Floatplane
Encyclopedia
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
, with slender pontoon
Floats (nautical)
Floats are airtight hollow structures, similar to pressure vessels, whose air-filled interior makes them buoyant in water. They are most often used to make up the multipart hulls of trimarans, small open catamarans, and floatplanes . Their main purpose is to supply buoyancy, not storage space...
s (known as "floats
Floats (nautical)
Floats are airtight hollow structures, similar to pressure vessels, whose air-filled interior makes them buoyant in water. They are most often used to make up the multipart hulls of trimarans, small open catamarans, and floatplanes . Their main purpose is to supply buoyancy, not storage space...
") mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water. By contrast a flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
uses its fuselage for buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
like a ship's hull.
Design
A floatplane is essentially a straightforward development of land-based aircraft, with floats mounted under the fuselage instead of wheeled landing gearLanding Gear
Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...
. Floatplanes are traditionally more popular than flying boats for small aircraft designs, since it permits a single piston engine to be installed in the conventional manner, that is at the nose of the fuselage (this could be done on flying boats only by mounting the engine high above the fuselage). Moreover, the fuselages of floatplanes are typically more aerodynamic than flying boats; while the large floats underneath the fuselages inevitably impose extra drag and weight to floatplanes, rendering them less manoeuvrable during flight than their land-based counterparts. Historically it did little to affect their speed, as the contestants in the Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
demonstrated. However, there is loss of speed, slower rate of climb and increased empty weight.
There are two basic arrangements for floats on floatplanes. One is the single float design, in which a single large float is mounted directly underneath the fuselage, with smaller stabilizing floats underneath the wings. The other is the twin float design, with a pair of floats mounted beneath the wing roots, in place of wheeled landing gear. The main advantage of the single float design is its rough sea landing capability: the large central float is directly attached to the fuselage, this being the strongest part of the aircraft structure, while the small floats under the outer wings provide the aircraft with good lateral stability. Dual floats on aircraft limit wave handling to minimal levels, often to an average of one foot in height. However the twin float design facilitates mooring
Mooring
Mooring may refer to:* Mooring , any device used to hold secure an object by means of cables, anchors, or lines* Mooring mast, a structure designed to hold airships and blimps securely in the open when they are not in flight....
and boarding
Boarding (transport)
Boarding is a term to describe the entry of passengers onto a vehicle, usually in public transportation. Boarding starts with entering the vehicle and ends with the seating of each passenger and closure of the doors...
, and in the case of a military floatplane, leaves the belly free to carry a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
or a heavy bombload. Whatever the float layout, a floatplane tends to be much less stable on water than flying boats.
History
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and remained in widespread naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
use until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Most larger warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s of that era carried floatplanes - typically four for each battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, and one to two for each cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
- to be launched by catapult
Catapult
A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during...
s; their main task was to spot targets over the horizon for the big guns. Other floatplanes, sometimes carried on seaplane tender
Seaplane tender
A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...
s, were used for bombings, reconnaissance, air-sea rescue, and even as fighters.
In the interwar period, civilian use of floatplanes was rare, given the larger fuselage (hence greater payload) of flying boats. However, floatplane racing aircraft were very popular, as exemplified by those that participated in the Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
.
After World War II, the advent of radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s, and the advanced development of aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s and land-based aircraft, saw the demise of military seaplanes. This, coupled with the increased availability of civilian airstrips, have greatly reduced the number of flying boats being built. However, numerous modern civilian aircraft have floatplane variants, most of these are offered as third-party modifications under a supplemental type certificate
Supplemental Type Certificate
A Supplemental Type Certificate is an FAA approved major modification or repair to an existing type certified aircraft, engine or propeller. As it adds to the existing type certificate, it is deemed 'supplemental'.-Purpose:...
(STC), although there are several aircraft manufacturers that build floatplanes from scratch. These floatplanes have found their niche as one type of bush plane
Bush plane
A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft serving remote, undeveloped areas of a country, usually the African bush, Alaskan and Canadian tundra or the Australian Outback...
, for light duty transportation to lakes and other remote areas, as well as to small/hilly islands without proper airstrips. They may operate on a charter basis (including, but not limited to, pleasure flights), provide scheduled service, or be operated by residents of the area for private, personal use.
External links
- "Why Seaplanes Fly With Bullet Speed", December 1931, Popular Science excellent article on the different design features of the floats on floatplanes