Editing Lockheed Model 9 Orion (section)

==Surviving aircraft==
[[File:Lockheed Model 9 Orion NACA image 6993.jpg|thumb|right|The Shellightning in October 1932]]
[[File:Lockheed Orion 9C.JPG|thumb|The only existing Orion, [[Swiss Transport Museum]], Lucerne]]

In all, Lockheed built a total of 35 Orions costing {{currency|25000|USD}} each new (equivalent to {{currency|{{Inflation|US|25000|1931}}|USD}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}). It is not known if any survived past the 1940s except the one that survives to the present day. This lone remaining Orion was originally built as an experimental Altair with a metal fuselage. This Altair (built in 1931) was damaged in a [[belly landing]] accident in Columbus, Ohio, in 1933. It was returned to Lockheed where it was converted in 1934 to an Orion 9C configuration by the original designer of the Orion, Richard A. von Hake, and others who worked for free during a slow period when the Lockheed factory was going into bankruptcy.

It was sold to Shell Aviation Corp., painted yellow-orange and red and named ''"Shellightning."'' It was used by Shell's aviation manager, [[James H. Doolittle]], on cross-county and exhibition flights. Jimmy Doolittle made hundreds of trips in this Lockheed, and the aircraft  was very much in evidence at air shows, airport dedications, and business meetings across the territories of all three Shell companies in the United States.

In 1936, "Shellightning" was again involved in an accident, in St. Louis, and was stored there. Two years later, [[Paul Mantz]] caught the racing bug in addition to his aeronautical movie work. He bought the damaged "Shellightning" and had it rebuilt at [[Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology|Parks Air College]] in St. Louis, Missouri with a more powerful Wright Cyclone engine and some streamlining to add to its speed. It was repainted red with white trim and Mantz flew the plane in the Bendix Races in 1938 and 1939, coming in third both times. In 1943, he sold the plane and it went through a series of owners until Mantz bought it back in 1955. He retained ownership until selling it to TallMantz Aviation, Inc. in 1962.

In 1964, the plane was sitting out in the open on the flightline at [[John Wayne Airport|Orange County Airport, now John Wayne Airport]], in blue-and-white American Airways trim. Some time in the 1960s it was purchased by [[Swissair|Swiss Air]] and rebuilt to flying status by the famous "Fokker" restoration team and is on display at the [[Swiss Transport Museum]] in [[Lucerne]], [[Switzerland]] in the livery of the original Swiss Air Orion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lockheed Model 9 C Orion |url=http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmi/ite/l9.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023192124/http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmi/ite/l9.htm |archive-date=2006-10-23 |access-date=2022-02-15 |website=The Virtual Aviation Museum |language=en}}</ref>