Beginning with races that were staged at elegant French resorts in the early part of the century, flying boats and seaplanes have played an integral part in aviation history. World War I spurred the development of these machines, and by the 1930s, flying boats and seaplanes had become pioneers in transcontinental flight. This photo-filled history recalls the role of flying boats and seaplanes in civil and military aviation history, and the enthusiasm of the engineers and pilots who are associated with their development. In addition to the golden years of hydraviation prior to World War II, author Nicolaou examines the decline of the seaplane, and its subsequent renaissance in nations that are today considered seaplane paradises. The saga is illustrated by more than 200 rare photographs uncovered in archives around the globe.

This work is a comprehensive, heavily illustrated history of the many flying boats and amphibious aircraft designed and built in the United States. It is divided into three chronological sections: the early era (1912-1928), the golden era (1928-1945), and the post-war era (1945-present), with historical overviews of each period. Within each section, individual aircraft types are listed in alphabetical order by manufacturer or builder, with historical background, technical specifications, drawings, and one or more photographs. Appendices cover lesser known flying boat and amphibian types as well as various design concepts that never achieved the flying stage.

When the China Clipper shattered aviation records on its maiden six-day flight from California to the Orient in 1935, the flying boat became an instant celebrity. This lively history by Robert Gandt traces the development of the great flying boats as both a triumph of technology and a stirring human drama. He examines the political, military, and economic forces that drove its development and explains the aeronautical advances that made the aircraft possible. To fully document the story he includes interviews with flying boat pioneers and a dynamic collection of photographs, charts, and cutaway illustrations.

"For a brief period of forty years, the flying boat and its smaller counterpart, the float plane, were a familiar part of the flying scene."--Inside jacket.

It was the obscure legend of the lying boat Corsair, recued from the Belgian Congo in an epic salvage operation, that fired Graham Coster's quest for the lost world of the flying boat. Coster's journey begins in Southampton, from where Imperial Airways' Empire boats departed to fly up the Nile on their way to South Africa, and takes him to the flying boats' old haunts in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, from Lake Naivasha to Victoria Falls.

1935! The winds of war have begun to fan the flames of conflict across the Pacific. As Nick Grant tries to support his mother and sister during the depression, he's swept into a deadly contest between spies struggling to control the Pacific Ocean. Nick's life abruptly changes the moment Anne Lindbergh offers him a month's wages to deliver a mysterious map case to Bill Grooch aboard the tramp steamer, the SS North Haven. Desperate for money, Nich agrees. Suddenly the map case and Grooch catapult him into a quiet, but deadly cat and mouse game between US and Japanese spies. Nick becomes a vital player in a mission spanning the Pacific Ocean: a mission vital to US security as well as a mortal danger to Japan.

Here you will find a global and unique coverage of the subject. This work will also help you fill out your knowledge and will be a very useful reference work. In addition to monographs of each aircraft type, whole families of aircraft are presented along with comparative studies, which set French aviation in the context of the period, thus giving an appreciation of its real value. The text has been illustrated with photographs and high quality color profiles.REVIEWS MMP has a deserved reputation for providing superbly researched and usable books that are a delight for both the enthusiast and modeler. This one has raised that bar another notch in terms of the sheer wealth of information that has been provided on what is to many, a pretty obscure, yet historically important subject. It is an absolute must have for any modeler and a book that gets my highest recommendation.Model Madness The lavishly illustrated, annotated account begins with sections recapping French naval aviation in 1939, technical programs, asset dispositions and losses...Photos, drawings and color profiles by the late, great Teodor Liviu Morosanu illustrate text... The stunning illustration of "Antares" in aluminum and anti-corrosion red with "livree d'esclave" Vichy red-and-yellow "slave stripes" nearly gave me whiplash...Roundly recommended.Cybermodeler

For a time, the flying boat was seen as the way of the future. These aircraft, so strange and foreign to the modern mind, once criss-crossed the world and fulfilled essential military roles. In his latest book for Fonthill, Charles Bain looks at the golden age of the flying boat, when these sometimes strange and often beautiful vessels spanned the globe. These vessels-a combination of ship and airplane-found themselves working as patrol aircraft, passenger aircraft, transports, and even as combat aircraft. This volume contains their stories, from memorable aircraft such as the Short Sunderland and Boeing 314 Clipper, to the craft that roamed the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, to forgotten giants from Saunders-Roe and even strange jet fighters that once landed like ducks. It even includes the flying boat that has not let time get in the way of doing its job-the Martin Mars. Each of these aircraft has a story worthy of the telling, and often a memorable role to play in the history of aviation. `High Hulls' delves deeply into a long-vanished part of aviation's golden age.