Supermarine Seamew
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| Supermarine Seamew | |
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| Type | Amphibian |
| Manufacturer | Supermarine |
| Maiden flight | 9 January 1928 |
| Primary user | RAF |
| Number built | 2 |
The Supermarine Seamew was a British twin engined amphibian, built by the Supermarine company, intended as a small, shipborne aircraft.
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[edit] Design and development
The Seamew featured a wooden hull and two bay biplane wings with mainplanes utilizing a metal composite construction with fabric covering and braced tail unit with twin fins and rudders. Amphibian equipment included a retractable main undercarriage with fixed tailskid. The crew of three had a single pilot in the nose cockpit, a forward gunner behind the pilot but forward of the lower wing and rear gunner aft of the lower wing. The Seamew prototype N212 made its maiden flight on 9 January 1928[1].
[edit] Operational history
Only two Seamew examples were built as the later Supermarine Walrus was considered more viable. The fictional "Biggles" character in the W.E. Johns' adventure series flew a Supermarine Seamew.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications (Seamew)
Data from Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 3 (pilot and two gunners)
- Length: 36 ft 5⅜ in (11.12 m)
- Wingspan: 45 ft 11½ in (14.00 m)
- Height: 15 ft 1 in (4.60 m)
- Wing area: 610 ft² (56.7 m²)
- Airfoil: Goettingen 387
- Empty weight: 4,675 lb (2,120 kg)
- Loaded weight: 5,800 lb (2,631 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV 7-cylinder radial, 238 hp (178 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 153 km/h (83 knots, 95 mph) at 2,000 ft
- Rate of climb: 523 ft/min (2.7 m/s)
- Endurance: 3½ hours[citation needed]
Armament
[edit] References
- ^ a b Andrews, C.N. and Morgan, E.B. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914, Second edition. London: Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-800-3.
[edit] External links
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