Model flight just a glimpse of Lockheed dream

11/9/04

By SCOTT STEEPLETON

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

It took more than a wing and a prayer to get the model sea plane in the air at Lake Cachuma.

It also took sound aeronautics, and that's precisely what the Santa Barbara Radio Control Modelers were going for when they sent a replica of the flying boat on a test flight Sunday.

The brains behind the original design were Allan and Malcolm Loughead, brothers who opened a fledgling aircraft company in Santa Barbara in 1916.

You know them by another The weekend event at Lake Cachuma was part of the festivities that will culminate a few months from now with a permanent display touting the brothers' work, and the Lockheed-Santa Barbara connection, at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.

Today, the Lockheed Martin name is synonymous with aviation, but its roots are similar to many other American success stories. Culled from a variety of sources, the story also shows bumps along the way.

The Loughead brothers had a dream of flying and, in 1913, staked their claim on a sea plane. They gambled on people willing to go for a hop at $10 a pop, but lost.

Creditors seized the plane, and the brothers did everything and anything to earn money to get it back, including panning for gold.

Their schemes paid off. Once back in the pilot's seat, the brothers took their plane to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, where they found plenty of people willing to take a ride.

With a small fortune in hand, they moved operations to Santa Barbara the next year and started Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

According to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, the F-1's hull and wings were designed by Jack Northrup, who would later strike out on his own, and the Navy took delivery of the aircraft following a record-setting flight from Santa Barbara to San Diego on April 12, 1918 -- the sea plane flew 211 miles in three hours and one minute.

"While researching this project, we became impressed with the creativity and sound engineering judgment demonstrated by the brothers in the design of the F-1 seaplane," said Jerry Livers, project leader with the Santa Barbara Radio Control Modelers.

World War I's end dealt the company a blow, and, by 1921, it all but fizzled.

Malcolm left aviation and relocated to Detroit, where he developed a hydraulic-brake system for cars. His brother went into real estate, and Mr. Northrup went to work for another name synonymous with aviation, Donald Douglas.

According to a PBS documentary on aviation innovators, Allan and Mr. Northrup reunited in 1926 and formed Lockheed Aircraft Company, "specifically incorporating the 'Lockheed' spelling to associate themselves with Malcolm's successful brake company."

Two years later, Mr. Northrup left to start his business, and, in 1929, Allan Loughead sold to Detroit Aircraft Corporation.

It wasn't until 1932 that the Lockheed name would be salvaged -- and over the next several decades, Lockheed Air Corporation would thrive.

The exhibit at the Maritime Museum will include the scale model flown at Lake Cachuma along with a kiosk displaying artifacts, photos, information and a video presentation.

Mr. Livers said the original F-1 "flew without incident for four years, mostly for joy rides and aerial photography for the Flying A movie company also located in Santa Barbara."

The plane was abandoned on West Beach, and the engines were sold.

"Sadly, the remaining structure was destroyed by vandals and dry rot," Mr. Livers said.

Its scale replica flew for the first time on Oct. 1. That's 86 years and 186 days after the original plane's maiden flight, and plenty of Loughead kin were on hand.

"Every effort was made to recreate every detail of the original seaplane," Mr. Livers said.

The brothers would be proud.