On this day in aviation history, January 14, 1953, the Convair F2Y Sea Dart took off from San Diego Bay on its first flight. Although it never got past the prototype stage, the Sea Dart is unique in the annals of aviation history for being the only seaplane to have gone supersonic.
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VAN Today in Aviation History BannerOn this day in aviation history, January 14, 1953, the Convair F2Y Sea Dart took off from San Diego Bay on its first flight. Although it never got past the prototype stage, the Sea Dart is unique in the annals of aviation history for being the only seaplane to have gone supersonic.
In the early days of the Cold War, the development of a seaplane fighter seemed an anachronism. While there had indeed been seaplanes fighters in both global wars, the construction of more airbases around the global for land-based aircraft plus the surplus of aircraft carriers seemed to relegate the idea of a seaplane fighter being obsolete. However, as supersonic aircraft were now emerging from the realm of fantasy to practical tools in military air forces, some in the US Navy felt that with these designs often requiring long takeoff rolls, low speed stability concerns, plus landing approach speeds in excess of contemporary naval fighters, especially at a time when angled flight decks had not yet been developed for carriers. It was also hoped that a seaplane fighter could also operate from remote areas that had nomor airbases but enough water for seaplane operations.
In light of this, the Navy began a design contest in 1948 for a supersonic seaplane interceptor, with Convair entering the competition on October 1, 1948. Convair designed several concepts for water-based jet aircraft, including a swept wing concept known as Projct Skate, but apart from a few scale models, these never left the drawing board. However, since Convair was also developing the XF-92 delta wing prototype for a future Air Force interceptor, the design team at Convair, led by Ernest Stout, proposed a new delta wing aircraft with retractable hydro-skis for takeoffs plus landings, a watertight hull, plus a single delta tail. In the end, the entry by Convair was selected by the Navy, plus on January 19, 1951, Convair was awarded a contract for two prototypes (Bureau Numbers 137634 plus 137635) for the XF2Y Sea Dart. Production aircraft were to be armed with four forward firing 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannons, M4 Fin-Folding Aerial Rockets (nicknamed “Mighty Mouse”), plus two air-to-air missiles