The Lakes Sea Bird was a two-seat floatplane built during 1912 by the Lakes Flying Company using the fuselage of the Avro Duigan

Avro Duigan

|-References:* Lewis P British Aircraft 1809-1914. London: Putnam, 1962* Jackson A.J. Avro Aircraft since 1908 London: Putnam, 1965* Penrose H British Aviation: The Pioneer Years. London: Putnam, 1967...

. It gave many visitors to Windermere their first flight in the suummer of 1913

Development

After damaging his aircraft and returned to Australia the fuselage and tail unit was sold to the Lakes Flying Co.

Lakes Flying Company

The Lakes Flying Company was an early British aircraft manufacturer of seaplanes based at Windermere. In 1914 it was taken over by the Northern Aircraft Company Limited.-History:...

 based at Windermere

Windermere

Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...

, who rebuilt it as a two-seat floatplane. The straight parallel-chord high aspect ratio wings of irregular three-by layout resembled those of Avro's Avro Type D

Avro Type D

-References:* Lewis, P British Aircraft 1809-1914. London, Putnam, 1962* Jackson, A.J. Avro Aircraft Since 1908. London, Putnam, 1965...

. It was originally fitted with a single central two step float, later changed to a pair of narrower floats, and demountable so that the aircraft could readily be used as a landplane. It was powered by a rotary

Rotary engine

The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...

 9-cylinder Gnome of 50 hp (37 kW),

Operational history

The single Sea Bird carried many holiday makers in 1912-3. Later, it was was restored for training and it was ultimately lost when a student pilot spun in in 1915.

Specifications