Loening M-8

M-8
	Loening M-8 in 1918
Role	Monoplane fighter
Manufacturer	Loening Aeronautical Engineering
Designer	Grover Loening
First flight	1918
Primary users	United States Navy; United States Army Air Corps
Number built	55
Variants	Loening PW-2

The Loening M-8 was a 1910s American fighter monoplane designed by Grover Loening and built by his Loening Aeronautical Engineering Company. The order for 5000 for the United States Army Air Corps was canceled when the First World War ended.

Development

The first design by Grover Loening after he had formed his company was a two-seat braced-wing monoplane fighter the M-8. It had a fixed tail-skid landing gear and was powered by a nose-mounted Hispano-Suiza engine with a tractor propeller. The pilot and gunner had tandem open cockpits. The first aircraft was flown in 1918 and after testing, the United States Army Air Corps ordered 5,000 aircraft to be built.

Only two aircraft were delivered to the Army and one to the United States Navy, with the designation M-8-0. At the end of the war the order was canceled. The Navy ordered 46 aircraft in two variants for use as observation aircraft. The Navy also ordered six M-8-S twin-float seaplane versions. A single-seat version was developed for the Army as the Loening PW-2.

Variants

M-8: Production variant for the United States Army Air Corps, two prototypes, 5000 cancelled.
M-8-0: One M-8 for evaluation by the United States Navy (A5631) and ten production aircraft (A5637-A5646).
M-8-1: Second production variant for the United States Navy, 36 built by the Naval Aircraft Factory (A5701-A5710; A5761-A5786).
M-8-1S: Seaplane variant for the United States Navy, six built (A5788-A5793).
LS: (LS - Loening Seaplane) Three seaplane variants ordered to test the Richardson pontoon split central float. One aircraft built, (A5606), and two cancelled.^[1]

Operators

United States

Specifications (M-8-0)

Data from United States Navy aircraft since 1911^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 9 in (9.98 m)
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Wing area: 229 sq ft (21.3 m²)
Empty weight: 1,623 lb (736 kg)
Gross weight: 2,058 lb (933 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright-Hisso H-3 V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 300 hp (220 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 145 mph (233 km/h, 126 kn)
Endurance: 5 hours 30 minutes
Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
Time to altitude: 13,900 ft (4,200 m) in 10 minutes

Armament

2x 0.3 in (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns on a Scarff ring in the rear cockpit

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b Bowers, Peter M.; Swanborough, Gordon (1990). United States Navy aircraft since 1911. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. pp. 315-317. ISBN 0870217925.

Bibliography

Swanborough, Gordon; Bowers, Peter M. (1976). United States Military Aircraft since 1911. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10054-9.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. p. 2376.

[usns1911-1] Bowers, Peter M.; Swanborough, Gordon (1990). United States Navy aircraft since 1911. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. pp. 315-317. ISBN 0870217925.

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