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FROM THE
FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES
OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE
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the Service. Loening also supervised the re-design of a Burgess tractor biplane, incorporating several improvements. With this machine Lt. T. F. Dodd set a new distance and duration record on February 14, 1913 when he flew from San Diego to Los Angeles and Burbank and return in 4 hours, 43 minutes. On March 12th Lt. Byron Jones established a 2-passenger endurance record with this plane at San Diego of 7 hours, 5 minutes.

Loening was also able to get considerable flying on test work with the young officer pilots, as well as some on a Curtiss Flying Boat from Francis "Doc" Wildman. He gave lectures on aeroplane design and construction to the young officers and those dialogues were later published in book form, titled "Military Aeroplanes" which sold well through World War I, and was adopted as official text book by the Army, Navy and Royal Flying Corps.

Loening left the Army in July, 1915 to organize and manage the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company of Boston, Massachusetts. There he designed and developed the first planes in America with all-steel metal structures. Both monoplanes and biplanes were built, using Sturtevant aircraft engines. Some of these planes were sold to the Navy and the company went on to become a factor in World War I.

Loening resigned from Sturtevant in mid-1917 to form his own company, the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation, New York, with factory facilities in Long Island City. He obtained a Navy contract at once to build a special small monoplane, called the Loening KITTEN, powered by a Lawrence 30 H.P. engine.

In March, 1918 he contracted to build a 2-seat fighter military plane for the Air Service. Called the M-8, an externally strut braced monoplane powered by a 300 H.P. Hisso engine, the first plane was completed in late July. On test it had a top speed of 146 M.P.H. and proved to be the best fighter plane developed for World War I. A second plane was built with improvements and both planes were delivered to McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio for official Government tests. Before acceptance trials were completed, however, the Armistice stopped the development. Later the Secretary of War awarded Loening the Distinguished Service Award for the design and construction of this plane.