Short SA.6 Sealand

Short Brothers · United Kingdom · first flew 1948 · light aircraft

The Short SA.6 Sealand was a light commercial amphibious aircraft designed by Short Brothers. It carried five to seven passengers and could operate from rivers, lakes, sheltered bays or prepared runways.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	12.85 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Amphibious flying boat with a high wing and a deep hull
Two inverted inline de Havilland Gipsy Queen engines on the wing
Retractable tailwheel undercarriage, with the main wheels folding into recesses in the hull

Look for a small high-wing amphibian with a boat hull, two engines mounted on the wing and a conventional single tail.

Specifications

The Short SA.6 Sealand has a length of 12.85 m (42 ft).
It has a wingspan of 17.98 m (59 ft).
Its maximum speed is 301 km/h (187 mph).
Typical crew: 1-2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

C. T. P. Lipscomb designed it as a small amphibian suited to overseas markets. The prototype was launched on 19 January 1948 and made its maiden flight three days later from Belfast Lough, piloted by Harold Piper.

Variants

Two production versions were built: the SA.6 Sealand I and the SB.7 Sealand III, which had longer wings, a deeper rudder and a strengthened hull. The planned SB.2 Sealand II became the first of four pre-production aircraft.

Where you'll see it

Twenty-five were built. The Indian Navy was a prominent operator, and others were flown in Borneo, East Bengal, Norway and Venezuela by civilian and military users including Shell and the Yugoslav Air Force.

Related aircraft

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