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Flying Boat History

From its inception and early demonstration by Glenn H. Curtiss in 1912 until a few years after the end of World War II, the flying boat was a key element of commercial and military aviation throughout the world. Large-scale commercial operations ceased 2 or 3 years after the war, but military use of the flying boat continued in the United States until the last squadron of these picturesque aircraft was decommissioned in 1967. No large flying boats have been built in the United States since 1960; however, both Japan and the Soviet Union produce such aircraft in limited numbers for military purposes, and a flying boat is still built in Canada for use as a water bomber in fighting forest fires.

In 1898 inventor Wilhelm Kress made the first powered seaplane take-off from the waters of Lake Tullnerbach in Austria. Although the machine later sank, it became clear that seaplane pilots (pilote d'hydravion) had a five year headstart over their land based counterparts. French achievements in commercial aviation were built on a rich legacy of aeronautics research dating back to the 18th century with the Montgolfier brothers. France was one of the most active pioneers in heavier-than-air flight in Europe. In 1910, Henri Fabre designed, built, and flew the first seaplane over Berre Lake near Marseilles.

Glenn H. Curtiss Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, founded the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) in 1907, which designed and built several aircraft. The AEA built the first seaplane to be flown in the United States. In 1911, Glen Curtis manufactured the first seaplane and foresaw its use as a weapon against the submarine. This first seaplane, based on the Model D was maneuverable, light, and relatively fast, and was the most widely built type of plane in the United States before World War I. The Navy's first seaplane was the Curtiss A-1.

The first airplanes purchased by the Navy were two of Curtiss type and one of Wright type. One Curtiss was a 80-horsepower seaplane convertible to land plane and the other was a 40-horsepower land plane which was later converted into a 80-horsepower seaplane. Both of them were of the pusher type with bamboo frame and tail and equipped with front as well as tail elevators. They were single pontoon with wing tip floats. The Wright was a 32- horsepower airplane of the usual Wright type, equipped with two propellers. This airplane was later converted into a twin-float seaplane. The speed of the Curtiss seaplanes was about 60 miles per hour and the Wright about 42 miles per hour.

Over the next several years, more aircraft of improved types were purchased. During 1916, the purchase of aircraft by the Navy was considerably increased, 60 machines being obtained. In the early months of 1917 prior to the entry of the United States in the World War, 11 planes were purchased by the Navy, among which were the Curtiss R-3 seaplane with twin floats and the H-12 flying boat equipped with two V-2 Curtiss motors developing about 200 horsepower.

Upon the declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917, it became important at once to develop aircraft useful for other purposes than mere flying. The suppression of the submarine was an urgency, and for offensive operations against submarines, machines of long endurance and of large carrying capacity were immediately necessary. It was decided by September 1917 that the Navy should operate 15 seaplane stations on the coasts of France and Ireland from which seaplanes would patrol the submarine infested coastal waters through which American troops and supply ships were to pass.

The initial program provided for 1,185 single Liberty engine flying boats known as the HS-1 and 235 twin Liberty engine flying boats known as the H-16. Provision of but two types with a single type of engine simplified production and maintenance. Two types of flying boats were necessary as the large boats could not be constructed in sufficient quantities, involved shipping difficulties, and drew too much water for use on certain of the French stations.

During the World War every effort was made to produce aircraft for countersubmarine work and for convoy and patrol duty to be operated from shore stations. This led to the development of large flying boats and at the end of the war this type existed in a fairly satisfactory state of perfection.

Under the impetus of encouragement in the form of small contracts, both Consolidated and Martin continued to develop improved forms of patrol boats during the period 1930-1940. These surpassed the primitive multistrut monoplane patrol boats produced in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Consequently, when war came to the United States in December 1941, the Navy had in hand two excellent twin-engine patrol boats as well as a new four-engine flying boat.

Airlines operated both passenger and freight service with flying boats, and the military used these aircraft for reconnaissance, antisubmarine patrol, search and rescue, and other activities. In the absence of any permanent ground facilities, naval flying boats could operate for weeks in the most forbidding geographical areas while supported by a small ship called a seaplane tender. In addition, the flying boat seemed to offer on long over-water flights the prospect of a safe landing in the event of an engine failure, a very real possibility with the relatively unreliable engines available in the early days of aviation. The chances of a flying boat surviving a landing in rough seas on the open ocean were, of course, problematical; this advantage was perhaps more psychological than real. Yet, a number of cases have been recorded in which passengers and crew survived a landing in the open ocean after engine failure.

For all these reasons, the flying boat seemed for many years to have an important and permanent place in the aeronautical world. The flying boat, however, possessed certain disadvantages inherent in its dual capacity for operation on the water as well as in the air. The aerodynamic drag of the hull-fuselage was basically higher than that of the conventional fuselage of a landplane. Hence, the cruising speed tended to be lower than that of a comparable landplane, as was the aerodynamic cruising efficiency expressed by the maximum lift-drag ratio. The economic potential of the flying boat was accordingly limited in comparison with the landplane. Further, the ever-present danger of collision with submerged objects in the water and subsequent hull rupture and possible sinking, as well as difficulties in passenger handling to and from a moored flying boat, posed ever-present operational problems.

Today, the pre-war emphasis upon flying boat patrol planes seems an anomaly. Before the war, the Navy operated water-based aircraft and left large landplanes to the Army. Any views to the contrary were lost in the brambly thicket of Army-Navy relationships. Moreover, the 1930s was the decade of the flying boat. A new era in research and development appeared imminent when the NACA opened its towing basin in 1931. Flying boats pioneered many transoceanic air routes. For example, in 1935, Pan American's China Clipper inaugurated San Francisco to Manila service.

Through WW II, they played a major role. During World War II, many parts of the world saw the development of a large number of airports equipped with long, hard-surface runways. Large, fast, highly efficient landplanes suitable for carrying passengers and equipped with four reliable engines also emerged from the war. These two factors spelled the end of the flying boat as a viable means for the economical transportation of passengers and freight over long distances.

Pan American Airlines, a pioneer in the use of flying boats on long over-water routes, terminated operation of this type of aircraft in April 1946, less than a year after the end of the war. Today, a few small flying boats built prior to World War II are still used in inter-island commuter-type operations. For many years after the war, the US Navy and Coast Guard continued to use flying boats for reconnaissance, antisubmarine patrol, and search-and-rescue missions. Long-duration turboprop landplanes and helicopters, however, gradually took over these duties and finally completely replaced the flying boat.

The popularity and apparent demise of the flying boat as an important element of aviation can be traced to a combination of operational, performance, and economic characteristics. In the years prior to World War II, airports capable of handling large, long-range aircraft were few in number and nonexistent in most parts of the world, particularly in undeveloped nations. Most areas of the world that are of interest for trade and commerce, however, are located near bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, harbors, inlets, and other types of marine facilities. These natural resources, which require little if any development, provided an abundant and almost unlimited number of worldwide facilities for the operation of large, long-range flying boats. Both military and commercial air operations made extensive use of these natural resources.