3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. A prototype Supermarine Sea Otter: Royal Navy· Public domain
- 2. Supermarine Sea Otter I JM952 MAEE Ringway 19.08.48 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
- 3. Img810 Supermarine Sea Otter ASR Mk.II RD892: Official UK government photographer· CC0
what is it?
The Supermarine Sea Otter was an amphibious aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was the final biplane flying boat to be designed by the company, and the last biplane to enter service with both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Sea Otter was developed as a refinement of the Supermarine Walrus.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14 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 88 years ago, in 1938.
- Top speed is 2.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 14 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
- 1938-09-23
- introduced
- 1944
- status
- retired
- number built
- 292
- role
- air-sea rescue
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Supermarine
- engines
- 1× Bristol Mercury XXX
- crew
- 3
- length
- 12.1 m
- wingspan
- 14 m
- height
- 4.9 m
- max take-off weight
- 4,536 kg
- top speed
- 262 km/h
- cruise speed
- 161 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,182 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1808891, Wikipedia: Supermarine Sea Otter (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.