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LOCKHEED VEGA Model 5B NC926Y
LITHUANIA OR BUST (AND IT DID)
This airplane is a Lockheed Vega Model 5B (S/N 134; ATC
#227) manufactured during 1930 by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation,
Burbank,
CA. It left the factory with a Pratt & Whitney
Wasp engine (S/N 2100) of 450 HP. It was a five-place
airplane.
It was sold during 1930 to Shell Oil Company, San Francisco,
CA. While owned by Shell between 1930 and 1935 it was
flown by the Company’s aviation manager Capt. John
Macready. It was painted orange-yellow with red trim
and named "No. 4".
We find NC926Y landing at Tucson on June 2, 1931, flown
by Macready. He
was carrying four unidentified passengers southbound from
Phoenix, AZ to Douglas, AZ. There is nothing in the
NASM record or the Register that suggests the purpose of
the flight.
Shell sold the airplane during 1935 to the American-Lithuanian
Trans-Atlantic Flight Association, Chicago, IL. It
was planned to use the airplane for a non-stop flight from
New York to Kaunas, Lithuania. A previous attempt was
made in July 1933 using a Bellanca CH Special NR688E (not
signed in our Register). That
aircraft was named “Lituanica”. The Atlantic
was safely traversed, but the airplane crashed in Germany
and both pilots were killed.
NC926Y was acquired to repeat the attempt and was named “Lituanica
II”. It was licensed NR (image above) and painted
white with orange trim and black edging. Lt. Felix
Waitkus, of Lithuanian descent, was chosen to be the pilot
and the airplane preparation was completed at Kohler, WI. Fuselage
fuel tanks replaced the seats and the windows were blocked
out.
The flight was attempted by Waitkus to Lithuania from New
York on September 21-22, 1935. The airplane suffered
a forced landing at Ballinrode, County May, Ireland on the
22nd. The landing gear collapsed and the wing and fuselage
were damaged. Pilot Waitkus was uninjured and completed
the trip to Lithuania in an airliner.
The airplane was shipped to and repaired and rebuilt in
Lithuania. It was put in the care of the Lithuanian
Air Corps. It is thought to have been captured and
taken to the USSR when the Lithuanian government was taken
over by Russia in 1940.
During WW2 Waitkus was a test
pilot for Boeing. He is buried in a small cemetery near Sheboygan,
WI.
No further information.
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Below are three new images from friend of dmairfield.org Tim
Kalina. The annotation on the back of the first image is
also shown. NC926Y, Shell #4, is on the right. NC657E,
Shell #5, is not logged in the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register.
Lockheed Vega NC926Y
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The people in the image above are identified on the back
of the photograph, as shown below.
Lockheed Vega NC926Y
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Neither Rose nor Fletcher are signed in the Register, but
Macready is. This image, below, shows NC926Y, Macready
and his salutation and signature to an unknown recipient
of this handsome souvenir photo card.
Lockheed Vega NC926Y
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Below, the airplane in its "Lituanica II" livery. This photo was taken at Floyd Bennett Field, LI, NY in September 1935 just before the trans-Atlantic flight attempt cited above. Compare this image with the one above. For some reason while at Floyd Bennett, the Shell aviation fuel logo (seen on the forward fuselage in the photo of the airplane above) was removed. Perhaps there was a change of sponsor.
The dolly under the tail skid has four fully castering wheels. Was the dolly used to ease ground handling in tight spaces, or as an aid to reduce friction of the tail skid during takeoff by the heavily fuel-laden airplane? While it probably helped with the former, it was the latter that it was designed for. There is a photograph of the airplane taking off with the dolly in place and the little wheels tracking along nicely. Pilot Waitkus must have really had his right foot in the bucket to keep the airplane in a straight line.
Lockheed NR926Y at Floyd Bennett Field, 1935
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Thanks to Tim for sharing these images with us!
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UPLOADED: 06/06/06 REVISED: 08/20/06, 09/28/07, 02/27/08
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