Seaplane

A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land (correctly, though less commonly termed, "alight") upon water.

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These aircraft are occasionally called hydroplanes, based on usage in several Romance languages, which is rare in English.

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There are two types of seaplane: the float plane and the flying boat.

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• A float plane has slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage. Two floats are common, but many float planes of World War II had a single float under the main fuselage and two small floats on the wings. Only the "floats" of a float plane normally come into contact with water. The fuselage remains above water. Some small land aircraft can be modified to become float planes.
• In a flying boat, the main source of buoyancy is the fuselage, which acts much like a ship's hull in the water. Most flying boats have small floats mounted on their wings to keep them stable.

It should be noted that some people feel that the term "seaplane" should only be used to refer to aircraft with floats in place of landing gear, with a flying boat being a distinct type in its own right. For convenience, the above definitions and assumption that flying boats are a type of seaplane are used herein.

Seaplane: Types of seaplane ►



 

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Seaplane related Images and Photos (experimental)

Seaplane Parking Area Dry Tortugas FL	British Seaplane on Coastal Patrol	British Seaplane Attacks an Enemy Submarine	Pan Am Clipper Seaplane
De Havilland Beaver Seaplane	LEGO City 3178 Seaplane	An Austrian Hansa-Brandenburg Seaplane is Forced Down	Messenger Pigeon Carries a Cry for Help from a Disabled Seaplane