As designed, the Sea Otter was crewed by four personnel and was given a length of 39.10 feet with a wingspan of 46 feet and a height of 15 feet. Empty weight was 6,800lb against an MTOW of 10,000lb and power from the Mercury XXX radial engine was 965 horsepower. Maximum speed reached 165 miles per hour with a range out to nearly 700 miles, a service ceiling up to 17,000 feet and a rate-of-climb nearing 870 feet-per-minute.
The Sea Otter was modestly armed through 1 x 7.7mm Vickers K machine gun fitted to the nose and 2 x 7.7mm Vickers K machine guns installed in the aft section of the aircraft. Its bombload measured 4 x 250lb drop bombs.
Outwardly, the aircraft was certainly a product of its time. The fuselage was traditionally-arranged with the cockpit seated aft of a nosecone assembly. The front and sides of the cockpit were lined with windows for better viewing by the crew. The biplane wing arrangement consisted of a lower unit fitted to the roof of the fuselage and an upper unit suspended high over the fuselage. The wings were joined by parallel strutworks and cabling. The upper wing unit held the single engine nacelle with the propeller just cleared the fuselage roof. Under each lower wing element were outboard pontoons for water-running / stability. For ground-based running, the aircraft incorporated a conventional "tail-dragge"r stance made up of two main legs emanating from the fuselage sides and a diminutive tailwheel seated under the tail structure. The tail section had a single vertical plane with a pair of mid-mounted horizontal planes.
Two production variants ultimately emerged, the first becoming "Sea Otter Mk I" and this model was used primarily in the reconnaissance and communications role. The follow-up "Sea Otter Mk II" was a dedicated Search and Rescue (SAR) platform. Some 592 units were ordered by the Air Ministry but, in the end, just 292 of the order were realized mainly due to the conclusion of the war in 1945. Global operators went on to include British allies Australia, Denmark, Egypt, France and the Netherlands.
Sea Otters found extended post-war service in both military and civilian markets. In the latter, various facilities were added, including a lavatory and baggage compartment, to better serve passengers.
No preserved Sea Otters exist today.
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