Editing Lockheed Vega (section)

==Operational history==
[[File:Lockheed Vega 5B of Amelia Earhart c1932.jpg|thumb|The Lockheed 5B Vega that Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic in.]]
[[File:Lockheed Vega cn 122 NR105W -Winnie Mae- 1935 (mfr via RJF) (18327531806).jpg|thumb|[[Wiley Post]]'s "[[Winnie Mae]]", in which he circled the globe, and proved the existence of the [[Jet Stream]].]]
The first '''Vega 1''', named the ''Golden Eagle'', flew from Lockheed's [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] plant on July 4, 1927. It could cruise at a then-fast {{cvt|120|mph}}, and had a top speed of {{cvt|135|mph}}. A number of private owners placed orders for the design, and by the end of 1928, 68 had been produced. In the 1929 [[National Air Races]] in [[Cleveland, Ohio]], Vegas won every speed award.

In 1928, Vega ''Yankee Doodle'' (NX4769) was used to break transcontinental speed records. On August 19–20, Hollywood stunt flier Arthur C. Goebel broke the coast-to-coast record of [[Russell Maughan]] by flying from [[Los Angeles, California]], to [[Garden City, New York]], in 18 hours and 58 minutes, in what was also the first nonstop flight from west to east. On October 25, barnstormer and former mail pilot Charles B.D. Collyer broke the nonstop east to west record set in 1923 by the U.S. Army Air Service in 24 hours and 51 minutes. Trying to break the new West-to-East record on November 3, Collyer crashed near [[Prescott, Arizona]], killing him and the aircraft owner, Harry J. Tucker.<ref>[http://www.dmairfield.org/people/collyer_cb/index.html "Charles B.D. Collyer."] ''Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register,''  December 25, 2011. Retrieved: December 27, 2012.</ref>

Looking to improve the design, Lockheed delivered the Vega 5 in 1929. Adding the [[Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp]] engine of {{cvt|450|hp}} and a new [[NACA cowling]] improved performance enough to allow the addition of two more seats, and increased cruising speed to {{cvt|155|mph}} and top speed to {{cvt|165|mph}}. A variant of the Vega 5 was built specifically for private aviation and executive transport as the L.5A "Executive" although the 5 was also used by a many airlines, including [[Pan American Airlines]], [[Pacific Alaska Airways]] and [[Transcontinental and Western Air]]. A total of 64 Vega 5s were built.

In 1931, the [[United States Army Air Corps]] bought two DL-1 Vegas, with the first designated as '''Y1C-12''' and the second, a DL-1B designated as '''Y1C-17'''. These both had a formed metal fuselage, while the Y1C-17 had additional fuel tanks in the wings.

The Vega could be difficult to land. In her memoir, [[Elinor Smith]] wrote that it had "all the glide potential of a boulder falling off a mountain."<ref>Smith 1981, p. 94.</ref>  In addition, forward and side visibility from the cockpit was extremely limited; Lane Wallace, a columnist for [[Flying (magazine)|''Flying'' magazine]], wrote that "Even [in level flight], the windscreen would offer a better view of the sky than anything else, which would make it more of a challenge to detect changes in attitude or bank angle.  On takeoff or landing, there'd be almost no forward visibility whatsoever."

===Vega DL-1A special===
A one-off special based on the metal-fuselaged DL-1 was built by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, and exported to the United Kingdom for Lt. Cmdr. [[Glen Kidston]] who named it ''Puch''. It was initially registered in the UK as ''G-ABFE'', then was re-registered as ''G-ABGK'' to incorporate Kidston's initials.<ref name="goodall"/> He used this Vega for a record-breaking flight from the UK to South Africa in April 1931. Following Kidston's death the following month, the aircraft was eventually sold to Australian airline owner [[Horrie Miller (aviator)|Horrie Miller]], who entered it in the [[MacRobertson Air Race]]. Flown in the race by Miller's Chief Pilot, Capt. Jimmy Woods, it overturned on landing at [[Aleppo]] ''en route'', whereupon Woods withdrew from the race and the DL-1A was eventually shipped to Australia. Following repairs and re-registration as ''VH-UVK'', Miller used the aircraft for charter and leisure flying, after which it was impressed by the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in 1941. In 1944 the aircraft was transferred to the Australian Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). Via information from RAAF pilots, DCA declared the Vega to have serious pitch control problems and it would be scrapped. Attempts by James Woods to reclaim the aircraft were ignored, and it was destroyed in October 1945. It was the only Vega to operate in Australia.<ref name="goodall">Goodall, Geoff. "Vega VH-UVK: The Story of a Unique Aeroplane." ''Journal of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia,'' Volume 17, Issue 4.</ref>