Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia

Flying boats

A flying boat is a seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water — from the Curtiss NC-4 and the Boeing 314 Clipper to today's Beriev Be-200 and AVIC AG600.

36flying boats
5groups
1919–2017first flight
8countries

About flying boats

A flying boat is a type of fixed-wing seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane, which stands on floats under the fuselage: the fuselage of a flying boat is itself built to float. Many flying boats also have retractable wheels; they are called amphibians.

Alphonse Pénaud filed a patent for a flying machine with a boat hull and retractable landing gear as early as 1876. In the First World War flying boats patrolled the seas, in 1919 the Curtiss NC-4 was the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic, and in the 1930s large flying boats such as the Boeing 314 Clipper flew passengers across the oceans. Today amphibians are mainly used for search and rescue and for fighting forest fires.

  1. 1919
    Curtiss NC-4First aircraft to fly across the Atlantic (1919, with stops)Curtiss · United States
  2. 1928
    Sikorsky S-38Sikorsky · United States
  3. 1929
    Dornier Do XThe largest aircraft in the world in 1929Dornier · Germany
  4. 1930
    Douglas DolphinDouglas · United States
  5. 1933
    Grumman J2F DuckGrumman · United States
  6. 1934
    CANT Z.501 GabbianoCANT · Italy
  7. 1935
    Consolidated PBY CatalinaOne of the most widely built flying boatsConsolidated Aircraft · United States
  8. 1937
    Sikorsky VS-44Vought-Sikorsky · United States
  9. 1937
    Grumman G-21 GooseGrumman · United States
  10. 1937
    Dornier Do 24Dornier · Germany
  11. 1937
    Short SunderlandShort Brothers · United Kingdom
  12. 1937
    Arado Ar 196Arado · Germany
  13. 1938
    Boeing 314 ClipperPan Am flights across the Atlantic and PacificBoeing · United States
  14. 1938
    Vought OS2U KingfisherVought · United States
  15. 1939
    Martin PBM MarinerGlenn L. Martin Company · United States
  16. 1940
    Grumman G-44 WidgeonGrumman · United States
  17. 1940
    Blohm & Voss BV 222 WikingBlohm & Voss · Germany
  18. 1941
    Kawanishi H8KKawanishi · Japan
  19. 1942
    Martin JRM MarsLater famous as a water bomberGlenn L. Martin Company · United States
  20. 1944
    Blohm & Voss BV 238The heaviest aircraft of the Second World WarBlohm & Voss · Germany
  21. 1946
    Grumman G-73 MallardGrumman · United States
  22. 1947
    Grumman HU-16 AlbatrossGrumman · United States
  23. 1948
    Martin P5M MarlinGlenn L. Martin Company · United States
  24. 1949
    Beriev Be-6Beriev · Soviet Union
  25. 1952
    Saunders-Roe PrincessSaunders-Roe · United Kingdom
  26. 1953
    Convair F2Y Sea DartThe only seaplane to fly faster than soundConvair · United States
  27. 1954
    Convair R3Y TradewindConvair · United States
  28. 1960
    Beriev Be-12 ChaykaBeriev · Soviet Union
  29. 1976
    Harbin SH-5Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing · China
  30. 1984
    Dornier SeastarDornier · Germany
  31. 1986
    Beriev A-40 AlbatrosThe largest jet-powered amphibianBeriev · Soviet Union / Russia
  32. 1997
    Beriev Be-103Beriev · Russia
  33. 1998
    Beriev Be-200 AltairBeriev · Russia
  34. 2003
    ShinMaywa US-2ShinMaywa · Japan
  35. 2017
    AVIC AG600 KunlongOne of the largest amphibians ever builtAVIC · China
  36. —
    Loening OLLoening · United States