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The Short Sealand was a twin-engine amphibian for 5-7 passengers designed by Short Brothers and marketed in the 1950s and 1960s. The Sealand never appeared in the Biggles books by name but illustrator Leslie Stead drew a Sealand on many occasions as a stand-in for the Otter amphibian which features in the early postwar Biggles stories.

Books where Stead drew a Sealand[]

Biggles Takes Charge-1956

A Sealand on the cover of Biggles Takes Charge (1st ed.). In this case the aircraft should have been a Nord Noroit.

Comparison between the Sealand and the fictional Otter[]

The Sealand is a plausible alter-ego or inspiration for the Otter. Its size and performance characteristics are a fair match with the descriptions given of the Otter in the stories. The Sealand has twin engines and is of conventional design and carries about the same number of passengers the Otter is said to. The Sealand's range of about 660 miles (just over a 1000 km) is a little short for some of Biggles' missions but he could easily have fitted spare tanks.

The only discrepancy is where the Otter is described as obsolete or old and elderly. The Sealand was being actively marketed and in frontline use at the time the Otter occured in the Biggles stories, hardly obsolete.

In derivative works[]

  • African Assignment (Action Comics) - - no beating about the bush or confusing readers by calling the amphibian a "Saro" (in the original) or as elsewhere an "Otter" or "Scud". Here Biggles and Ginger unambiguously pick up a Sealand from Juba for the mission.
  • The Roof of the World (Action Comics) - again, Biggles and Ginger pick up a Sealand from Calcutta and head for Darjeeling to search the Himalayas for a missing scientist.
  • Biggles in Brazil (Action Comics) - Biggles and Ginger pick up a Sealand from Rio de Janeiro and head into the Amazon to search for a wanted British criminal who has organised an anti-government rebel army in the Brazilian jungles.
  • Threat to Gibraltar (Action Comics) - Biggles flies a Sealand to Gibraltar. This one is armed with two bombs which Biggles uses to effect.
Sealand-himalaya

A Sealand identified as such from The Roof of the World. Rather crudely drawn and not in as fine detail as the next example.

Sealand-Gib

Not identified as a Sealand, just "an amphibian", from Threat to Gibraltar. This is one of the most detailed renditions of the aircraft in this comics series. The overslung nacelles of the engines are characteristic of the Sealand. A Sealand does actually have that antenna on the roof.

Specifications[]

  • Crew: 1 or 2
  • Passengers: 5–7
  • Length: 42 ft 2 in (12.86 m)
  • Wingspan: 59 ft 0 in[8] (17.99 m)
  • Height: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
  • Empty weight: 7,007 lb (3,190 kg)
  • Max. takeoff weight: 9,100 lb (4,130 kg)
  • Engines: 2 × de Havilland Gipsy Queen engines 340 hp each
  • Maximum speed: 187 mph (162 knots, 300 km/h)
  • Cruise speed: 175 mph (152 knots, 282 km/h)
  • Range: 660 mi (574 NM, 1063 km)
  • Service ceiling: 20,600 ft (6,280 m)
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