The Loening S-1 Flying Yacht, also called the Loening Model 23, was an early light

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

flying boat designed in the United States by Grover Loening in the early 1920s.Taylor 1989, 609 The aircraft won the 1921 Collier Trophy.

Design and development

The S-1 Flying Yacht was a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with the engine mounted pusher-fashion in a

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

atop the wing. The cabin was semi-enclosed, featuring side windows but no roof, and was located immediately ahead of the wing. Twin tails were fitted, carrying a common stabiliser in a high position. The construction was unusual, in that rather than the flying boat hull being integral with the fuselage, the Model 23's hull was a large, separate pontoon mounted directly underneath a fuselage that was a separate structure."The Loening Model 23 Flying Boat" This was intended to combine the safety of a floatplane design with the low parasitic drag of a conventional flying boat

Grover Loening Grover Cleveland Loening (September 12, 1888 – February 29, 1976) was an American aircraft manufacturer. Biography Loening was born in Bremen, in what was then Imperial Germany, on September 12, 1888, while his American-born father was statione ...

was awarded the 1921 Aero Club of America Trophy for the design.Collier 1920-1929 winners The fuel tank was located under the rear passenger seat. The prototype was tested with a new roll-control mechanism to replace ailerons using a small

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

that extended and retracted outboard of the

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

Operational history

The S-1 was the second seaplane in monoplane configuration ever to go into production.Johnson 2009 It was one of the fastest seaplanes in production in 1921. The S-1 set a world seaplane record of in 1921 winning the Collier trophy for the year. An S-1 set a world record for altitude with four passengers flying to a height of over Long Island, New York in August 1921. Three of the Air Yachts were purchased by the

New York-Newport Air Service New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

,Taylor 1989, 610"Newport-New York Air Service Ready and nine by the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

which operated them under the designation S-1. On a test-flight on 16 August 1921, an Air Yacht piloted by David McCulloch reached an altitude of 19,500 ft (5,900 m) carrying three passengers (Grover Loening,

Leroy Grumman Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman (4 January 1895 – 4 October 1982) was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist. In 1929, he co-founded Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co., later renamed Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and now ...

, and Ladislas d'Orcy) in what was believed to be a record at the time. On 7 November 1924, Victor E. Bertrandias set a world airspeed record for a seaplane over a 1000-km course, with a speed of 103 mph (164 km/h) in an Army S-1.FAI Record File

Variants

;S-1 :Nine delivered to the United States Army ;Model 23 :Three delivered to

and flown until 1923. ;Type 23 :One custom Type 23 was ordered by

Vincent Astor William Vincent Astor (November 15, 1891 – February 3, 1959) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Astor family. Early life Called Vincent, he was born in New York City on November 15, 1891. Astor was the el ...

, and a second Curtiss powered variant was also ordered. ;Custom 300 hp :Wright Aeronautical ordered a Wright powered variant for a corporate aircraft named "Wilbur Wright".Nicolaou 1998

Operators

; *New York-Newport Air Service *

(Nine with the military designation S-1)

Specifications (S-1)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * * * Johnson, E.R. ''American Flying Boats and Amphibious Aircraft: An Illustrated History.'' Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2009. . * Nicolaou, Stéphane. ''Flying Boats & Seaplanes: A History from 1905.'' St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI, 1998. . * Stoff, Joshua. ''Long Island Aircraft Manufacturers'' (Images of Aviation). Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2010. .

External links

S-1 in flight
{{lone designation, system= USAAS seaplane designations, designation=S-1 1920s United States airliners Flying boats 23 High-wing aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1921