Loughead F-1
| F-1 | |
|---|---|
_(18350385492).jpg) |
|
| Role | Passenger Flying-boat |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company |
| First flight | 28 March 1918 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Loughead F-1 "Flying-boat One" was an early American ten-passenger biplane flying boat made by the Loughead brothers' new company the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the forerunner to Lockheed.
The F-1 was a biplane flying boat powered by two 160 hp (120 kW) Hall-Scott A-5 liquid-cooled engines with two-bladed tractor propellers fitted between the two wings. The lower wing was attached to a fuselage nacelle and the upper wing mounted on steel interplane struts. The fuselage nacelle had room in an open cockpit for a crew of two side by side plus eight to ten passengers. Twin uncovered booms supported the tail surfaces, with two fins and three rudders. At the end of the lower wings were fitted stabilizing wingtip floats. When the F-1 was later modified into a landplane as the F-1A, the original fuselage and hull were replaced, and a tricycle landing gear fitted.
Formerly with the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company in 1916, the Loughead brothers (Allan and Malcolm) started the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California to build the F-1 flying boat for their aerial sightseeing business. Preliminary design work had been started by Alan Loughead in early 1916, and they began its construction in a rented garage, which soon attracted the attention of 20-year-old John K. "Jack" Northrop. Northrop was skilled in drafting and mathematics, and the Lougheads quickly put him to work helping to design the F-1.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Allan Loughead went to Washington to try to get a Navy contract to build the F-1 in quantity. The Navy informed Lockheed that it would purchase only previously approved designs. Later, Loughead said of this visit, "Down there I lost all the patriotism I ever had." However, he did return with a contract to build two Curtiss flying boats and an agreement for the Navy to test the F-1.
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