Supermarine Walrus

what is it?

The Supermarine Walrus is a British single-engine amphibious biplane designed by Supermarine's R. J. Mitchell. Primarily used as a maritime patrol aircraft, it was the first British squadron-service aircraft to incorporate an undercarriage that was fully retractable, enclosed crew accommodation, and a fuselage completely made of metal. Supermarine originally named the type the Supermarine Seagull V, before changing it to the Walrus.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 14 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 217 km/htop speed
• size 3,651 kgmax take-off weight
• built 740made 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 93 years ago, in 1933.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.7× 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

1933-06-21

introduced

1935

retired

1969

status

retired

number built

740

role

amphibious maritime patrol aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Supermarine

engines

1× Bristol Pegasus VI

crew

3

length

11.5 m

wingspan

14 m

height

4.7 m

max take-off weight

3,651 kg

top speed

217 km/h

cruise speed

148 km/h

range

—

ceiling

5,639 m

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