Supermarine Sea Otter

Infobox Aircraft
name = Sea Otter
type = Flying boat
manufacturer = Supermarine



caption = Prototype of Sea Otter
designer =
first flight = 23 September 1938
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = RAF
more users = Royal Navy
produced = 1942–1945
number built = 292
unit cost =
developed from= Supermarine Walrus
variants with their own articles =The Supermarine Sea Otter was a British flying boat designed and built by Supermarine. It was a longer range development of the Walrus and was the last biplane flying boat to be designed by Supermarine. It was also the last biplane to enter service with the RAF.

Development

The main difference between the Walrus and the Sea Otter was in the mounting of the power plant. The Walrus had a rear-facing engine with a pusher propeller. The Sea Otter's engine faced forward with the normal tractor propeller.

There was considerable development of the power plant/propeller combination during the design of the Sea Otter, which at its concept was called the "Stingray". The original test aircraft had a Bristol Perseus XI engine with a two-bladed propeller. This gave insufficient thrust so a two-position three blade was tried. This was changed again to a four-blade with the pairs of blades set at an angle of 35°, instead of the usual 90°.The first flight took place on 23 September 1938, but it was not until January 1942 that the Air Ministry placed a production order. Due to cooling troubles found with the Perseus, the power plant was changed for production aircraft to the Bristol Mercury XXX engine driving a three-bladed airscrew. The Sea Otter was used by both the RAF and the Royal Navy for Air Sea Rescue (ASR) and patrol roles.

Production

Of the 592 aircraft ordered, only 292 were built due to the end of the Second World War. Eight aircraft were brought for the Royal Danish Air Force, and another eight were supplied to the Dutch Naval Air Arm. The colonial service of France purchased six Sea Otters for use in Indo-China.

Variants

;Sea Otter Mk I: Reconnaissance and communications flying boat.;Sea Otter Mk II: Air Sea Rescue flying bloat.

Operators

;AUS:
*Royal Australian Navy
**No. 723 Squadron RAN;DNK:
*Royal Danish Air Force;FRA:
*Operated by French colonial service in Indochina;NLD:
*Dutch Naval Aviation Service including SAR duty aboard the light carrier Karel Doorman (R81);UK:
*Royal Air Force
**No. 277 Squadron RAF
**No. 278 Squadron RAF
**No. 279 Squadron RAF
**No. 281 Squadron RAF
**No. 282 Squadron RAF
**No. 292 Squadron RAF
**No. 1350 Flight RAF
**No. 1351 Flight RAF
**No. 1352 Flight RAF
*Royal Navy

pecifications (Sea Otter)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=Four
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 39 ft 10¾ in
length alt= 12.2 m
span main= 46 ft 0 in
span alt= 14.0 m
height main= 15 ft 1½ in
height alt= 4.61 m
area main= 620 ft²
area alt= 56.7 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 6,805 lb
empty weight alt= 3086 kg
loaded weight main= 10,000 lb
loaded weight alt= 4536 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)= Bristol Mercury XXX
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main= 965 hp
power alt= 720 kW
power original=
max speed main=163 mph at 4,500 ft
max speed alt= 262.3 km/h at 1371 m
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 600 miles
range alt=1110 km
ceiling main= 17,000 ft
ceiling alt= 5181 m
climb rate main= 870 ft/min to 5,000 ft
climb rate alt= 265 m/min to 1524 m
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
* Extended Range : 920 miles (1480 km) with overloaded tank
armament=
* 1 × Vickers machine gun and twin Vickers K machine guns
* 4 × 250 lb (112 kg) bombs
avionics=

ee also

Aircontent
related =
similar aircraft =
lists =
* Fleet Air Arm aircraft
see also =

References

* Andrews, C.F. "Supermarine Aircraft Since 1914". London: Putnam, 1981. ISBN 0-370-10018-2.