The Loening M-2 Kitten was a light aircraft produced in the United States at the end of the 1920s, for use aboard capital ships and submarines of the United States Navy (USN).

M-2 Kitten
Loening M-2 Kitten in 1918
Role Ultralight
National origin United States
Manufacturer Loening
First flight 1918
Primary user United States Navy
Number built 3 (plus 1 x Loening M-3)

Design

edit

The M-2 was a small monoplane designed for operation from battleships or submarines, with either floats or wheels for operations. Three aircraft were built with USN serials A442-A444;[1] the first used an ABC Gnat, but the others were powered by a Lawrance L-3 radial engine.

Loening developed a dedicated floatplane version of the M-2, the Loening M-3, of which one airframe (Navy serial A5469) was built for the Navy.[2]

Specifications (M-2 landplane)

edit

Data from Aerofiles : Loening[2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: Landplane: 224 lb (102 kg)
Floatplane: 240 lb (110 kg)
  • Length: 13 ft 11 in (4.24 m)
Floatplane: 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
  • Wingspan: 22 ft (6.7 m)
Floatplane: 25 ft 2 in (7.67 m)
  • Gross weight: 240 lb (109 kg)
  • Powerplant: × Lawrance L-3 3-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 55 hp (41 kW) (#2 and #3)
(#1) 32 hp (24 kW) ABC Gnat 2-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)

References

edit
  1. ^ Baugher, Joe. "US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNs, First Series - A51 to A6001". www.joebaugher.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b Eckland, K.O. (11 March 2008). "Loening". aerofiles.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.