From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1920s British flying boat
The
Supermarine Sea Eagle
was a
British
, passenger?carrying,
amphibious
flying boat
. It was designed and built by the
Supermarine Aviation Works
for its subsidiary, the
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd
, to be used on their cross-channel route between
Southampton
, the
Channel Islands
and
France
.
Service
[
edit
]
Three civilian aircraft were constructed, G-EBFK, G-EBGR and G-EBGS and the regular service between Southampton and
Guernsey
began on 25 September 1923 (the planned service to France was never implemented). This was Britain's first scheduled passenger air service by flying boat. However, G-EBFK crashed on 21 May 1924; in January 1927, G-EBGS was lost when it was rammed by a ship in the harbor of
St Peter Port, Guernsey
.
[1]
The third aircraft continued on the route until 1928 when it was replaced by a
Short S.8 Calcutta
.
[2]
The wooden hull of the surviving Sea Eagle, G-EBGR, was retained by
Vickers
until 1949, when they presented it to the
British Overseas Airways Corporation
; BOAC burnt it in 1954 because of a lack of storage space.
[3]
Variants
[
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]
The
Supermarine Sheldrake
used the hull of the Sea Eagle and the wings of the Seagull with a tractor engine installation. A single example was built.
The
Supermarine Scarab
was a military flying-boat, based on the Sea Eagle and Sheldrake but with a pusher engine, specially designed for the Spanish Navy. Twelve were eventually built and delivery to the Spanish Naval Air Service for use in the bomber/reconnaissance role during the
Rif War
. It was fitted with a .303 in (7.7 mm)
Lewis gun
and a bomb load of 1,000 lb 454 kg.
[4]
Operators
[
edit
]
-
Spain
-
United Kingdom
Specifications
[
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]
Data from
Supermarine Aircraft since 1914.
[5]
General characteristics
- Crew:
2 (pilot and mechanic)
- Capacity:
6 passengers
- Length:
37 ft 4 in (11.38 m)
- Wingspan:
46 ft (14 m)
- Width:
21 ft 1 in (6.43 m) folded
- Height:
15 ft 11 in (4.85 m)
- Wing area:
620 sq ft (58 m
2
)
- Empty weight:
3,950 lb (1,792 kg)
- Gross weight:
6,050 lb (2,744 kg)
- Max takeoff weight:
6,500 lb (2,948 kg) (overload)
- Powerplant:
1 ×
Rolls-Royce Eagle IX
V-12 Water-cooled piston engine, 360 hp (270 kW)
- Propellers:
4-bladed fixed-pitch wooden pusher propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed:
93 mph (150 km/h, 81 kn)
- Range:
230 mi (370 km, 200 nmi)
- Time to altitude:
5,000 ft (1,524 m) in 19 minutes
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
London 2003, p. 72.
- ^
London 2003, p. 73.
- ^
London 2003, p. 257.
- ^
"Supermarine Scarab"
.
www.historyofwar.org
. Retrieved
21 August
2021
.
- ^
Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.52.
- Bibliography
- Andrews C.F. and Morgan, E.B.
Supermarine Aircraft since 1914
. London:Putnam, 1987.
ISBN
0-85177-800-3
.
- Jackson, A.J.
British Civil Aircraft 1919?1972:Volume III
. London:Putnam, 1988.
ISBN
0-85177-818-6
.
- London, Peter.
British Flying Boats
. Sutton Publishers Ltd. 2003.
ISBN
0-7509-2695-3
- "The Supermarine 'Sea Eagle'"
,
Flight
, vol. XV, issue 26, pp. 351?352, 28 June 1923.
External links
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]
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