The Loening SL was an American submarine-based

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

flying boat designed and built by

Loening Aeronautical Engineering Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation was founded 1917 by Grover Loening and Henry M. Crane produced early aircraft and amphibious aircraft beginning in 1917. When it merged with Keystone Aircraft Corporation in 1928, some of its engineers ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Design and development

First flown in 1931 the Loening SL was lightweight flying-boat designed to be folded up and stored on a submarine within an 8-foot space. It was a single-seat,

mid-wing 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 confi ...

monoplane powered by a

Warner Scarab The Warner Scarab is an American seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine, that was manufactured by the Warner Aircraft Corporation of Detroit, Michigan in 1928 through to the early 1940s. In military service the engine was designated R-420. Va ...

radial engine mounted above the wing driving a pusher propeller. Originally designated the XSL-1 by the Navy it was re-designated XSL-2 in 1932 when it was re-engined with a

Menasco B-6 The Menasco Buccaneer was a series of popular six-cylinder, air-cooled, in-line, inverted, aero-engines, that were manufactured by Menasco Motors Company for light general aviation and sport aircraft during the 1930s and 1940s. The six-cylinde ...

engine. Only the prototype was built and it was not ordered into production.

Variants

;XSL-1 :Prototype with a

engine. ;XSL-2 :Prototype re-engined with a

engine.

Specifications (XSL-1)

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{USN scout aircraft SL 1930s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Submarine-borne aircraft Flying boats High-wing aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (XSL-1)

See also

Notes

Bibliography