Lockheed aircraft you can see
| Type | First flew | Built | UK museums |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed 12A Electra Junior | 1936 | 130 | 1 |
| Lockheed Hudson | 1939 | 2,941 | 1 |
| Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star+ CT-133 | 1948 | 6,557 | 8 |
| Lockheed Starfighter & VoodooF-104G, F-101B | 1954 | ~3,400 | 1 |
| Lockheed HerculesC-130K / WC-130E | 1954 | 2,500+ | 3 |
| Lockheed U-2 | 1955 | ~104 | 1 |
| Lockheed SR-71 BlackbirdSR-71A | 1964 | 32 | 1 |
Lockheed in brief
Its owner, Detroit Aircraft, went bankrupt in the Depression. A group led by Robert Gross bought Lockheed out of receivership in 1932. The Electra airliners followed. In 1938 the British Purchasing Commission ordered 200 Hudsons for the RAF. Kelly Johnson designed the P-38 Lightning and led the Skunk Works, which produced the U-2 and SR-71. The T-33, F-104 Starfighter and C-130 Hercules also came from Lockheed.
Cost overruns in the 1970s needed a government loan guarantee. In March 1995 Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-35.
Museums holding Lockheed aircraft
| Museum | Lockheed types | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWM DuxfordCambridge, Cambridgeshire | 3 | £29 | 146 | Concorde 101 (G-AXDN), the pre-production development aircraft and the fastest Concorde of them all at Mach 2.23 — plus an SR-71A… |
| Midland Air MuseumCoventry, Warwickshire | 2 | £11 | 66 | Vulcan XL360 with cockpit access and volunteer-led tours (ask for the instrumentation talk), plus the Whittle jet heritage collection a… |
| Royal Air Force Museum LondonLondon, Greater London | 2 | Free | 88 | Avro Lancaster R5868 'S-Sugar' — 137 operations, the RAF's highest-scoring surviving heavy — under the same roof as a Vulcan, a… |
| South Wales Aviation MuseumBarry, Vale of Glamorgan | 2 | £10 | 73 | The resident Harrier and a growing VC10/Tornado-era collection, most with steps and open canopies. Kids exit wearing thousand-yard grins. |
| Bentwaters Cold War MuseumWoodbridge, Suffolk | 1 | £7.50 | 9 | Bentwaters Cold War Museum occupies the actual USAF hardened command post — war room, battle cabin and decontamination showers intact —… |
| City of Norwich Aviation MuseumNorwich, Norfolk | 1 | £9 | 33 | City of Norwich Aviation Museum at Horsham St Faith: Norfolk's largest, ~30 airframes including a Vulcan and Nimrod with bookable… |
| Newark Air MuseumNewark, Nottinghamshire | 1 | £12.50 | 95 | Vulcan XM594, with cockpit tours occasionally given by former Vulcan aircrew, which reviewers describe with the reverence normally… |
| Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation MuseumBungay, Suffolk | 1 | £10 | 65 | Depends who you ask — the joy is the oddities. Come for the Bloodhound missiles and decoy rarities; stay for volunteer flight-simulator… |
| RAF Manston History MuseumRamsgate, Kent | 1 | £7 | 22 | RAF Manston's history museum spans 1916 RNAS days to Cold War Meteors, with strong 1940s room-sets — and it sits next door to the… |
| Royal Air Force Museum MidlandsShifnal, Shropshire | 1 | Free | 78 | TSR-2 XR220, one of two survivors of the most gifted aircraft Britain ever cancelled, sharing floor space with the stainless-steel… |
| Yorkshire Air MuseumYork, North Yorkshire | 1 | £17 | 54 | Halifax 'Friday the 13th' — the world's only complete Halifax reconstruction, honouring the type that flew from this very field —… |
Frequently asked
Did the RAF fly Lockheed aircraft?
Yes. Hudsons were delivered from February 1939, and the RAF later flew Hercules transports. A Hudson made the first kill by an Allied aircraft based in the British Isles, in October 1939.
What is the Skunk Works?
Lockheed’s secret advanced development unit, led by Kelly Johnson. It produced the U-2 and SR-71, both represented in UK museums.
Is Lockheed the same as Lockheed Martin?
Lockheed Martin was formed in 1995 when Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta.