Allan Haines Loughead - Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company

Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company

In 1916, the brothers organized the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara to build a huge 10-place, twin-engined F-1 flying boat for their aerial sightseeing business. 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, D.C. 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.

When the F-1 was completed, Allan Loughead and a crew of three flew it from Santa Barbara to San Diego in April 1918, setting a record of 181 minutes for the 211 mile flight. After the Navy completed its tests, the F-1 was returned to Loughead Aircraft and was then converted into the F-lA land-plane. Lockheed now hoped to interest the Army in it as a long-range bomber or transport plane. However, the war ended before its conversion was completed.

The Lougheads decided to demonstrate the long-range potential of the F-lA by making the first flight from Santa Barbara to Washington, D.C. Their crew included pilot Orvar "Swede" Meyerhoffer, co-pilot Aaron R. Ferneau, and mechanic Leo G. Flint. They took off from Santa Barbara on November 23 and headed over the Coastal Mountains. En route they encountered severe weather, but the weather cleared by the time they crossed the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona. However, near Tacna, Arizona, an engine failed and Meyerhoffer made a rough landing on the desert. Flint worked on the engine while Meyerhoffer and Ferneau caught a train back to Yuma to have the broken tailskid repaired. Then the trio cleared a makeshift runway, took off safely and landed at Gila Bend, Arizona, for fuel. However, on the second takeoff attempt, the engine quit, and the plane crashed nose first into the ground. That ended the F-lA's transcontinental flight.

When Loughead Aircraft completed its two HS-2L flying boats for the Navy in early 1919, it then converted the damaged F-lA landplane back into the F-1 flying boat for its sightseeing flight operations. Among their most notable passengers were King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, who the Lockheeds flew at the request of the U.S. government. Albert and Elisabeth were so impressed with their flight out to Santa Cruz Island that they presented Allan and Malcolm with the Belgium Order of the Golden Crown. In addition, local movie studios gladly paid $50 an hour for flight time in the F-1 and $50 an hour while on standby.

In 1919, Loughead Aircraft entered the small aircraft market with the revolutionary single-seat S-1 Sport Biplane. Intended to be "the poor man's airplane", it featured an innovative molded plywood monocoque fuselage for which the Lougheads, Northrop and Tony Stadlman received a patent. Its foldable wings allowed the plane to be stored in a garage, and the lower wings could be rotated to act as ailerons and airbrakes. Because no suitable engines were available, the company designed and built its own 25-horsepower water-cooled engine for the S-1.

The S-1 was tested successfully at Redwood City, CA in 1919 by Gilbert Budwig and flew well. After the S-1 completed its test flights, the pilot said it was the most flyable plane he had ever flown. The plane went on to make hundreds of flights and proved to be a very successful design.

At an aircraft show in San Francisco, thousands admired the little S-1 aircraft, but not a single person ordered the $2,500 plane. Only then did Allan Loughead realize that the government's sale of war surplus aircraft for as little as $300 had killed the market for new aircraft. As a result, Loughead Aircraft closed its doors in 1920 and its assets were liquidated in 1921.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Loughead formed the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company in 1919 to promote a revolutionary four-wheel hydraulic brake system that he had invented. Tired of his name being mispronounced "Log-head," Malcolm officially changed the spelling to match its pronunciation. Walter Chrysler introduced the Lockheed brake system on the first Chrysler car in 1924. Malcolm sold his business to Bendix in 1932.