The Seafarer is the model of amphibian aircraft which Worrals and Frecks used in Worrals Investigates.
According to the text, it was a prototype flying boat amphibian that had been desgined during WW2 but did not go into production with the ending of the conflict. It was originally designed for "Long-Distance Sea-Air rescue" and the type has the provisional name "Seafarer".
Description of the Seafarer[]
Chapter 3 of the novel gives a detailed description of the Seafarer:
- A monoplane with accomodation for four passengers in addition to the crew.
- Pilot's cockpit, forward of the wing, was enclosed.
- "An open cockpit amidships gave access to the cabin, conveniently close behind".
- Behind the pilot's cockpit was a radio and navigation compartment, "backed by a bulkhead through which a door gave access to the passenger cabin".
- Powered by a single Bristol Mercury with nearly nine hundred horsepower.
- Top speed of 150 mph and a cruising speed of just over 100 mph.
- Normal range od mbetter than 1200 miles but Worrals added extra tanks.
Real life inspiration[]
The Seafarer is likely to be a fictional aircraft. In addition, Johns's description contains a number of unusual features. The 900 hp Mercury would seem a little underpowered fr an aircraft just about to come into production towards the end of the war. The Supermarine Seagul ASR 1 was an single engine monoplane amphibian designed for Air Sea Rescue and which first flew in 1948. Like the Seafarer, the project was cancelled. The Seagull had a Rolls Royce Griffon engine delivering more than 1,800 hp, more than twice that of the Mercury. The mention of the Mercury suggests that Johns was still thinking of the biplane Supermarine Sea Otter which has one such engine. The performance characteristics of the Sea Otter largely match the Seafarer as well. Moreover, there is the strange mention of "an open cockpit amidships". The Sea Otter, and the earlier Supermarine Walrus had an open cockpit in the fuselage for the gunner. So it appears that Johns was constructing a monoplane "modernized" version of the Sea Otter/Walrus, types which he would have been familiar with.