[3] There, he and his brother Malcolm spent their spare time building a three-place seaplane to operate from San Francisco Bay.

1 in 1913, and Allan Loughead made a successful flight in it from the waters of the Golden Gate entrance to San Francisco Bay.

[4] Allan Lockheed recalled in 1942 that the Model G was built mostly with hand tools and called the aircraft "one of the first successful three place tractor seaplanes in the United States.

[3] Consequently, in the hopes of striking it rich, the Loughead brothers spent two unsuccessful years prospecting in California's gold country.

[3] With the financial aid of Paul Meyer, Allan and Malcolm Loughead bought the Model G back in 1915 and opened a flying concession at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

[3] Henry Ford was one person who turned down a ride, saying, "I would not take even a straightaway flight four feet above the bay in anybody's aeroplane for all the money in California.

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[3] 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 Meyerhoffer, co-pilot Aaron R. Ferneau, and mechanic Leo G. Flint.

[5] Albert and Elisabeth were so impressed with their flight out to Santa Cruz Island that they presented Allan and Malcolm with the Belgian Order of the Golden Crown.

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.