A typical Heinkel (Brandenburg) twin-float seaplane, variously powered
Amphibian
Svardala Bullet
Before September 1964, Svardala built the prototype Svardala Bullet, 2-seater, side-by-side, flying-boat. The (plywood) hull, landing gear, (fabric-covered) wings, (fabric-covered) empennage and tip floats were similar to contemporary Volmer Sportsman and Anderson Kingfisher. The greatest difference was in in the aft cabin, which vaguely resembled a Republic Seabee. The most striking difference was the short pylon supporting the engine (Continental or Lycoming) and propeller. Because the crankshaft was only a short distance above the (flat) aft fuselage, Svardala installed a 2-bladed, wooden propeller with broad, curved blades.
The Svardala Bullet was sold during the early 1970s and moved to Sherbrooke, Quebec. The new owner complained about poor climb performance. He installed a blown Plexiglas windshield, taller engine pylon and larger diameter propeller.
Apparently, several registrations (most non-official) were tied to the Bullet, including CF-PUY, CF-SYF, CF-PUH, CF-PHU, the latter possibly being the X-1).
Supermarine Air Yacht
The Supermarine Air Yacht was a three Jaguar engines, all metal luxury passenger carrying flying boat designed and built in 1930 for the Hon. Arthur Guinness for pleasure flights around the Mediterranean. It carried a crew of four and six passengers, and was to replace his Supermarine Solent, but was rejected by Guinness.
The Air Yacht was first flown in February 1930. The only one built, G-AASE, was then sold to Mrs J.J.James who named it ‘Windward III’.
The aircraft crashed on 25 January 1933 near Positano in the Gulf of Salerno with no casualties, The wreckage was taken to Giuseppe & Paolo Vigliar shipyard, Salerno. and was later scrapped.
Supermarine 381 Seagull
The first prototype flew on July 14, 1948. Did not enter production. Two built.
381 Seagull
Engine: 1 x Rolls-Royce Griffon 29, 1360kW
Max take-off weight: 6420 kg / 14154 lb
Crew: 3
Passengers: 6
Supermarine S.6
The Air Ministry felt that it could no longer stand by and see foreign aircraft winning the Schneider Trophy contest, so it ordered a number of racing seaplanes and formed a special RAF High Speed Flight to enter them in the 1927 contest at Venice.
One of the types ordered was the Supermarine S.5, that won the race at a speed of 281.65 mph. Two years later (the contest became biannual from 1927) the success was repeated by a slightly larger machine on the same lines, the S.6, with a 1,900 h.p. Rolls¬Royce R engine.
In 1929, the world absolute speed record went up to 358 mph when a British Supermarine S-6 seaplane made an official run.
The Air Ministry financed the Schneider racers until 1929, when they decided the cost was too high to continue. Two years later, at the last minute, Lady Houston provided the cash which enabled Britain to win a the third consecutive victory. Pilots of the winning machines in 1927, 1929, and 1931 were members of the specially formed RAF High Speed Flight.
In 1931 Britain gained the Trophy outright when the S.6B with its Rolls¬Royce engine boosted to give 2.300 h.p. won the third consecutive contest at 340.6 mph over the 189 mile course. The S.6 and S.6B also set up new world speed records of 357.74 and 406.99 mph (29 September 1931) respectively. They were forerunners of Mitchell’s Spitfire.
S.6B
Engine: 1900 hp Rolls-Royce ‘R’
Span 30 ft
Length 28 ft. 10 in
Height 12 ft. 3 in
Wing area 145 sq.ft
Weight empty 4,560 lb
Loaded weight 6,066 lb
Supermarine S.5
The Air Ministry felt that it could no longer stand by and see foreign aircraft winning the Schneider Trophy contest, so it ordered a number of racing seaplanes and formed a special RAF High Speed Flight to enter them in the 1927 contest at Venice.
One of the types ordered was the Supermarine S.5, a development of the S.4 with all metal air¬frame and an 875 hp Napier Lion engine. On June 7, 1927 the Supermarine S.5 racing seaplane took to the skies for its maiden flight.
Only three examples of the S.5 were constructed, but they quickly made their mark. At the 1927 Schneider Trophy contest at Venice, two S.5s dominated the field—finishing first (at a speed of 281.65 mph) and second, respectively. Purpose-built for speed and agility, the S.5 featured compact dimensions: a wingspan of 26 feet 9 inches, a length of 24 feet 3.5 inches, and a height of just 11 feet 1 inch. The airframe’s empty weight was 2,680 pounds, with a maximum gross weight of 3,242 pounds.
Powering the S.5 was a Napier Lion VIIA W-12 liquid-cooled engine, producing 900 horsepower. The aircraft achieved a top speed of 319.57 mph. Though none of the original S.5s survive.
The Schneider Trophy never experienced any casualties during competition, but several pilots were killed training for the races. Sam Kinkhead in 1928 and Jerry Brinton in 1931 in a Supermarine S.5, from Great-Britain.
Replics:
Leisure Sports S.5
Supermarine S.4
R. J. Mitchell produced in 1925 a cantilever monoplane seaplane, the S.4, which broke the international speed record for seaplanes at 226.6 mph, but developed wing flutter and crashed before it could com¬pete in the Schneider Trophy contest that year. The S.4 was of wooden construction.
Engine: Lion W12
Supermarine Walrus / Seagull V
The Supermarine Walrus amphibian designed by Reginald Mitchell was a private venture development of the 1922 Seagull I, and first flew as the Seagull V on 21 June 1933.
An order for twenty-four followed from the Royal Australian Air Force, as the Seagull V, who required a reconnaissance amphibian that could be catapulted, with full operational load, from warships.
The Australian government prompted evaluation by the Royal Navy’s No. 702 Catapult Flight, which in turn led to an initial contract for 12 Walrus Mk I aircraft being placed by the Air Ministry in 1935.
Following further trials, during which a Walrus was catapulted fully loaded from HMS Nelson, production orders for 204 aircraft with the 474kW Pegasus II M2 radial were placed, and the flying-boat entered Fleet Air Arm service in 1936.
All the metal hulled Walrus Mk I aircraft were manufactured by the parent company Supermarine. However, with Spitfire fighter production building up, responsibility for construction was transferred to Saunders Roe Ltd.(Saro). Most ASR Walruses were the wooden hulled MkII built by Saro which provided a marked improvement in take off and landing on water. When production ended in January 1944 Saro had built 461 of the total of 746.
It was the first British squadron service aircraft to have a fully retractable main undercarriage and a completely glazed cockpit.
Early in World War II Walrus amphibians were serving aboard battleships and cruisers of the Royal Navy all over the world as components of No. 700 Squadron, as well as with Nos 701, 711, 712 and 714 Squadrons, their principal duties being over-the-horizon search for enemy shipping; they were also employed for gunnery spotting, antisubmarine and convoy protection duties. A Walrus was even catapulted from the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire to bomb a target in Italian Somaliland on 18 November 1940.
The work for which the Walrus (affectionately known as the Shagbat) will be best remembered was air/sea rescue, serving in this role with Nos 269, 275, 276, 277, 278, 281 and 282 Squadrons at stations in the United Kingdom, and with Nos 283, 284, 292 and 294 Squadrons in the Middle East. Called out in any weather, day or night, Walrus air/sea rescue aircraft frequently alighted in enemy coastal waters to pick up ditched Allied airmen from their dinghies, sometimes putting down in minefields where rescue launches could not venture. The Walrus rescued more than 7500 Allied airmen.
The Walrus was slowly replaced in service from 1944 onwards by the tractor Mercury-powered Sea Otter, although No. 624 Squadron was re-formed at Grottaglie in Italy in December that year with Walrus aircraft for minespotting duties. A total of 740 Walrus aircraft was built, production of the Walrus Mk I with metal-clad hull being terminated at Supermarine after 287 had been completed; thereafter production was switched to Saunders-Roe who built 453 Walrus Mk II aircraft with wooden hulls before finally ending in January 1944.
The Walrus was used mainly by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Walrus Mk I
Engine: 1 x Bristol Pegasus VI, 559kW, 775 hp
Max take-off weight: 3266 kg / 7200 lb
Empty weight: 2223 kg / 4901 lb
Wingspan: 13.97 m / 46 ft 10 in
Length: 11.35 m / 37 ft 3 in
Height: 4.65 m / 15 ft 3 in
Wing area: 56.67 sq.m / 609.99 sq ft
Max. speed: 217 km/h / 135 mph
Ceiling: 5210 m / 17100 ft
Range: 966 km / 600 miles
Armament: 2-3 Vickers K 7.7mm machine-guns
Bombload: 272kg
Crew: 3-4
Walrus Mk I
Engine: Bristol Pegasus II M2, 764 hp
Length: 37.5 ft / 11.43 m
Height: 15.256 ft / 4.65 m
Wingspan: 45.833 ft / 13.97 m
Wing area: 609.996 sq.ft / 56.67 sq.m
Max take off weight: 7166.3 lb / 3250.0 kg
Weight empty: 4873.1 lb / 2210.0 kg
Max. speed: 117 kts / 217 km/h
Cruising speed: 82 kts / 152 km/h
Service ceiling: 18537 ft / 5650 m
Wing loading: 11.69 lb/sq.ft / 57.0 kg/sq.m
Range: 521 nm / 965 km
Crew: 4
Armament: 2 MG Vickers
Supermarine Stranraer
Designed to the same specification, R. 24/31, as the Saro London, the Supermarine Stranraer twin-engine biplane flying-boat prototype, originally known as the Singapore V, was powered by Bristol Pegasus HIM radials driving two-blade wooden propellers and first flew in mid-1935, but was immediately renamed Stranraer.
A production contract was placed in August 1935 for seventeen aircraft. It also underwent comparative trials with the London on No. 210 Squadron in October and November 1935, during which it was found to be somewhat underpowered.
Production deliveries of aircraft powered by a pair of Pegasus X radials driving a three-blade Fairey Reed metal propeller started December 1936, and the type was declared operational in April 1937 with No. 228 Squadron at Pembroke Dock, remaining with this squadron until April 1939.
In December 1938 Stranraers joined No. 209 Squadron at Felixstowe, and later moving to Invergordon and Oban for patrols over the North Sea until supplanted by the Lerwick the following year.
No, 240 Squadron was the only other RAF Coastal Command squadron to fly the Stranraer, converting to the aircraft in June 1940 at Pembroke Dock for short-range patrol work over the Western Approaches. The Stranraers were eventually replaced by Catalina ‘boats in March 1941, continuing to serve in a training capacity until October 1942.
Although RAF Stranraers did not serve at overseas stations, a total of 40 aircraft was licence-built by Canadian-Vickers between 1939 and 1941, and served in the coastal reconnaissance/anti-submarine role with the RCAF until finally replaced by the Consolidated Canso (Catalina) from 1943.
Eight were in service with the Canadians at the outbreak of war. Hese aircraft were used for patrol duties both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They were finally retired from service in February 1945.
After retirement from service use, several Stranraers were registered for civil use. Queen Charlotte Airlines continued to use Stranraers into the 1950s, operating from Vancouver and providing a service along the pacific coast of British Columbia.
Engine: 2 x Bristol Pegasus X, 652kW
Max take-off weight: 8600 kg / 18960 lb
Empty weight: 5100 kg / 11244 lb
Wingspan: 25.91 m / 85 ft 0 in
Length: 16.71 m / 55 ft 10 in
Height: 6.63 m / 22 ft 9 in
Wing area: 135.36 sq.m / 1457.00 sq ft
Max. speed: 266 km/h / 165 mph
Cruise speed: 169 km/h / 105 mph
Ceiling: 5640 m / 18500 ft
Range: 1600 km / 994 miles
Armament: 3 x 7.7mm machine-guns
Bombload: 450kg
Supermarine Scapa
All-metal reconnaissance flying-boat developed from the Southampton in 1932 and powered by two 391kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIIS radial engines mounted in nacelles applied directly to the undersurface of the upper wing centre-section. Fourteen were built for the RAF, entering service in 1935.
All Aero 