Vega Aircraft Corporation

American aircraft manufacturer

Vega Aircraft Corporation
The Vega Starliner at Union Air Terminal, circa 1940
Formerly	AiRover Company
Industry	Aerospace
Founded	February 24, 1937; 87 years ago (1937-02-24)
Founders	Robert E. Gross
Defunct	November 30, 1943 (1943-11-30)
Fate	Merged with Lockheed Aircraft Company
Successor	Lockheed Aircraft Company
Headquarters	Burbank, California , United States of America
Parent	Lockheed Aircraft Company

The Vega Aircraft Corporation was a subsidiary of the Lockheed Aircraft Company in Burbank, California responsible for much of its parent company's production in World War II.

History

The company was first formed in August 1937 as the AiRover Company to produce a new light aircraft design. It was renamed in May 1938 to honor Lockheed's first aircraft design, the Vega.^[1]

The AiRover Model 1 was a Lockheed Altair fitted with a Menasco Unitwin 2-544 engine, which featured two engines driving a single shaft. The AiRover Model 2 was a new design named the Vega Starliner. One Starliner prototype was built and tested, but the design did not go into production.^[2]

In 1940, with World War II already underway in Europe, Vega changed its focus from light aircraft to military aircraft. The company began by producing five North American NA-35 trainers under license with North American Aviation. Production by Vega really got underway with the Hudson, a patrol bomber designed for use by the Royal Air Force.

Vega entered a partnership between three companies (the other two being Boeing and Douglas) (abbreviated BVD) to produce the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of over 12,000 B-17s produced by war's end, 2,750 were built by Vega. The company also built two experimental B-17 variants, the Boeing XB-38 Flying Fortress and the Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress.

By the end of November 1943, Vega had merged back into Lockheed, having far surpassed its original mission of producing light aircraft.^[3]^[4]

Aircraft

Model name	First flight	Number built	Type
Vega Model 1	1938	1	Modified version of the Lockheed Altair
Vega Model 2 Starliner	1939	1	Prototype lightplane
Vega Model 40		5	Target drone
Vega 35		4	Development of the North American NA-35
Vega Hudson			License built version of Lockheed Hudson
Vega Ventura	1941	3,028	Twin engine medium/patrol bomber
Vega B-17 Flying Fortress	1942	2,750	License built version of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Vega XB-38 Flying Fortress	1943	1	Modified version of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress with inline engines
Vega YB-40 Flying Fortress	1942	1	Modified version of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress to gunship configuration

References

Notes

^ "Lockheed Unit Takes New Name". Los Angeles Times. 1 June 1938. p. 10. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
^ "Chapter V: Peace, Prosperity, Peril" (PDF). Of Men and Stars: A History of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. Burbank, California: Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. July 1957. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
^ Thisdayinaviation.com Vega Aircraft Corporation
^ "Vega Wanes". Aviation News. McGraw-Hill Publishing Corporation. 22 November 1943. p. 24. Retrieved 5 July 2021.

Bibliography

Francillon, René J, Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, 1987.
Yenne, Bill, Lockheed. Crescent Books, 1987.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vega Aircraft Corporation.

Menasco 2-544 Unitwin Aircraft Engine – Old Machine Press

Lockheed and Lockheed Martin aircraft and spacecraft

Transports

Vega family	1 & 2 Vega 3 Air Express 4 Explorer 5 Vega 6¹ 7 Explorer 8 Sirius 8-D, E & G Altair 9 Orion DL.1 Vega
Electra family	10 Electra 12 Electra Junior 14 Super Electra 414 Hudson 18 Lodestar 37 Ventura 43 Harpoon
Constellation family	Constellation L-049 L-649 L-749 L-1049 L-1249 L-1649 Starliner C-69 C-121 EC-121 R6V XB-30
L-100 Hercules family	C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 HC-130 EC-130 EC-130H KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 L-100
L-188 Electra family	L-188 P-3 EP-3 CP-140 P-7
Other types	C-5 C-141 Excalibur JetStar L-1011 Tristar RAF L-2000 Saturn Vega Starliner

Fighter-bombers

Lightning family	P-38 XP-49 XP-58
Shooting Star family	F-80 F-94 T-33 T2V
Starfighter family	XF-104 F-104 NF-104A CL-288 CL-1200
Raptor family	YF-22 F-22 FB-22 X-44 MANTA
Other types	A-4AR A-9 F-16 F-21 F-35 F-117 XFM-2 XF-90 YP-24

Reconnaissance

Blackbird family	A-12 SR-71 Blackbird YF-12 M-21 D-21
Maritime patrol	Hudson PV-1 Ventura PV-2 Harpoon P2V/P-2 Neptune S-3 Viking P-3 Orion CP-140 Aurora P-7 LRAACA
Other crewed	CL-400 U-2 YO-3 Quiet Star TR-1 TR-X
UAVs	Aequare AQM-60 Cormorant (UAV) Desert Hawk Desert Hawk III Fury MQM-105 Polecat RQ-3 RQ-170 SR-72 X-44 (UAV)

Trainers

Helicopters

Experimental

Light aircraft

Missiles

Engines

J37/T35

Model
numbers

1
2
3
4
5
6¹
7
8
- A/D
9
10
11
12
13¹
14
15
16
17¹
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25¹
26
27
28¹
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36¹
37
38¹
39¹
40
41
42
44
45
49
50
51
52
60
61
62
75
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
99
100
104
105
122
129
133
136
137
140
141
144
149
170
171
182
185
186
188
189
193
199
200
204
206
207
210
212
222
244
245
246
249
282 (I)
282 (II)
285
286
288
293
295
296
298
300
301
320
322
325
329
330
331
346
349
351
379
380
382
389
400 (I)
400 (II)
402
407
414
422
437
449
475
480
489
500
520
522
549
580
595
622
645
649
680
685
704
749
760
780
785
822
823
840
849
880
901
915
934
949
977
980
981
984
985
995
1000
1010
1011
1020
1026
1049
- A
1060
1080
1090
1132
1149
1195
1200
1201
1235
1236
1237
1249
1329
1400
1449
1549
1600
1649
1700
1800
1980
2000
2329

Vega	1 2 3¹ 4¹ 5 6 7–10¹ 11 12–14¹ 15 16¹ 17 18 19¹ 20¹ 21 22 23 24 25¹ 26 27–32¹ 33 34 35 36¹ 37 38¹ 39¹ 40 41 42 43