In the flying business a successful forced landing is one you can walk away from. In 1932 big Detroit Aircraft Corp. made a landing that was distinctly not successful. No investor aboard walked away with his pocketbook intact. One of Detroit Aircraft's subsidiaries was Lockheed Aircraft, absorbed in 1929. Although its sleek Vegas and Orions were the fastest commercial jobs in the air, Lockheed had to go into receivership. Grass grew around its two-acre plant at Burbank, Calif., and the factory had only one employe—a watchman who had started working for Brothers Alan...
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