science

Lockheed Big Dipper

Lockheed Big Dipper is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lockheed Big Dipper rather than just read about it. In short: The Lockheed Model 34 Big Dipper was an American two-seat monoplane, designed and built by Lockheed at Burbank for research into the company's potential entry into the civil lightplane and military light utility aircraft market. Only one was built, and following its loss in an accident the program was abandoned.

Key takeaways

Lockheed Big Dipper belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lockheed Big Dipper to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lockheed Big Dipper from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lockheed Model 34 Big Dipper was an American two-seat monoplane, designed and built by Lockheed at Burbank for research into the company's potential entry into the civil lightplane and military light utility aircraft market. Only one was built, and following its loss in an accident the program was abandoned.

Design and development Developed by John Thorp and based on his work on Lockheed's Little Dipper lightplane project, the Lockheed Model 34, named "Big Dipper", was intended as a prototype for a lightplane to sell on the postwar market - Lockheed hoping to sell the aircraft at a price of $1500 - and as a potential 'flying jeep' for the United States Army. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear and a conventional empennage; the cabin was enclosed, seating two in side-by-side positions. Unusually the Continental C100 piston engine was fitted in the center fuselage behind the cabin, driving a two-bladed pusher propeller mounted at the rear of the aircraft.

Operational history The Model 34 was built at Burbank from July 1945. To keep the project secret the aircraft was moved to Palmdale by road when completed, flight testing being conducted at Muroc Dry Lake. It first flew on 10 December 1945, and after 40 hours of flight testing was returned to Burbank for modifications, intended to correct a wing-root stall issue that had been identified. It was decided not to complete the modification, and the aircraft was to be flown back to Palmdale on 6 February 1946. To try to keep the Big Dipper secret, it was decided to use a shorter upward sloping runway nearer the factory; in the steep climb needed during takeoff from the shorter runway, the aircraft stalled and crashed. With the loss of the prototype, and the fact the expected rush of buyers for new lightplanes was failing to materialize amidst a glut of war-surplus aircraft, the project, and a proposed high-wing four-seat "Super Dipper" derivative, was abandoned;

Specifications

Data from Francillon 1982General characteristics Crew: Two (pilot and passenger) Length: 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m) Wingspan: 31 ft 0 in (9.45 m) Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) Empty weight: 935 lb (424 kg) Gross weight: 1,450 lb (658 kg) Powerplant: 1 × Continental C100-12 piston engine four-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed piston engine, 100 hp (75 kW) Performance

Maximum speed: 136 mph (219 km/h, 118 kn) Cruise speed: 119 mph (192 km/h, 103 kn) Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m) Rate of climb: 840 ft/min (4.3 m/s)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lockheed Big Dipper

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lockheed Big Dipper claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lockheed Big Dipper before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lockheed Big Dipper ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lockheed Big Dipper

In research: Lockheed Big Dipper appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lockheed Big Dipper in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lockheed Big Dipper is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940s United States civil utility aircraft, Aircraft first flown in 1945, Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lockheed Big Dipper outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Lockheed Big Dipper in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lockheed Big Dipper means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lockheed Big Dipper out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lockheed Big Dipper in simple terms?

Why does Lockheed Big Dipper matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lockheed Big Dipper?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lockheed Big Dipper.