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.
17-556: Fabre Hydravion is the name used in English-language sources for an originally unnamed experimental floatplane designed by Henri Fabre . The aircraft is notable as the first to take off from water under its own power. Hydravion (French for seaplane/floatplane) was developed over a period of four years by Fabre, assisted by a former mechanic of Captain Ferdinand Ferber , named Marius Burdin , and Léon Sebille ,
34-445: 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
51-573: A naval architect from Marseilles . Fabre did not initially name his machine, which in contemporary reports was referred to as an "aéroplane marin", but it subsequently came to be referred to in English common usage by the French term for the type of craft. The aircraft was a canard configuration monoplane whose structure made extensive use of a beam design working as a spanwise spar on its wing panels and forward canard surface, patented by Fabre. This
68-488: A substantially complete investigation of compliance with the applicable regulations will be required. Some civil aviation authorities also issue Limited or LSTCs that are only applicable to a single aircraft or small number of specific serial numbers. The United States regulations for STCs are found at 14 CFR 21.111. The European Union regulations for STCs are found Commission Regulation (EU) No 748/2012 of 3 August 2012 as amended, Part-21, Subpart E et seq. In 2010 at
85-420: 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
102-566: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The determination of whether a proposed change in design, power, thrust, or weight to an existing type certified aircraft, engine, or propeller is acceptable under a STC is proposed by the design holder, and subjected to the approval of the FAA. If the FAA finds that the proposed changes are too substantial, a new type certificate will be required under 14 CFR 21.19. In this case,
119-474: 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
136-679: The Fabre floats and fitted them to their Voisin Canard . Hydravion was flown by Jean Bécue at the Concours de Canots Automobiles de Monaco , and crashed there on 12 April 1911, being damaged beyond repair. No more Hydravions were built. Following this experience, Henri Fabre built floats for other aviation pioneers, including (as well as Voisin) Caudron , who built the Hydroaéroplane Caudron-Fabre . The restored example of
153-706: The advent of helicopters, advanced aircraft carriers and land-based aircraft, military seaplanes have stopped being used. This, coupled with 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
170-612: The aircraft remains - the crashed Hydravion which was collected in 1922 and later restored and displayed by the Musée de l'air et de l'espace (French Air and Space Museum) at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), and a replica, close to the location of the initial flight, at Marseille Provence Airport in Marignane (Bouches-du-Rhône). Pegase n°17 . March 1980. Data from Flying boats and Seaplanes General characteristics Performance Floatplane Since World War II and
187-468: The belly free to carry a torpedo . Supplemental type certificate A supplemental type certificate ( STC ) is a civil aviation authority -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". In the United States issuance of such certificates is under the purview of
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#1732780595152204-463: 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
221-458: 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
238-411: The first seaplane in history. Fabre had no prior flying experience. He flew the floatplane successfully three more times that day and within a week he had flown a distance of 5.6 km (3.5 mi). The aircraft then became badly damaged in an accident. These experiments were closely followed by aviation pioneers Gabriel and Charles Voisin . Eager to construct a seaplane, Voisin purchased several of
255-464: The wing there was a similar rectangular fixed surface extending down to the lower fuselage beam. The pilot sat astride the upper fuselage beam. The aircraft was equipped with three broad floats: one at the front of the aircraft, the other two mounted on struts extending down from the wing. It successfully took off and flew for a distance of about 500 metres (1,600 ft) on 28 March 1910 at Étang de Berre , Martigues , Bouches-du-Rhône , France, being
272-490: Was a Warren truss girder with all members having a streamlined section. Two of these beams, one above the other and connected by three substantial struts, formed the fuselage of the aircraft. The wing, which had pronounced dihedral and whose leading edge was formed by an exposed Fabre beam, was mounted below the rear of the upper beam, and the Gnome Omega rotary engine driving a two-bladed pusher Chauvière propeller
289-400: Was mounted behind it. Additional bracing for the wings was provided by kingposts extending down from the leading edge at mid-span. There were two small foreplanes , which, like the wing, had exposed Fabre beams forming their leading edges, one mounted above the upper beam and the second on the strut connecting the two beams. A rectangular rear-mounted rudder was situated above the wing: below
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