what is it?
The Hall PH was an American flying boat of the 1930s. It was a twin-engined biplane, developed from the Naval Aircraft Factory PN and could hence trace its lineage back to the Felixstowe flying boats of World War I. The PH was purchased in small numbers by the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard. It remained in service with the Coast Guard until 1944, being used for anti-submarine and search and rescue duties.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 22.2 m wingspan
base stats
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 97 years ago, in 1929.
- Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 22.2 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 3,119 km: 17× Amsterdam to Brussels.
- Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1929-12
- introduced
- 1931
- retired
- 1944
- status
- retired
- number built
- 24
- role
- patrol flying boat
- makers
- Hall Aluminum Company
- engines
- 2× Wright R-1820F-51 Cyclone
- length
- 15.5 m
- wingspan
- 22.2 m
- height
- 6.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 7,342 kg
- top speed
- 256 km/h
- cruise speed
- 219 km/h
- range
- 3,119 km
- ceiling
- 9,700 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q5642620, Wikipedia: Hall PH (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.