Looking for ID of 1918 Seaplane

[Dynoman]

Unknown seaplane. Has unique twin horizontal stabilizers and tractor engine configuration. Part of the Douglas Manning collection. Manning was a WWI aviator who was released from the US Navy in 1919 and flew in air races circa 1919. This aircraft has similar lines to Curtiss model seaplanes, but has a tractor and two horizontal stabilizers.

 

[Stargazer]

Unknown seaplane. Has unique twin horizontal stabilizers and tractor engine configuration. Part of the Douglas Manning collection. Manning was a WWI aviator who was released from the US Navy in 1919 and flew in air races circa 1919. This aircraft has similar lines to Curtiss model seaplanes, but has a tractor and two horizontal stabilizers.

Believe it or not, I've been stuck with the exact same photo for a few weeks!!! :

It was mislabeled as an Aeromarine in my files, but does not correspond to any known type by this company.

On top of that, I'm pretty sure I've seen it before elsewhere, but haven't been able to find it yet.

So let's stay tuned... whoever identifies it first can post the result here.

 

[Dynoman]

The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum (located in Hammondsport, NY) archivist have looked at the photo and deemed it unlikely to be a Curtiss product. They said that the aircraft is smaller than an HS-2L, has a similar, but lighter tip float design with a non-typical Curtiss strut set up. The hull is straight, where Curtiss design's have a straight side hull that terminates into sponsons. They think that it may have possibly been influenced by Curtiss, but not one of theirs.

The engine looks like an inline-type engine. The lower wing and lower stabilizer both have pronounced dihedral, the wings are relatively short in span and have little camber in appearance. I'm wondering if this was a design for a fast scout-type aircraft with better downward visibility (i.e. due to the slanted hull walls and the gap between the lower wing and the hull, just speculation). Any thoughts on the design or purpose?

 

[Dynoman]

This is another image of a horizontal biplane stabilizer equipped flying boat. The tail and wing configurations look the same (number of bays, same dihedral for both upper and lower wings) and same wingtip floats (although the number of float support struts looks different). Despite the similarities the engine support struts are different and the hull is different. The photo is from the same individual as the previous photo (which would increase the probability that the two photos are related in some way).

I'm curious if the hull was changed out (which would possibly result in a different engine mount) to test various hull designs using the same wings and horizontal stabilizer.

Any ideas on the manufacturer of this aircraft? Looks like the photo was taken at a launch located on a lake.

 

[curtisscholl]

There is a French early 1912 plane that looks similar,,, biplane, high mount motor, but the tail is not twinned.
THE DONNET-LÉVÊQUE .. where the plane in question may be a later upgraded and remodeled version?

https://www.hydravions-biscarrosse.com/scripts/files/6139e6b58f7b27.60563240/museum-seaplanes.pdf

 

[Aubi]

Not really. All Donnet-Leveque and Donnet-Denhaut types (with the exception of much larger DD 275 ch and DD 400 ch) had upper wing larger than the lower. Even the hull is very diferent, mostly the tail part. Also double tail was never used in any of Donnet's machines.

Donnet-Denhaut / Donnet-Léveque : France (FRA)

www.armedconflicts.com