Fleetwings Sea Bird

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=Fleetwings Sea Bird


caption= F-401 prototype, Golden Wings Museum, Blaine, Minnesota
type=Amphibious utility aircraft
manufacturer= Fleetwings
designer= James C. Reddig
first flight= avyear|1936
introduced=
retired=
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produced=
number built=1 prototype; 5 production
variants with their own articles=

The Fleetwings Sea Bird (or Seabird) was an amphibious utility aircraft designed in 1934-5 by James C. Reddig for Fleetwings, Inc., of Bristol, PA. While the aircraft's basic configuration had a precedent in the design of the Loening "Monoduck" developed by the Grover Loening Aircraft Company as a personal aircraft for Mr. Loening (for whom Reddig worked from 1929-1933), the Sea Bird was unusual because of its construction from spot-welded stainless steel. It was a high-wing, wire-braced monoplane with its engine housed in a nacelle mounted above the wings on struts. The pilot and passengers sat in a fully-enclosed cabin. Fleetwings initially planned to manufacture 50 production units, but at a price approaching $25,000 during the Depression, there proved to be no sustainable market.

Variants

* F-4 Sea Bird - 4-seat prototype (1 built)
* F-5 Sea Bird - 5-seat production aircraft (5 built)

pecifications

aerospecs
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met or eng?= eng

crew=One pilot
capacity=3 passengers (F-4 prototype); 4 passengers (F-5 production model)
length m=9.74
length ft=32
length in=0
span m=12.33
span ft=40
span in=6
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width m=
width ft=
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height m=3.80
height ft=12
height in=6
wing area sqm=21.8
wing area sqft=235
swept area sqm=
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volume m3=
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aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=1,112
empty weight lb=2,450
gross weight kg=1,702
gross weight lb=3,750
lift kg=
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eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Jacobs L-5
eng1 kw= 212
eng1 hp= 285
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max speed kmh=
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max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh= 216
cruise speed mph= 135
range km=870
range miles=540
endurance h=
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References

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* [http://www.aerofiles.com/_f.html aerofiles.com]