The Convair XF-2Y Sea Dart — Unbelievable Flying Object

An Idea That Sounded Good on Paper

The Convair XF-2Y Sea Dart was a supersonic jet that was supposed to take off and land on the ocean using a ski-type design in the front. The bottom of the fuselage was shaped like a V-hull on a boat. As speed increased it transitioned from the hull to the front-mounted skis, and then into the air. Apparently no one considered the fact that the ocean is not always calm — and that salt water and jet engines don’t mix too well.

Convair built the Sea Dart in the early 1950s to answer a real problem: jet fighters needed longer and longer runways, and the Navy wondered whether a water-based fighter could dispense with carriers and airfields altogether. The prototype rode on two retractable hydro-skis that lifted the hull clear of the water as it accelerated for takeoff. On 3 August 1954 a Sea Dart became the only seaplane in history to exceed the speed of sound, in a shallow dive. But the skis produced violent vibration, the program was plagued by the very sea-state and salt-spray problems noted above, and later that year a prototype disintegrated in mid-air during a demonstration, killing its test pilot. Only five were built and the Navy cancelled the program; two survivors are preserved in museums.

Click the video below to watch this unlikely flying machine in action.