Grover Loening received his bachelors degree from Columbia College in 1908 and a masters degree in aeronautics from Columbia University in 1910 - the first such degree awarded in America. After graduation, Loening joined the Queen Aeroplane Company in New York, building Bleriots for exhibition pilots. Shortly after publishing his master's thesis, "Monoplanes and Biplanes" in 1915, Loening published his second book, "Military Aeroplanes" which was officially used by the U.S. Army, the Royal Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Armed Forces, and others. In the same year, he became vice president of the Sturdevant Aeroplane Company, where he pioneered the first American steel framed airplane. In 1917 he formed the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation to work on a Navy contract for a small plane to be launched from ships and an Army contract for the M-8 two-seat pursuit monoplane, embodying the use of rigid wing strut bracing patented by Loening. After World War II, Loening produced the Flying Yacht, a 5-seat monoplane boat which established world records and opened up the first significant market for seaplane private aircraft. He received the Collier trophy for this in 1921. His next success was the pioneer Loening Amphibian, with the first practical retractable undercarriage, used by the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as by airlines and private owners throughout the world. Among this aircraft's achievements was the Army's famous Pan American good will flight of 1926. The Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation merged with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in 1928, and Loening subsequently formed the Grover Loening Aircraft Company, building several research aircraft and establishing his first consulting engineering practice. He entered public service in 1937 as chief advisor to the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) and in 1942 he became chief consultant to the War Production Board.
Inducted in 1965.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway