Douglas Dolphin

what is it?

The Douglas Dolphin is an American amphibious flying boat monoplane. While only 58 were built, they served a wide variety of roles including private air yacht, airliner, military transport, and search and rescue.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 18.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 240 km/htop speed
• size 4,415 kgmax take-off weight
• built 58made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 96 years ago, in 1930.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 18.3 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1930

introduced

1931

number built

58

role

multirole flying boat

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Douglas

engines

2× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-4 Wasp

length

13.8 m

wingspan

18.3 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

4,415 kg

top speed

240 km/h

cruise speed

169 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,602 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.