Loening
Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation was founded 1917 by Grover Loening and produced early aircraft and amphibious aircraft. After it merged with Keystone Aircraft Corporation in 1928, some of its engineers left to form Grumman and Grover Loening went on to form a new enterprise, Grover Loening Aircraft Company.
History
In 1917, Grover Loening incorporated the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Company in New York City. The company was originally located in Long Island City, Queens. It later moved into a loft on the fifth floor at 351 West 52nd Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. In 1921, the firm leased a vacant lot at 420-428 East 31st Street in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, located on the block between First Avenue and the East River, and built a new factory on the site. The new plant on East 31st Street opened in 1922. The company built a floating ramp for amphibians alongside the pier at the end of 31st Street—which it leased from the city—that enabled aircraft to taxi in and out of the water. Before this, aircraft from the factory were brought out to the pier and had to be hoisted into the East River using a crane.
In 1928, Loening merged with Keystone Aircraft Corporation and functioned independently as the Loening Aeronautical Division. The following year, the unit became the Keystone-Loening Division of Curtiss-Wright. With the planned closure of Loening's factory in New York City and a move of its operations to Keystone's plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania, several of Leoning's employees—including Leroy Grumman, Jake Swirbul and William Schwendler—decided to remain in New York and formed their own company on Long Island, the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. In 1929, Grover Loening went on to establish a new firm on Long Island, the Grover Loening Aircraft Company in Garden City, which operated until 1936.