Science: Loening Amphibian

On Uncle Sam’s island possessions, planes must be like the Marines— ready to fight on land or water. The Army Air Service has therefore long sought for an efficient amphibious airplane for its coastal stations in Hawaii and the Philippines. This has now been provided by Grover C. Loening, President of the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation of New York City, designer of the Loening flying yacht and organizer of last year’s shortlived air line from New York to Newport. After long development and secret tests, the Army has placed an order for ten of these remarkable all-purpose airplanes.

The fuselage rests solidly on a metal pontoon, and with the landing gear drawn up, the craft is a seaplane. But let the pilot press on a button, and a small electric motor, driven by a storage battery, releases landing wheels at the side of the pontoon, draws them out and downward and in eleven seconds the craft is a land plane. In the first tests the amphibian made 30 landings alternately on land and water without a hitch.

In spite of its dual functions and heavy armament, the boat flies 120 miles per hour, and has all the man-euvrability of the best military airplanes. But next to its amphibious characteristic, the most interesting feature of the plane is the inversion of the motor. This is a 400 horsepower twelve cylinder Liberty, turned upside down so as not to impede the pilot’s vision.