat, long-range, high-performance aircraft; one built for Charles Lindbergh.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uOQDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+mechanics+1930+aircraft&pg=PA803 "Lindbergh Picks A Plane."] ''Popular Mechanics'', November 1930. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>
;Sirius 8: First production version, similar to the Lockheed 8 Sirius; one built.
;Sirius 8A: Equipped with an enlarged tail surface; eight built.<ref>[http://www.dmairfield.org/airplanes/NC117W/index.html "Lockheed Sirius 8A NC117W."] ''Delta Mike Airfield'', 2008. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.</ref>
;Sirius 8C: Four-seat version fitted with an enclosed cabin seating two passengers, located between the engine and the pilot's cockpit; one built.
;DL-2: Metal fuselage and wooden wings. One built by the [[Detroit Aircraft Corporation]].

==Operators==
;{{flag|Spain|1931}}
* [[Spanish Republican Air Force]]<ref name="Nash">Nash, David. [http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/did.html "Aircraft that took part in the Spanish Civil War."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205085135/http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/Spain/did.html |date=2015-02-05 }} ''Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War''. Retrieved: January 15, 2015.</ref>

==Specifications (Lindbergh's Sirius 8)==
[[File:Lockheed_8_Sirius_3-view_Aero_Digest_March,1930.png|thumb|Lockheed 8 Sirius 3-view drawing from Aero Digest March,1930]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Lockheed Aircraft since 1913<ref name="Fran82 p100">Francillon 1982, p. 100.</ref>
|prime units?=imp
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|genhide=

|crew=two
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=27
|length in=1
|span m=
|span ft=42
|span in=9+1/4
|height m=
|height ft=9
|height in=3
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=294.1
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=4,289
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=7,099
|fuel capacity={{convert|416|usgal|abbr=on}}<ref name="Fran82 p93">Francillon 1982, p. 93.</ref>
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp|Pratt & Whitney Wasp]]
|eng1 type=[[radial engine]]
|eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 hp=450<!-- prop engines -->

<!--
        Performance
-->
|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=185
|max speed kts=

|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=150
|cruise speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=975
|range nmi=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=26100
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=1280
|more performance=

|avionics=
}}

==See also==
* [[List of Lockheed aircraft]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Francillon, René J. ''Lockheed Aircraft since 1913''. London: Putnam, 1982. {{ISBN|0-370-30329-6}};
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Lockheed Model 8 Sirius}}
* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19600014000 Aircraft of the Smithsonian: Lockheed 8 Sirius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820191944/http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19600014000 |date=2011-08-20 }}
* [http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/article.php3?id_article=27 Lockheed Sirius in Geneva (1933)]

{{Lockheed}}
{{Detroit aircraft}}

[[Category:Lockheed aircraft|Sirius]]
[[Category:1920s United States civil utility aircraft]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Low-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1929]]
[[Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear]]