A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy . By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, making the vehicle an amphibious aircraft . British usage is to call floatplanes "seaplanes" rather than use the term "seaplane" to refer to both floatplanes and flying boats.
12-403: The Gloster II was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane , two were built to compete in the 1924 Schneider Trophy air race. However the crash of the first prototype during testing meant that it could not be made ready for the race, which was postponed. The second aircraft was also lost in a crash. The 1923 Schneider Trophy race for seaplanes had been won by
24-445: A charter basis (including pleasure flights), provide scheduled service, or be operated by residents of the area for private, personal use. Floatplanes have often been derived from land-based aircraft, with fixed floats mounted under the fuselage instead of an undercarriage (featuring wheels). Floatplanes offer several advantages since the fuselage is not in contact with water, which simplifies production by not having to incorporate
36-467: A twin float undercarriage, with radiators mounted on the struts supporting the floats. The first aircraft, with the serial number J7504 , was ready for flight testing in September 1924. However, when attempting to land after its first test flight, on 19 September 1924, the undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft sank, with pilot Hubert Broad escaping unhurt. There was insufficient time to prepare
48-420: Is directly attached to the fuselage, this being the strongest part of the aircraft structure, while the smaller floats under the outer wings provide the aircraft with lateral stability. By comparison, dual floats restrict handling, often to waves as little as one foot (0.3 metres) in height. However, twin float designs facilitate mooring and boarding , and – in the case of torpedo bombers – leave
60-813: The United States Navy with the Curtiss CR-3 , a floatplane which outclassed Britain's entry, the Supermarine Sea Lion III flying boat . In a change from previous years, where Britain's entries had been privately funded, the British Air Ministry ordered two racing seaplanes from the Gloster Aircraft Company to compete for the 1924 race. The resulting aircraft, designated the Gloster II ,
72-474: The 1920s and 1930s, most notably in the form of the Schneider Trophy , not least because water takeoffs permitted longer takeoff runs which allowed greater optimization for high speed compared to contemporary airfields. There are two basic configurations for the floats on floatplanes: The main advantage of the single float design is its capability for landings in rough water: a long central float
84-463: The compromises necessary for water tightness, general impact strength and the hydroplaning characteristics needed for the aircraft to leave the water. Attaching floats to a landplane also allows for much larger production volumes to pay for the development and production of the small number of aircraft operated from the water. Additionally, on all but the largest seaplanes, floatplane wings usually offer more clearance over obstacles, such as docks, reducing
96-458: The difficulty in loading while on the water. A typical single engine flying boat is unable to bring the hull alongside a dock for loading while most floatplanes are able to do so. Floats inevitably impose extra drag and weight, rendering floatplanes slower and less manoeuvrable during flight, with a slower rate of climb, than aircraft equipped with wheeled landing gear. Nevertheless, air races devoted to floatplanes attracted much attention during
108-562: The increased availability of civilian airstrips, has greatly reduced the number of flying boats being built. However, many modern civilian aircraft have floatplane variants, most offered as third-party modifications under a supplemental type certificate (STC), although there are several aircraft manufacturers that build floatplanes from scratch. These floatplanes have found their niche as one type of bush plane , for light duty transportation to lakes and other remote areas as well as to small/hilly islands without proper airstrips. They may operate on
120-444: The pilot, Larry Carter, being seriously injured, fracturing his skull. Data from Gloster Aircraft since 1917 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Floatplane Since World War II and the advent of helicopters, advanced aircraft carriers and land-based aircraft, military seaplanes have stopped being used. This, coupled with
132-605: The second aircraft for the race, scheduled for October, but as no other European nation had an entry ready to compete, the Americans postponed the race until 1925. The second aircraft was converted to a landplane and used for flight testing equipment to be used for the Gloster III racer being designed for the 1925 competition. It was lost in a high-speed crash landing at RAF Cranwell following elevator flutter in June 1925,
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#1732790635182144-467: Was a floatplane development of Gloster's earlier Gloster I racing aircraft, which had won the annual Aerial Derby air race three years running between 1921 and 1923, and had attempted unsuccessfully to break the World airspeed record in 1922. It was a small single-seat biplane of fabric covered wooden construction, powered by a closely faired Napier Lion engine. It had short-span single bay wings and
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