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Basil Smith: Supermarine Sea Eagle After thousands of years of dreaming and trying to fly with feathered wings like the birds, men learned the seccret of powered, sustained and controlled flight when the century was but four year old. Since then, flying has progressed from a miracle to a routine that whisks a million persons from one city to another, one country to another or one continent to another, in armchair comfort, eyery day of the year. The first Supermarine flying-boat to enter the passenger tansport service was an odd looking craft called a Sea Eagle, which first appeared in 1923. What this marvelous little flying-boat lacked in appearance, it more than made up for in dependability. The Sea Eagle was an equal-span wood and fabric biplane which carried six passengers in the raised deck of the forward part of the hull. Aft of the spacious passenger deck was located an open cockpit for the pilot. The Sea Eagle operated on the Southhampton-Guernsey service which was opened by British Marine Air Naviation. These "boats" were strong and very seaworthy ... one riding out a tremendous gale for forty-eight hours! Today, a memory is all that is left of these one-of-a-kind flying-boats. For of the three Sea Eagles that were ever built, one was sunk at St. Peter Port in Guernsey when it was rammed by a boat, the fate of the second Sea Eagle is unknown, and the third and last Sea Eagle remained in service only until the summer of 1928. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® Trains & Boats & Planes & More Collection Description Card for the Supermarine Sea Eagle. Artwork Copyright © 1981 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.
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