It primarily used all the elements of the Altair, but included a forward top cockpit similar to the Vega, plus the NACA cowling introduced in the Air Express.

On 11 July 1935, Laura H. Ingalls flew a Lockheed Orion, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine, from Floyd Bennett Field to Burbank, California, establishing an East-West record for women.

Many safe miles were flown in airline service and the headlines won by a few expert speed pilots proved the advanced design and reliability of the Orion.

In 1934, the Civil Aeronautics Authority issued a ruling prohibiting further use of single-engined passenger aircraft from operating on all major networks.

Because the aircraft had a complicated wood construction and needed to be sent back to Lockheed in Burbank California to be repaired, they were often disposed of after any type of significant accident.

It was used by Wiley Post and Will Rogers for a round-the-world flight attempt, but both men died when the aircraft crashed in Alaska on 15 August 1935.

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.

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 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.