The last of its type: Lars Gleitsmann’s Lockheed 60

By ROB STAPLETON Jr.

Lars Gleitsmann is used to being misunderstood, whether it’s by other aircraft owners, pilots, or air traffic controllers.

That’s because he owns what may be the only flying “stock” version of a rare Lockheed general aviation aircraft, the Lockheed AL-60.

“It’s strange when you are asked what airplane you have and upon your response you get lectured with ‘that can’t be! Lockheed never manufactured any general aviation airplanes,’” Gleitsmann says. “The type is so rare and so unknown that hardly anybody knows anything about it.”

Named the Lockheed 60, the plane was designed by Art and Al Mooney at Lockheed Corporation as a six-seat light civil utility and touring aircraft. After World War II, Lockheed produced only two prototypes of the general aviation aircraft at a plant in Marietta, Georgia, while most others were manufactured outside of the United States.

The plane was produced in Mexico by Lockheed-Azcarate as a LASA-60 and in Italy by Aermacchi as the AL-60. At least 11 Aermacchi AL-60s Trojans saw service in the No.4 Squadron of the Rhodesian Air Force in 1967. Gleitsmann’s airplane was the next one to come off the line in Italy.

Born in Germany, Gleitsmann now lives in Anchorage, Alaska. Owner of Better Aircraft Fabric, which imports the Oratex aircraft fabric covering system from Germany, he admits he has a taste for aircraft that are just a little bit different than the Cessnas and Pipers that ply the sky, for instance, the Republic Seabee, Dornier 27, and the Lockheed Aermacchi AL-60. 

At 6’5”, Gleitsmann found the Lockheed aircraft fit him well, had plenty of space for his family, and was the plane of his dreams. But getting one wasn’t easy.

However, he ended getting two.

“It so happens I saved two of these AL60-B2s from certain destruction in an anti-aviation situation in Germany,” he says.

“In 2006 I happened on to a totally derelict engine-less Lockheed AL60-B2 while searching for Dornier parts,” he recalls. “The owner had died, and the widow wanted it gone quickly, so I bought it even quicker.”

“That one, AL60-B2 D-EAGL needs full restoration and my intent is to finish restoring it as a Rhodesian Air Force Trojan someday,” he says.

The Misfortune of One, the Luck of Another

“Due to the purchase of the first Lockheed AL60-B2, I became friends with another Lockheed owner and visited him and his plane at Manching Airport in Ingolstadt, Germany,” he continues. “He was fighting an uphill battle with the German authorities. Many of the German laws were bent against him to keep him from flying the airplane and maintaining it. As the political and bureaucratic situation in Germany continued to deteriorate, he eventually sold it to us.”

While they reached a purchase agreement in May 2016, it wasn’t until August of that year that he could mount a rescue expedition for the second AL60.

One of Gleitsmann’s Alaskan friends, a pilot and extremely experienced A&P mechanic and airworthiness inspector, volunteered to come along on “the adventure,” according to Gleitsmann.

There was some hope, at first, that the plane could be made airworthy and flown across the pond to the United States.

But the pre-buy inspection found the aircraft in poor condition and a decision had to be made to either fly it over the Atlantic or ship it. If the decision was to ship it they would have two weeks to get the German annual done, test fly the plane, finish the purchase details, get an export Certificate of Air Worthiness, then disassemble it and put it in a shipping container and get it to the port in time.

The plane had not flown since 2011 and had not been stored in a hangar. “That had caused a lot of deterioration, so it became all too obvious that a ferry trip to the USA was out of the question,” he says.

That led him to order a shipping container, which was delivered to the German airport, then shipped to Galt Airport (10C), a private airport in Wonder Lake, Illinois, in September 2016.

Back in the USA

The decision to ship the airplane to Galt and reassemble it there was for a simple reason: It was a lot cheaper to fly the plane home to Anchorage from there, instead of shipping the container all the way to Alaska.

But why Galt Airport? 

Lars chose it because it was recommended by friends and some of his customers. It also received notoriety in the novel by Laurence Gonzales, “One Zero Charlie, Adventures in Grass Roots Aviation.”

“The 10C Galt Airport is really the friendliest airport around,” Gleitsmann says. 

“A friend of mine offered free hangar space at Galt in his 50 by 50 hangar and the local maintenance company JB Aviation had enough experience and a great reputation to help deal with any emergency that might come about — and I would need it, big time,” he remembers.

During the four weeks re-assembling the aircraft at Galt, the aircraft needed inspecting in detail, cleaning, overhauling, and the re-painting of parts. Taking his time, Gleitsmann and his friends were able to complete the aircraft for its flight to its Alaskan home at Birchwood Airport.

The trip north on the edge of winter weather also had its challenges. The flight legs across the U.S. and Canada encountered many weather delays. By the time the flight was over the border the Lockheed was encountering snow in the air and on the runways in Canada, nothing new to Gleitsmann, who flies year round. But the trip was far from being snafu free.

Once the plane almost blew away in a storm where the Lockheed was cargo-strapped to tie-downs, while Gleitsmann was building wooden gust locks in a customer’s garage nearby.

And the airplane had its own issues — including intermittent issues with fuel tank gauges, the oil temperature gauge, voltage regulator, generator, radios, intercom, wheel-brakes, fuel leaks, fuselage cabin water leaks, and cold air leaks — that made getting it to Alaska not a normal cross-country flight. 

But Gleitsmann remembers more of the good aspects of the flight. The flight home created a lot of good memories, based on the people he met.

“One time in the middle of Canadian nowhere — lots of nature everywhere — the turbo-boost dropped quickly and I diverted to the nearest airport. The exhaust had cracked and I was glad to make a runway,” recalls Gleitsmann. “Again, friendly locals saved the day — their workmanship was excellent.”

Now that he’s home, Gleitsmann enjoys flying around south central Alaska in the AL60-B2 with his wife and daughter.

The Lockheed AL-60 is often mistaken for other types of high-wing aircraft, especially in the days before Lars registered it in the United States.

“It was often the case when I radioed in to a tower or center as D-EOZW that they expected a German airliner or at least a business jet given the German D call sign and a rare type,” he recounts. “Once I was asked if I wanted to declare an emergency based on speed and altitude and I responded: ‘No! I cannot go any faster!’ One controller reported that they could not see me, and thought I was over a nearby military base instead. Then they said there was a ‘strange Cessna’ in the pattern that did not respond. My stern response was ‘I AM THAT STRANGE Cessna!’”

Last of Its Type

Gleitsmann believes his AL60-B2, re-registered in the U.S. as N60ZW, is the last example of its type that still flies in its original configuration. There are four in museums around the world.

“I know some people who own wrecks or other restoration projects of this type,” he says. “The total number of still existing airframes is maybe only 13 in various stages of decay. That number includes a bad wreck in Iceland and two total wrecks in Italy. Almost all these AL-60 ‘survivors’ of the type are early models with no pilot doors and two back doors and a rubber puck system instead of a nose-gear oleo.” 

The two American prototypes that were built in Marietta, Georgia, are still around, but both are in bad shape. They will never fly again, according to Gleitsmann.

Most of the 13 remaining were the ones built in Mexico. The Italian manufactured Lockheeds were much improved and refined aircraft compared to the earlier models, according to Gleitsmann.

Gleitsmann is looking for others with experience with the Lockheed 60 aircraft.

“It would be great if I could talk to some who flew and maintained the Lockheed 60s,” he says. “Or meet folks who built them. That would be very much appreciated.”