This is one of those aircraft for which I'll have to quote from the instruction sheet. "The Loening monoplane was a daring innovation in its day, since the field of military aviation in 1918 was dominated entirely by biplane-minded pilots, engineers and procurement personnel.

In addition to being a monoplane in a biplane world, the M-8 had other advanced features. One was a radiator installment that was in a tunnel beneath the engine instead of surrounding the propeller shaft or being a separate bolt on item outside the fuselage lines. This feature was widely adopted by other high-performance military aircraft in the years to follow." It should also be noted that this aircraft was nearly totally devoid of the usual mass of flying wires so common on aircraft of this age, and that includes later monoplanes.

THE KIT

This is the first of a series of resin kits by the same company that brought you those great 1/72 Curtiss Jennies; Olimp. Called the ProResin line, they have chosen a most unusual aircraft with the Loening M-8. To my knowledge, there was only one built and that accounts for the lack of serial numbers and insignia, other than the roundels on the wheels.

There is quite a bit of detail in this kit, with the engine alone comprising of 18 separate bits of resin. The cockpit and gunner's compartment are well detailed and there is framework on the inside of the fuselage. The aircraft is armed with twin .30 calibre machine guns that appear to be Lewis Guns. Those are not shown on the image of the kit parts as they are in with the etched brass fret. That fret supplies an instrument panel, seat belts, rudder pedals and some of the bits for the gunner's ring.

The instructions are well done with four well drawn construction steps that also provide any color info that is needed. The aircraft is in an overall Linen shade with the forward section in OD and the wing struts in natural wood. Though there isn't the usual rigging, the controls need rigged and that is shown on the painting diagram. Color info is provided for Humbrol, Revell and Testors paints. The tiny decal sheet is well printed.

CONCLUSIONS