With its transcontinental route established, Northwest wanted an airplane that was fast but also had low operating costs to cover the vast, low-population space between the Twin Cities and Spokane. Lockheed’s model 9D “Orion” checked off the boxes: 200 mile-per-hour speed, light weight, and a single-pilot cockpit, with accommodation for five passengers. NWA picked up three examples (the final three to come off the production line for an airline customer.)
The Orion was the first airliner to use retractable landing gear – which was fully manual, so Pilots would have to repeatedly pump a lever on the right side of their flight controls to raise or lower the wheels. The aircraft also featured then-new split wing flaps which were very effective at lowering landing speeds.
Northwest ran its little fleet of three Orions only from 1931 to 1935. Their all-wood construction was not designed for longevity and would have to be replaced; passenger and freight traffic was beginning to build as the Northland’s economy slowly recovered from the bottom of the Great Depression, and most importantly the Civil Aviation Administration decreed that major passenger airlines would have to use multi-engine transports from 1935 onward.
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One of the Orion fleet at Lockheed’s Burbank, California plant shortly before delivery in 1933. Photo from George Johnson via the James Borden Photography Collection.The Orion’s split flap helped greatly with reducing landing speed. Aircraft is at the Lockheed facility in Burbank prior to delivery. Photo from the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, via the James Borden Photography Collection.Lockheed’s Burbank, CA hangar and the Verdugo Mountains fill the vista for NC13747, being prepared for handoff to Northwest in late 1933. The Orions would be the first new fleet type after Northwest’s forced reorganization. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Cabin interior of the Orion was cozy, to be sure. Five passenger seats (folded over here) were not forward-facing but rather crosswise, and alternated so that people could pivot across and around to get situated. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Cockpit detail for the single-pilot aircraft. Seat is folded down; when occupied the text reads, “You may enjoy a cigarette if your fellow passengers do not object.” – remember this was a wooden aircraft… George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Arrival of Northwest’s first Orion at St. Paul, December 30, 1933. NC13747 was flown in by Fred Whittmore, VP-Operations, and was met by Croil Hunter, General Manager; Ken Ferguson, Traffic Manager; and JB LaMont, Maintenance Supervisor. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.The Orion trio (NC13747, NC13748, and NC13749) assembled at the St. Paul maintenance hangar on January 8, 1934.
George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.
The Orion trio (NC13747, NC13748, and NC13749) assembled at the St. Paul maintenance hangar on January 8, 1934.
George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.The Orion trio assembled at the St. Paul maintenance hangar on January 8, 1934. Early version of a snowplow attempting to clear a taxi path in the center of the picture; large crowd of onlookers on the far edge of the field. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.The Orion trio assembled at the St. Paul maintenance hangar on January 8, 1934. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.The Orion trio assembled at the St. Paul maintenance hangar on January 8, 1934. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13747 at the St. Paul hangar, 1/08/1934, proudly displaying its 550 horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13747 at St. Paul, Jan. 8, 1934, showing its split flap – first ever installed on a Lockheed aircraft. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Another view of NC13747 at St. Paul, on a very cold Jan. 8, 1934. Someone from the modern era might think this aircraft was a torpedo bomber, not a civilian transport – and this particular aircraft did end up carrying weapons, as a fighter/bomber on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. It was ultimately shot down and destroyed in 1937. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13747 again at St. Paul during the winter of 1934. The transparent hangar doors are more apparent in this view – the company must have spent heavily on heating, given the poor insulating value of glass at this time. (It’s no surprise that Andersen, Marvin, and Pella window manufacturers are all based near the Twin Cities.) Al Opsahl photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Night maintenance is underway on NC13747 inside the St. Paul hangar in spring 1934. George Johnson photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13747 on the Minneapolis ramp in summer 1934. Photo from the EAA Archive via the James Borden Photography Collection.Another ramp shot of NC13747 in Minneapolis, summer 1934. Photo from John Ferrier via the James Borden Photography Collection.Bill Cameron shot of NC13748 at what looks like Fargo, from summer 1934, shows some of the logistics of a quick station stop: passengers are waiting in their seats while station staff finish loading baggage in the aft compartment. The Pilot has his cockpit window open while the engine is running. From the James Borden Photography Collection.
Even by August 1934, the Official Airline Guide schedules showed Northwest’s new twin-engine metal Electra 10s coming on stream, with the Orions covering just one eastbound and one westbound daily service between the Twin Cities and Washington state. Flight 1 left St. Paul at 7:45 am, pulling into Felts Field, Spokane at 5 pm and Boeing Field, Seattle at 7:35 pm. Flight 2 left Seattle at 4:30 am, Spokane at 6:35 am, and made it to St. Paul by 7:30 pm. The aircraft would pass each other between Billings and Miles City, Montana.
Al Opsahl photo of NC13748 at the St. Paul base in winter 1935. Via the James Borden Photography Collection.Reverse angle view of NC13748 at the St. Paul base in winter 1935. Al Opsahl photo via the James Borden Photography Collection.Publicity shot from REA Express shows parcels and small cargo being loaded in the Orion’s small starboard baggage compartment. April 1935 at Seattle’s Boeing Field. From the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13749 coming in for a landing at Boeing Field, Seattle, in May 1935. Photo from G. Williams at Boeing, via the James Borden Photography Collection.NC13748 parked at Boeing Field, Seattle, in May 1935. One can appreciate the Pilot’s difficulty in steering the aircraft on the ground due to the nose-mounted engine and seating angle, despite the bubble canopy. Photo from G. Williams at Boeing, via the James Borden Photography Collection.Faithful model of NC17347 on display at the NWAHC Museum.Model of NC17347 on display at the NWAHC Museum, showing the painted wing surface with registration visible when viewed from above.
