Anderson Kingfisher

The Anderson EA-1 Kingfisher is a US two-seat amphibious aircraft designed and marketed for homebuilding.^[1] It was the work of Earl William Anderson, a Pan Am airline captain, who flew the prototype on 24 April 1969. By 1978, 200 sets of kits for the plane had been sold, and 100 Kingfishers were reported to be under construction. The aircraft is a shoulder-wing monoplane with a flying boat hull and outrigger pontoons. On land, it uses retractable tailwheel undercarriage. The single engine with a tractor propeller is mounted in a nacelle above the wing.^[2] Some builders utilize the wings from a Piper Cub rather than making their own.

The planes were later marketed by Richard Warner Aviation before becoming the Wings Unlimited Kingfisher in the late 1990s. A variant with improved performance is known as the 'Super Kingfisher'.

Specifications (typical)

General characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Capacity: one passenger
• Length: 23 ft 7 in (7.2 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (11.1 m)
• Height: 8 ft 0 in (2.44 m)
• Wing area: About 829.5 ft² ( m²)
• Empty weight: 1,032 lb (468 kg)
• Gross weight: 1,500 lb (680 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Continental O-200 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 120 mph (190 km/h)
• Range: 320 miles (200 km)
• Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Taylor Coot

References