2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Russian Navy Grigorovich M-5 Type Flying Boat during World War I: Courtesy of Mr. Boris V. Drashpil of Margate, Florida, 1984· Public domain
- 2. Russian Navy Grigorovich M-5 Type Flying Boat in the Black Sea in about 1915, during World War I: Courtesy of Mr. Boris V. Drashpil of Margate, Florida, 1984· Public domain
what is it?
Grigorovich M-5 (alternative designation Shch M-5, sometimes also Shchetinin M-5) was a successful Russian World War I-era two-bay unequal-span biplane flying boat with a single step hull, designed by Grigorovich. It was the first mass production flying boat built in Russia.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 13.6 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 111 years ago, in 1915.
- Wingspan of 13.6 m: about 3 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
- 1915-05
- introduced
- 1915
- retired
- 1924
- status
- retired
- number built
- 183
- role
- reconnaissance flying boat
- origin
- 🇷🇺 Russia
- makers
- Shchetinin
- engines
- 1× Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.6 m
- wingspan
- 13.6 m
- max take-off weight
- 960 kg
- top speed
- 105 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 3,300 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1430697, Wikipedia: Grigorovich M-5 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.