Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Grover Loening

• Graduated from Columbia University with the first-ever degree in aeronautical science.
• Joined the Wright Company in 1913 and designed the first short-hulled flying boat.
• Became Chief Aeronautical Engineer of the U.S. Army’s Aviation Section in San Diego in 1914.
• Formed the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Company in 1917 and built airplanes during World War I.
• Awarded the Collier Trophy in 1921 his Flying Yacht- a five-seat monoplane boat, with Liberty engine, which established world records and opened up the first significant market for private aircraft.
• Created the Loening Amphibian, with the first practical retractable undercarriage, and was utilized by the U.S. military, as well as airlines and private owners all over the world.
• Served as an aircraft advisor during World War II  promoting the development and manufacturing of cargo planes.
• Merged the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation 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, for the Chase Bank, Fairchild Aircraft, Grumman Aircraft, Curtiss-Wright and many others. During this period he was a pioneer director of Pan American Airways.
• Researched the successful design of the Pan Am rooftop heliport in the heart of New York City as Director and Consulting Engineer of New York Airways.
• Received the Medal for Merit in 1946, the Eggleston Medal of Columbia University in 1949, the Wright Memorial Trophy in 1950, the Air Force Medal in 1955, and the Guggenheim Medal in 1960 for “a lifetime devoted to the development of aeronautics in America.”