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125-549: The use of seaplanes gradually tapered off after World War II, partially because of the investments in airports during the war but mainly because landplanes were less constrained by weather conditions that could result in sea states being too high to operate seaplanes while landplanes could continue to operate. In the 21st century, seaplanes maintain a few niche uses, such as for aerial firefighting , air transport around archipelagos, and access to undeveloped or roadless areas, some of which have numerous lakes. In British English, seaplane

250-584: A Methodist Episcopal clergyman , and Ruth Bramble. Glenn Curtiss had a younger sister, Rutha Luella, also born in Hammondsport. Although his formal education extended only to eighth grade , his early interest in mechanics and inventions was evident at his first job at the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company (later Eastman Kodak Company ) in Rochester, New York . His job at the factory

375-436: A Western Union bicycle messenger , a bicycle racer, and bicycle-shop owner. In 1901, he developed an interest in motorcycles when internal-combustion engines became more available. In 1902, Curtiss began manufacturing motorcycles with his own single-cylinder engines. His first motorcycle's carburetor was adapted from a tomato soup can containing a gauze screen to pull the gasoline up by capillary action . In 1903, he set

500-692: A motorcycle land speed record at 64 miles per hour (103 km/h) for one mile (1.6 km). When E.H. Corson of the Hendee Mfg Co (manufacturers of Indian motorcycles ) visited Hammondsport in July 1904, he was amazed that the entire Curtiss motorcycle enterprise was located in the back room of the modest "shop". Corson's motorcycles had just been trounced the week before by "Hell Rider" Curtiss in an endurance race from New York to Cambridge, Maryland . On January 24, 1907, Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 miles per hour (219.45 km/h), on

625-616: A 40 horsepower (30 kW) 269 cu in (4,410 cc) V-8-powered motorcycle of his own design and construction in Ormond Beach, Florida . The air-cooled F-head engine was intended for use in aircraft. He remained "the fastest man in the world", the title the newspapers gave him, until 1911, and his motorcycle record was not broken until 1930. This motorcycle is now in the Smithsonian Institution . Curtiss's success at racing strengthened his reputation as

750-604: A Bambi bucket. Airtankers or water bombers are fixed-wing aircraft fitted with tanks that can be filled on the ground at an air tanker base or, in the case of flying boats and amphibious aircraft , by skimming water from lakes, reservoirs, or large rivers without needing to land. Various aircraft have been used over the years for firefighting. In 1947, the United States Air Force and United States Forest Service experimented with military aircraft dropping water-filled bombs. The bombs were unsuccessful, and

875-425: A Curtiss "grass cutter" to become the first Naval aviator. Curtiss custom built floats and adapted them onto a Model D so it could take off and land on water to prove the concept. On February 24, 1911, Curtiss made his first amphibious demonstration at North Island by taking off and alighting on both land and water. Back in Hammondsport, six months later in July 1911, Curtiss sold the U.S. Navy their first aircraft,

1000-488: A United States naval aviator in an M.5 The German aircraft manufacturing company Hansa-Brandenburg built flying boats starting with the model Hansa-Brandenburg GW in 1916, and had a degree of military success with their Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 two-seat floatplane fighter the following year, being the primary aircraft flown by Imperial Germany's maritime fighter ace, Friedrich Christiansen . The Austro-Hungarian firm Lohner-Werke began building flying boats, starting with

1125-651: A Wright Model B floatplane, by Frank Coffyn in 1911. The Wright Brothers, widely celebrated for their breakthrough aircraft designs, were slower to develop a seaplane; Wilbur died in 1912, and the company was bogged down in lawsuits. However, by 1913, the Wright Brother company developed the Wright Model CH Flyer. In 1913, the Wright company also came out withe Wright Model G Aerboat, which was

1250-661: A combined fleet of 23 aircraft. Borate salts used in the past to fight wildfires have been found to sterilize the soil and be toxic to animals so are now prohibited. Newer retardants use ammonium sulfate or ammonium polyphosphate with attapulgite clay thickener or diammonium phosphate with a guar gum derivative thickener. Fire retardants often contain wetting agents , preservatives and rust inhibitors and are colored red with ferric oxide or fugitive color to mark where they have been dropped. Brand names of fire retardants for aerial application include Fortress and Phos-Chek . Some water-dropping aircraft carry tanks of

1375-583: A crew of five, which became known as the Curtiss NC . Three of the four NC flying boats built attempted a transatlantic crossing in 1919. Thus NC-4 became the first aircraft to be flown across the Atlantic Ocean, (a feat quickly overshadowed by the first non-stop Atlantic crossing by Alcock and Brown ,) while NC-1 and NC-3 were unable to continue past the Azores . NC-4 is now on permanent display in

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1500-610: A curious public; Curtiss took full advantage of these occasions to promote his products. This was a busy period for Glenn Curtiss. In August 1909, Curtiss took part in the Grande Semaine d'Aviation aviation meeting at Reims , France , organized by the Aéro-Club de France . The Wrights , who were selling their machines to customers in Germany at the time, decided not to compete in person. Two Wright aircraft (modified with

1625-459: A feature of both flying-boat hulls and seaplane floats. The resulting aircraft would be large enough to carry sufficient fuel to fly long distances and could berth alongside ships to take on more fuel. Porte then designed a similar hull for the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat which, while larger and more capable than the H-4s, shared failings of a weak hull and poor water handling. The combination of

1750-462: A five-seat Sanchez-Besa from 1 August 1912. The French Navy ordered its first floatplane in 1912. On May 10, 1912 Glenn L. Martin flew a homemade seaplane in California , setting records for distance and time. In 1911−12, François Denhaut constructed the first seaplane with a fuselage forming a hull, using various designs to give hydrodynamic lift at take-off. Its first successful flight

1875-641: A glide." At Felixstowe, Porte made advances in flying-boat design and developed a practical hull design with the distinctive "Felixstowe notch". Porte's first design to be implemented in Felixstowe was the Felixstowe Porte Baby , a large, three-engined biplane flying boat, powered by one central pusher and two outboard tractor Rolls-Royce Eagle engines. Porte modified an H-4 with a new hull whose improved hydrodynamic qualities made taxiing, take-off and landing much more practical and called it

2000-418: A guar gum derivative to thicken the water and reduce runoff. Helicopters can hover over the fire and drop water or retardant. The S-64 Helitanker has microprocessor -controlled doors on its tank. The doors are controlled based on the area to be covered and wind conditions. Fixed-wing aircraft must make a pass and drop water or retardant like a bomber. Spotter (Air Tactical Group Supervisor) aircraft often orbit

2125-608: A hanging snorkel. Popular firefighting helicopters include variants of the Bell UH-1H Super Huey, Bell 204 , Bell 205 , Bell 212 , Boeing Vertol 107 , Boeing Vertol 234 , Sikorsky S-70 "Firehawk" and the Sikorsky S-64 Aircrane helitanker, which features a snorkel for filling from a natural or man-made water source while in hover. Currently the world's largest helicopter, the Mil Mi-26 , uses

2250-657: A hulled seaplane resulted in the 1913 Model E and Model F , which he called "flying-boats". In February 1911, the United States Navy took delivery of the Curtiss Model E and soon tested landings on and take-offs from ships, using the Curtiss Model D. There were experiments by aviators to adapt the Wright Model B to a water landing. The first motion picture recorded from an airplane was from

2375-483: A landing gear) were at the meet, but they did not win any events. On August 28, 1909, flying his No. 2 biplane , Curtiss won the overall speed event, the Gordon Bennett Cup , completing the 20-km (12.5-mile) course in just under 16 minutes at a speed of 46.5 mph (74.8 km/h), six seconds faster than runner-up Louis Blériot . On May 29, 1910, Curtiss flew from Albany to New York City to make

2500-512: A larger, more elaborate fifth-wheel vehicle, which he manufactured and sold under the name Aerocar. Shortly before his death, he designed a tailless aircraft with a V-shaped wing and tricycle landing gear that he hoped could be sold in the price range of a family car. The Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a successor to the original Wright Company, ultimately merged with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company on July 5, 1929, forming

2625-525: A leading maker of high-performance motorcycles and engines. In 1904, Curtiss became a supplier of engines for the California "aeronaut" Tom Baldwin , who inspired Curtiss to pursue aviation. In that same year, Baldwin's California Arrow , powered by a Curtiss 9 HP V-twin motorcycle engine, became the first successful dirigible in America. In 1907, Alexander Graham Bell invited Curtiss to develop

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2750-406: A maximum payload of about 12,000 litres (3,200 US gal) of water, making "scoops" in suitable stretches of water in 14 seconds. Bombardier's Dash 8 Q Series aircraft are the basis of new, next-generation air tankers. Cascade Aerospace has converted two pre-owned Q400s to act as part-time water bomber and part-time transport aircraft for France's Sécurité Civile , while Neptune Aviation

2875-681: A member of the Royal Naval Air Service . Appointed Squadron Commander of Royal Navy Air Station Hendon , he soon convinced the Admiralty of the potential of flying boats and was put in charge of the naval air station at Felixstowe in 1915. Porte persuaded the Admiralty to commandeer (and later, purchase) the America and a sister craft from Curtiss. This was followed by an order for 12 more similar aircraft, one Model H-2 and

3000-576: A number of Convair 580 and Fokker F27 Friendship turboprop airliners to air tankers. The largest aerial firefighter ever used is a Boeing 747 aerial firefighter, known as the Global Supertanker , that can carry 19,600 US gallons (74,200 L) fed by a pressurized drop system. The Supertanker was deployed operationally for the first time in 2009, fighting a fire in Spain. The tanker made its first American operation on August 31, 2009, at

3125-502: A partner to produce an aircraft with him to win the Daily Mail prize for the first transatlantic crossing . In 1912, Curtiss produced the two-seat Flying Fish , a larger craft that became classified as a flying boat because the hull sat in the water; it featured an innovative notch (known as a "step") in the hull that Porte recommended for breaking clear of the water at takeoff . Curtiss correctly surmised that this configuration

3250-641: A race at the world's first international air meet in France and made the first long-distance flight in the U.S. His contributions in designing and building aircraft led to the formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company , which later merged into the Curtiss-Wright Corporation . His company built aircraft for the U.S. Army and Navy, and, during the years leading up to World War I, his experiments with seaplanes led to advances in naval aviation. Curtiss civil and military aircraft were some of

3375-595: A result of this action, British flying boats were dazzle-painted to aid identification in combat. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company independently developed its designs into the small Model F, the larger Model K (several of which were sold to the Russian Naval Air Service), and the Model C for the U.S. Navy. Curtiss, among others, also built the Felixstowe F.5 as the Curtiss F5L , based on

3500-528: A seaplane with an enclosed cabin (a first for the company);the chief engineer of this version was Grover Loening . In Britain, Captain Edward Wakefield and Oscar Gnosspelius began to explore the feasibility of flight from water in 1908. They decided to make use of Windermere in the Lake District , England's largest lake . The latter's first attempts to fly attracted large crowds, though

3625-443: A small town on a lake in upstate New York. A patent lawsuit by the Wright brothers against Curtiss in 1909 continued until it was resolved during World War I. Since the last Wright aircraft, the Wright Model L, was a single prototype of a "scouting" aircraft, made in 1916, the U.S. government , desperately short of combat aircraft, pressured both firms to resolve the dispute. Of nine suits Wright brought against Curtiss and others and

3750-486: A suitable engine for heavier-than-air flight experimentation. Bell regarded Curtiss as "the greatest motor expert in the country" and invited Curtiss to join his Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). Between 1908 and 1910, the AEA produced four aircraft, each one an improvement over the last. Curtiss primarily designed the AEA's third aircraft, Aerodrome #3, the famous June Bug , and became its test pilot, undertaking most of

3875-520: A towed kite glider on floats. The first of his unpowered flights was 150 yards (140 m). He later built a powered floatplane in partnership with Louis Blériot , but the machine was unsuccessful. Other pioneers also attempted to attach floats to aircraft in Britain, Australia, France and the United States. On 28 March 1910, Frenchman Henri Fabre flew the first successful powered seaplane,

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4000-528: A trainer. They were some of the most famous products of the Curtiss company, and thousands were sold to the militaries of the United States, Canada, and Britain. Civilian and military aircraft demand boomed, and the company grew to employ 18,000 workers in Buffalo and 3,000 workers in Hammondsport. In 1917, the U.S. Navy commissioned Curtiss to design a long-range, four-engined flying boat large enough to hold

4125-423: Is converting a pre-owned Q300 as a prototype to augment its Lockheed P-2 Neptune aircraft. The Sécurité Civile also operates twelve Canadair CL-415 and nine Conair Turbo Firecat aircraft. Neptune Aviation also currently operates converted British Aerospace 146 jetliners as air tankers. The BAe 146 can carry up to 3,000 gallons of fire fighting retardant. Air Spray USA Ltd. of Chico, California has also converted

4250-588: Is dedicated to Curtiss' life and work. Curtiss' famed airplane appeared on a 1918 issue U. S. airmail stamp . along with fifteen other US airmail stamps, (including the first air mail stamps), and on the stamps of at least 17 other countries. Curtiss himself appeared on the cover of Time in 1924. There is a Curtiss Avenue in Hammondsport, NY, along with the Glenn Curtiss Elementary School. Carson, CA has Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle School and Glenn Curtiss Street. Glenn H. Curtiss Road

4375-834: Is sometimes used specifically to refer to a floatplane, rather than a flying boat. The word "seaplane" is used to describe two types of air/water vehicles: the floatplane and the flying boat . The term "seaplane" is used by some to mean "floatplane". This is the standard British usage. This article treats both flying boats and floatplanes as types of seaplane, in the US fashion. An amphibious aircraft can take off and land both on conventional runways and water. A true seaplane can only take off and land on water. There are amphibious flying boats and amphibious floatplanes, as well as some hybrid designs, e.g. , floatplanes with retractable floats. Modern (2019) production seaplanes range in size from flying-boat type light-sport aircraft amphibians, such as

4500-531: Is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires . The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters . Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing aircraft , or rappelling from helicopters . Chemicals used to fight fires may include water, water enhancers such as foams and gels , and specially formulated fire retardants such as Phos-Chek . The idea of fighting forest fires from

4625-405: Is used in official documentation. The term " waterbomber " is used in some Canadian government documents for the same class of vehicles, though it sometimes has a connotation of amphibians . Air attack is an industry term used for the actual application of aerial resources, both fixed-wing and rotorcraft, on a fire. Within the industry, though, "air attack" may also refer to the supervisor in

4750-545: The Aero Club of America , because the first batch of licenses were issued in alphabetical order; Wilbur Wright received license #5. At the culmination of the Aerial Experiment Association's experiments, Curtiss offered to purchase the rights to Aerodrome #3, essentially using it as the basis of his Curtiss No. 1 , the first of his production series of pusher aircraft. After a 1909 fall-out with

4875-506: The America , now called the H-4, from Curtiss. Porte licensed and further developed the designs, constructing a range of Felixstowe long-range patrol aircraft, and from his experience passed along improvements to the hull to Curtiss. The later British designs were sold to the U.S. forces, or built by Curtiss as the F5L . The Curtiss factory also built a total of 68 "Large Americas", which evolved into

5000-666: The Cessna 337 . The Beechcraft Baron was long used as a leadplane or air attack ship, but most were retired in 2003; more common now is the Beechcraft King Air and the Twin Commander 690 . A Cessna Citation 500 jet owned by Air Spray (1967) LTd. was used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests beginning in 1995 and used for two fire seasons to lead the very fast Electra L188 air tanker to

5125-469: The Collier Trophy for designing this aircraft. Henry Kleckler, considered Curtiss' "right hand man", and a "master innovator and mechanic", was also a native of Hammondsport and worked with Curtiss in developing more efficient engines for the "flying boats" pioneered and developed by Curtiss. Around this time, Curtiss met retired British naval officer John Cyril Porte , who was looking for

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5250-711: The Curtiss-Wright company, shortly before Curtiss's death. Curtiss, working with the head of the Smithsonian Institution Charles Walcott, sought to discredit the Wrights and rehabilitate the reputation of Samuel Langley , a former head of the Smithsonian, who failed in his attempt at powered flight. Secretly, Curtiss extensively modified Langley's 1903 aerodrome (aircraft) then demonstrated in 1914 that it could fly. In turn,

5375-618: The Dornier Wal in 1924. The enormous Do X was powered by 12 engines and carried 170 people. It flew across the Atlantic to the Americas in 1929, It was the largest flying boat of its time, but was severely underpowered and was limited by a very low operational ceiling. Only three were built, with a variety of engines installed, in an attempt to overcome the lack of power. Two of these were sold to Italy. The military value of flying boats

5500-485: The Felixstowe F.1 . Porte's innovation of the "Felixstowe notch" enabled the craft to overcome suction from the water more quickly and break free for flight much more easily. This made operating the craft far safer and more reliable. The "notch" breakthrough would soon after evolve into a "step", with the rear section of the lower hull sharply recessed above the forward lower hull section, and that characteristic became

5625-604: The Gnome Omega -powered hydravion , a trimaran floatplane . Fabre's first successful take off and landing by a powered seaplane inspired other aviators, and he designed floats for several other flyers. The first hydro-aeroplane competition was held in Monaco in March 1912, featuring aircraft using floats from Fabre, Curtiss, Tellier and Farman. This led to the first scheduled seaplane passenger services, at Aix-les-Bains , using

5750-715: The H-12 , the only American designed and built aircraft to see combat in World War I. As 1916 approached, the United States was feared to be drawn into the conflict. The Army's Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps ordered the development of a simple, easy-to-fly-and-maintain, two-seat trainer. Curtiss created the JN-4 "Jenny" for the Army, and the N-9 seaplane version for the Navy, designed as

5875-643: The Icon A5 and AirMax SeaMax , to the 100,000 lb ShinMaywa US-2 and Beriev Be-200 multi-role amphibians. Examples in between include the Dornier Seastar flying-boat type, 12-seat, utility amphibian and the Canadair CL-415 amphibious water-bomber. The Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter and Cessna Caravan utility aircraft have landing gear options which include amphibious floats. Taking off on water

6000-509: The Lohner E in 1914 and the later (1915) widely copied Lohner L . In September 1919, British company Supermarine started operating the first flying-boat service in the world, from Woolston to Le Havre in France , but it was short-lived. A Curtiss NC-4 became the first airplane to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919, crossing with multiple stops via the Azores . Of the four that made

6125-694: The Miami Springs Villas House, Dar-Err-Aha, MSTR No. 2, or Glenn Curtiss House . The Glenn Curtiss House, after years of disrepair and frequent vandalism, is being refurbished to serve as a museum in his honor. His frequent hunting trips into the Florida Everglades led to a final invention, the Adams Motor "Bungalo", a forerunner of the modern recreational vehicle trailer (named after his business partner and half-brother, G. Carl Adams). Curtiss later developed this into

6250-1095: The Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998, and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2003. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has a collection of Curtiss's original documents as well as a collection of airplanes, motorcycles and motors. LaGuardia Airport was originally called Glenn H. Curtiss Airport when it began operation in 1929. Other Curtiss honors include: Naval Aviation Hall of Honor; OX-5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame; Empire State Aviation Hall of Fame; Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame; International Air & Space Hall of Fame; Long Island Air & Space Hall of Fame; Great Floridians 2000; Steuben County (NY) Hall of Fame; Hammondsport School Lifetime Achievements Wall of Fame; Florida Aviation Hall of Fame; Smithsonian Institution Langley Medal; Top 100 Stars of Aerospace and Aviation; Doctor of Science ( honoris causa ), University of Miami. The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport

6375-614: The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida . Peace brought cancellation of wartime contracts. In September 1920, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company underwent a financial reorganization. Glenn Curtiss cashed out his stock in the company for $ 32 million and retired to Florida. He continued on as a director of the company, but served only as an adviser on design. Clement M. Keys gained control of

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6500-798: The Oak Glen Fire . It has since been replaced by a Boeing 747-400 . Another wide body jetliner that is currently being used as an air tanker is the modified McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 operated by the 10 Tanker Air Carrier company as the DC-10 Air Tanker . It can carry up to 12,000 US gallons (45,400 L) of fire fighting retardant. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations operates convertible-to-cargo Ilyushin Il-76 airtankers that have been operating with 11,000-US-gallon (41,600 L) tanking systems, and several Beriev Be-200 jet powered amphibian aircraft . The Be-200 can carry

6625-662: The Short S.8 Calcutta . In 1928, four Supermarine Southampton flying boats of the RAF Far East flight arrived in Melbourne , Australia . The flight was considered proof that flying boats had become a reliable means of long-distance transport. In the 1930s, flying boats made it possible to have regular air transport between the U.S. and Europe, opening up new air travel routes to South America, Africa, and Asia. Foynes , Ireland and Botwood , Newfoundland and Labrador were

6750-416: The Sopwith Aviation Company produced the "Bat Boat", an aircraft with a consuta laminated hull that could operate from land or on water, which today is called an amphibious aircraft . The "Bat Boat" completed several landings on sea and on land and was duly awarded the Mortimer Singer Prize . It was the first all-British aeroplane capable of making six return flights over five miles within five hours. In

6875-505: The fuselage in the interplane gap. Wingtip pontoons were attached directly below the lower wings near their tips. The design (later developed into the Model H ) resembled Curtiss's earlier flying boats but was built considerably larger so it could carry enough fuel to cover 1,100 mi (1,800 km). The three crew members were accommodated in a fully enclosed cabin. Trials of the America began 23 June 1914 with Porte also as Chief Test Pilot; testing soon revealed serious shortcomings in

7000-490: The 123-foot-span five-engined Felixstowe Fury triplane (also known as the "Porte Super-Baby" or "PSB"). F.2, F.3, and F.5 flying boats were extensively employed by the Royal Navy for coastal patrols and to search for German U-boats . In 1918, they were towed on lighters towards the northern German ports to extend their range; on 4 June 1918, this resulted in three F.2As engaging in a dogfight with ten German seaplanes, shooting down two confirmed and four probables at no loss. As

7125-433: The A-1 Triad . The A-1, which was primarily a seaplane, was equipped with retractable wheels, also making it the first amphibious aircraft. Curtiss trained the Navy's first pilots and built their first aircraft. For this, he is considered in the US to be "The Father of Naval Aviation". The Triad was immediately recognized as so obviously useful, it was purchased by the U.S. Navy, Russia, Japan, Germany, and Britain. Curtiss won

7250-431: The AEA, Curtiss joined with A. M. Herring (and backers from the Aero Club of America ) to found the Herring-Curtiss Company in Hammondsport. During the 1909–1910 period, Curtiss employed a number of demonstration pilots, including Eugene Ely , Charles K. Hamilton , J.A.D. McCurdy , Augustus Post , and Hugh Robinson . Aerial competitions and demonstration flights across North America helped to introduce aviation to

7375-604: The B747 Supertanker. Other former military aircraft utilized as firefighting air tankers in the U.S. in the past included the B-17 and the PB4Y-2 , a version of the B-24 . The Lead Plane function directs the activities of the airtankers by both verbal target descriptions and by physically leading the airtankers on the drop run. The leadplane is typically referred to as a "Bird Dog" in Canada or "Supervision" aircraft in Australia. The O-2 Skymaster , Cessna 310 and OV-10 Bronco have been used as spotter and lead plane platforms. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has also used

7500-450: The BAe 146 jetliner to the role of air tanker. Another modern-era passenger aircraft that has now been converted for aerial firefighting missions in the U.S. is the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 jetliner operated by Erickson Aero Tanker. The MD-87 can carry up to 4,000 gallons of fire fighting retardant. Coulson Aviation unveiled a Boeing 737-300 firefighting conversion in May 2017. Six aircraft have been purchased from Southwest Airlines for

7625-407: The Erickson AirCrane, are also outfitted with a front-mounted foam cannon. Buckets are usually filled by submerging or dipping them in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, or portable tanks. The most popular of the buckets is the flexible Bambi Bucket . Tanks can be filled on the ground (by water tenders or truck-mounted systems) or water can be siphoned from lakes, rivers, reservoirs, or a portable tank through

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7750-417: The L series and progressing with the M series. The Macchi M.5 , in particular, was extremely manoeuvrable and agile and matched the land-based aircraft it had to fight. Two hundred forty-four were built in total. Towards the end of World War I, the aircraft were flown by Italian Navy Aviation, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps airmen. Ensign Charles Hammann won the first Medal of Honor awarded to

7875-415: The Navy, but more significant, as far as the Navy was concerned, was Eugene Ely successfully landing his Curtiss pusher (the same aircraft used to take off from the Birmingham ) on a makeshift platform mounted on the rear deck of the battleship USS Pennsylvania . This was the first arrester-cable landing on a ship and the precursor of modern-day carrier operations. On January 28, 1911, Ellyson took off in

8000-445: The RADS system conversion which was planned to enter service in December 2017. The 737 aircraft is smaller than the C-130Q which allows for a wider range of airfields to be utilized. Britt Coulson further stated the aircraft will be able to retain the current seat and galley configuration for tanker operations. On 22 November 2018, the 737 was used for the first time to fight a fire near Newcastle, Australia. In July 2022, Airbus tested

8125-439: The S-2T) as used by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), as well as the Conair Firecat version developed and used by Conair Group Inc. of Canada, while the Douglas DC-4 , the Douglas DC-7 , the Lockheed C-130 Hercules , the Lockheed P-2 Neptune , and the Lockheed P-3 Orion – and its commercial equivalent, the L-188 Electra – have been used as air tankers. Conair also converted

8250-415: The Short Empire flying boats was the strange-looking Maia and Mercury . It was a four-engined floatplane Mercury (the winged messenger) fixed on top of Maia , a heavily modified Short Empire flying boat. The larger Maia took off, carrying the smaller Mercury loaded to a weight greater than it could take off with. This allowed the Mercury to carry sufficient fuel for a direct trans-Atlantic flight with

8375-425: The Smithsonian endorsed the false statement that "Professor Samuel P. Langley had actually designed and built the first man-carrying flying machine capable of sustained flight." Walcott ordered the plane modified by Curtiss to be returned to its original 1903 condition before going on display at the Smithsonian to cover up the deception. In 1928 the Smithsonian Board of Regents reversed its position and acknowledged that

8500-427: The US, Wanamaker's commission built on Glen Curtiss's previous development and experience with the Curtiss Model F for the U.S. Navy, which rapidly resulted in the America , designed under Porte's supervision following his study and rearrangement of the flight plan; the aircraft was a conventional biplane design with two-bay, unstaggered wings of unequal span with two pusher inline engines mounted side-by-side above

8625-436: The United States, most of these aircraft are privately owned and contracted to government agencies, and the National Guard and the U.S. Marines also maintain fleets of firefighting aircraft. On May 10, 2004, The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that they were cancelling contracts with operators of 33 heavy airtankers. They cited liability concerns and an inability to safely manage

8750-419: The Wright Brothers deserved the credit for the first flight. Traveling to Rochester to contest a lawsuit brought by former business partner August Herring , Curtiss suffered an attack of appendicitis in court. He died on July 23, 1930, in Buffalo, New York , of complications from an appendectomy . His funeral service was held at St. James Episcopal Church in his home town, Hammondsport, with interment in

8875-566: The aerial firefighting capacity of the A400M using a roll-on/roll-off kit comprising a 20-tonne water tank and piping allowing the load to be expelled from the end of the cargo ramp. All links, citations and data sources are listed in the paragraph above. For accident and grounding citations, see paragraph below table. Category legend: Light: under 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L), Medium: under 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L), Heavy: under 20,000 US gallons (76,000 L), Super heavy: over 20,000 US gallons (76,000 L) – currently only used for

9000-708: The aerial firefighting fleet, newer purpose-built tankers have since come online. The smallest are the Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs). These are agricultural sprayers that generally drop about 800 US gallons (3,000 L) of water or retardant. Examples include the Air Tractor AT-802 , which can deliver around 800 gallons of water or fire retardant solution in each drop, and the Soviet Antonov An-2 biplane. Both of these aircraft can be fitted with floats that scoop water from

9125-437: The air (usually in a fixed-wing aircraft) who supervises the process of attacking the wildfire from the air, including fixed-wing airtankers, helicopters, and any other aviation resources assigned to the fire. The Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS), often called "air attack", is usually flying at an altitude above other resources assigned to the fire, often in a fixed-wing plane but occasionally (depending on assigned resources or

9250-484: The air dates back at least as far as Friedrich Karl von Koenig-Warthausen 's observations on seeing a blaze when overflying the Santa Lucia Range , California, in 1929. A wide variety of terminology has been used in the popular media for the aircraft (and methods) used in aerial firefighting. The terms airtanker or air tanker generally refer to fixed-wing aircraft based in the United States; "airtanker"

9375-419: The aircraft failed to take off and required a re-design of the floats incorporating features from the boat hulls of the lake's motor boat racing club member Isaac Borwick. Meanwhile, Wakefield ordered a floatplane similar to the design of the 1910 Fabre Hydravion. By November 1911, both Gnosspelius and Wakefield had aircraft capable of flight from water and awaited suitable weather conditions. Gnosspelius's flight

9500-699: The attempt, only one completed the flight. In 1923, the first successful commercial flying-boat service was introduced, with flights to and from the Channel Islands . After frequent appeals by the industry for subsidies, the Government decided that nationalization was necessary and ordered five aviation companies to merge to form the state-owned Imperial Airways of London (IAL). IAL became the international flag-carrying British airline, providing flying-boat passenger and mail-transport links between Britain and South Africa and India using aircraft such as

9625-472: The availability of qualified personnel) in a helicopter. Depending on the size, location, and assessed potential of the wildfire, the "air attack" or ATGS person may be charged with initial attack (the first response of firefighting assets on fire suppression), or with extended attack, the ongoing response to and management of a major wildfire requiring additional resources including engines, ground crews, and other aviation personnel and aircraft needed to control

9750-414: The company, which later became the nucleus of a large group of aviation companies. Curtiss and his family moved to Florida in the 1920s, where he founded 18 corporations, served on civic commissions, and donated extensive land and water rights. He co-developed the city of Hialeah with James Bright and developed the cities of Opa-locka and Miami Springs , where he built a family home, known variously as

9875-526: The considerable increase in the number and length of land-based runways during World War II. Further, as the speed and range of land-based aircraft increased, the commercial competitiveness of flying boats diminished; their design compromised aerodynamic efficiency and speed to accomplish the feat of waterborne takeoff and landing. Competing with new civilian jet aircraft like the de Havilland Comet and Boeing 707 proved impossible. Aerial firefighting Aerial firefighting , also known as waterbombing ,

10000-463: The design; it was under-powered, so the engines were replaced with more powerful tractor engines. There was also a tendency for the nose of the aircraft to try to submerge as engine power increased while taxiing on water. This phenomenon had not been encountered before, since Curtiss's earlier designs had not used such powerful engines nor large fuel/cargo loads and so were relatively more buoyant. In order to counteract this effect, Curtiss fitted fins to

10125-446: The early accidents were attributable to a poor understanding of handling while in contact with the water, the pair's efforts went into developing practical hull designs to make the transatlantic crossing possible. The two years before World War I's breakout also saw the privately produced pair of Benoist XIV biplane flying boats, designed by Thomas W. Benoist , initiate the start of the first heavier-than-air airline service anywhere in

10250-403: The end of 1910, Curtiss established a winter encampment at San Diego to teach flying to Army and Naval personnel. Here, he trained Lt. Theodore Ellyson , who became U.S. Naval Aviator #1, and three Army officers, 1st Lt. Paul W. Beck , 2nd Lt. George E. M. Kelly , and 2nd Lt. John C. Walker, Jr., in the first military aviation school. ( Chikuhei Nakajima , founder of Nakajima Aircraft Company ,

10375-399: The end of World War I. Another seventy were built, and these were followed by two F.2c, which were built at Felixstowe. In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. It was larger and heavier than the F.2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, but poorer agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war. The Felixstowe F.5

10500-505: The extra fuel load, they could make a direct trans-Atlantic flight. A Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow was used as the fuel tanker. The German Dornier Do X flying boat was noticeably different from its UK and U.S.-built counterparts. It had wing-like protrusions from the fuselage, called sponsons , to stabilize it on the water without the need for wing-mounted outboard floats. This feature was pioneered by Claudius Dornier during World War I on his Dornier Rs. I giant flying boat and perfected on

10625-699: The family plot at Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Hammondsport. By an act of Congress on March 1, 1933, Curtiss was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross , which now resides in the Smithsonian Institution . Curtiss was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1964, the International Aerospace Hall of Fame in 1965, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990,

10750-546: The feasibility of shooting at targets on the ground from an aircraft with Curtiss serving as pilot. One month later, in September, he trained Blanche Stuart Scott , who was possibly the first American woman pilot. The fictional character Tom Swift , who first appeared in 1910 in Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle and Tom Swift and His Airship , has been said to have been based on Glenn Curtiss. The Tom Swift books are set in

10875-739: The final Porte hull designs and powered by American Liberty engines . Meanwhile, the pioneering flying-boat designs of François Denhaut had been steadily developed by the Franco-British Aviation Company into a range of practical craft. Smaller than the Felixstowes, several thousand FBAs served with almost all of the Allied forces as reconnaissance craft, patrolling the North Sea, Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans. In Italy, several seaplanes were developed, starting with

11000-500: The fire and establish control lines or firelines ahead of the wildfire. A wide variety of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are used for aerial firefighting. In 2003, it was reported that "The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management own, lease, or contract for nearly 1,000 aircraft each fire season, with annual expenditures in excess of US$ 250 million in recent years". Helicopters may be fitted with tanks (helitankers) or they may carry buckets. Some helitankers, such as

11125-434: The fire at a higher altitude to coordinate the efforts of the smoke jumper, helicopter, media, and retardant-dropping aircraft, while lead planes fly low-level ahead of the airtankers to mark the trajectory for the drop, and ensure overall safety for both ground-based and aerial firefighters. Water is not usually dropped directly on flames because its effect is short-lived. Fire retardants are not typically used to extinguish

11250-595: The fire, but instead are used to contain the fire, or slow it down to allow ground crews to contain it. Because of this, retardants are usually dropped in front of or around a moving fire, rather than directly on it, creating a firebreak . Aerial firefighting is most effectively used in conjunction with ground-based efforts, as aircraft are only one weapon in the firefighting arsenal. However, there have been cases of aircraft extinguishing fires long before ground crews were able to reach them. Some firefighting aircraft can refill their tanks in mid-flight, by flying down to skim

11375-700: The fires. This was the first time a jet aircraft was used as a lead plane or "bird dog". The Department of Parks and Wildlife in Western Australia operates a fleet of nine American Champion Scouts 8GCBC during the summer months as spotter aircraft and Air Attack platforms. The Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon Territories contract to supply Twin Commander 690 as bird dog aircraft for their air tanker fleets. Air Spray owns 9 Twin Commander 690 for use as bird dog aircraft. In

11500-551: The first long-distance flight between two major cities in the U.S. For this 137-mile (220 km) flight, which he completed in just under four hours including one stop to refuel, he won a $ 10,000 prize offered by publisher Joseph Pulitzer and was awarded permanent possession of the Scientific American Trophy. In June 1910, Curtiss provided a simulated bombing demonstration to naval officers at Hammondsport. Two months later, Lt. Jacob E. Fickel demonstrated

11625-480: The first patent for a flying machine with a boat hull and retractable landing gear in 1876, but Austrian Wilhelm Kress is credited with building the first seaplane, Drachenflieger , in 1898, although its two 30 hp (22 kW) Daimler engines were inadequate for take-off, and it later sank when one of its two floats collapsed. On 6 June 1905, Gabriel Voisin took off and landed on the River Seine with

11750-458: The fleet after the wing failure and resulting crash of a C-130 A Hercules in California and a PB4Y-2 in Colorado during the summer of 2002. Both aged aircraft broke up in flight due to catastrophic fatigue cracks at the wing roots. After subsequent third-party examination and extensive testing of all USFS contracted heavy airtankers, three companies were awarded contracts and now maintain

11875-567: The largest aircraft built and flown by any of the Axis Powers . In November 1939, IAL was restructured into three separate companies: British European Airways , British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), and British South American Airways (which merged with BOAC in 1949), with the change being made official on 1 April 1940. BOAC continued to operate flying-boat services from the (slightly) safer confines of Poole Harbour during wartime, returning to Southampton in 1947. When Italy entered

12000-562: The mail. Unfortunately, this was too complex, and the Mercury had to be returned from America by ship. The Mercury did set some distance records before in-flight refuelling was adopted. Sir Alan Cobham devised a method of in-flight refuelling in the 1930s. In the air, the Short Empire could be loaded with more fuel than it could take off with. Short Empire flying boats serving the trans-Atlantic crossing were refueled over Foynes; with

12125-608: The most important types in the interwar and World War II eras. Glenn Curtiss was born in 1878 in Hammondsport, New York , situated on the southern tip of Keuka Lake , one of the Finger Lakes in New York. His mother was Lua Curtiss née Andrews and his father was Frank Richmond Curtiss a harness maker who had arrived in Hammondsport with Glenn's grandparents in 1876. Glenn's paternal grandparents were Claudius G. Curtiss,

12250-486: The new Porte-designed hull, this time fitted with two steps, with the wings of the H-12 and a new tail, and powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, was named the Felixstowe F.2 and first flew in July 1916, proving greatly superior to the Curtiss on which it was based. It was used as the basis for all future designs. It entered production as the Felixstowe F.2A, being used as a patrol aircraft, with about 100 being completed by

12375-522: The performance, twenty of the modified JRM-1 Mars were ordered. The first, named Hawaii Mars , was delivered in June 1945, but the Navy scaled back their order at the end of World War II, buying only the five aircraft which were then on the production line. The five Mars were completed, and the last delivered in 1947. After World War II, the use of flying boats rapidly declined for several reasons. The ability to land on water became less of an advantage owing to

12500-488: The prize should go to an American aircraft and commissioned the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company to design and build an aircraft capable of making the flight. Curtiss's development of the Flying Fish flying boat in 1913 brought him into contact with John Cyril Porte , a retired Royal Navy Lieutenant, aircraft designer and test pilot who was to become an influential British aviation pioneer. Recognising that many of

12625-537: The proving flights. On July 4, 1908, he flew 5,080 ft (1,550 m) to win the Scientific American Trophy and its $ 2,500 prize. This is considered to be the first pre-announced public flight of a heavier-than-air flying machine in America. The flight of the June Bug propelled Curtiss and aviation firmly into public awareness. On June 8, 1911, Curtiss received U.S. Pilot's License #1 from

12750-559: The remaining as Model H-4s . Four examples of the latter were assembled in the UK by Saunders . All of these were similar to the design of the America and, indeed, were all referred to as America s in Royal Navy service. The engines, however, were changed from the under-powered 160 hp Curtiss engines to 250 hp Rolls-Royce Falcon engines. The initial batch was followed by an order for 50 more (totalling 64 Americas overall during

12875-406: The sides of the bow to add hydrodynamic lift, but soon replaced these with sponsons , a type of underwater pontoon mounted in pairs on either side of a hull. These sponsons (or their engineering equivalents) and the flared, notched hull would remain a prominent feature of flying-boat hull design in the decades to follow. With the problem resolved, preparations for the crossing resumed. While the craft

13000-688: The surface of a body of water. Similar in configuration to the World War II–era Consolidated PBY Catalina , the Canadair CL-215 and its derivative the CL-415 are designed and built specifically for firefighting. The Croatian Air Force uses six CL-415s as well as six AT 802s for firefighting purposes. Medium-sized modified aircraft include the Grumman S-2 Tracker ( retrofitted with turboprop engines as

13125-610: The surface of large bodies of water. One example is the Bombardier CL-415 . This is particularly useful in rural areas where flying back to an airbase for refills may take too much time. In 2002 an Ontario CL-415 crew was able to refill 100 times within a 4-hour mission, delivering 162,000 US gallons (613,240 L) or 1,350,000 pounds (612 t) of water on a fire near Dryden, Ontario (June 1, 2002 Dryden fire # 10 Tanker #271 civil ident C-GOGE). Glenn Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930)

13250-499: The terminals for many early transatlantic flights. In areas where there were no airfields for land-based aircraft, flying boats could stop at small river, lake or coastal stations to refuel and resupply. The Pan Am Boeing 314 "Clipper" flying boats brought new exotic destinations like the Far East within reach and came to represent the romance of flight. By 1931, mail from Australia was reaching Britain in 16 days, or less than half

13375-506: The three suits brought against them, the Wright Brothers eventually won every case in courts in the United States. On November 14, 1910, Curtiss demonstration pilot Eugene Ely took off from a temporary platform mounted on the forward deck of the cruiser USS Birmingham . His successful takeoff and ensuing flight to shore marked the beginning of a relationship between Curtiss and the Navy that remained significant for decades. At

13500-452: The time taken by sea. In that year, government tenders on both sides of the world invited applications to run new passenger and mail services between the ends of the Empire, and Qantas and IAL were successful with a joint bid. A company under combined ownership was then formed, Qantas Empire Airways. The new ten-day service between Rose Bay, New South Wales , (near Sydney ) and Southampton

13625-487: The use of internal water tanks was adopted instead. The Mendocino Air Tanker Squad formed by Joseph Bolles Ely in 1956 was the first such unit in the United States to drop water and retardant on fires. Based at the Willows-Glenn County Airport it soon led the way for other agencies to form similar squads. Though World War II- and Korean War-era bombers were for a long time the mainstay of

13750-590: The vast distances of the Pacific Theater and Atlantic . They also sank numerous submarines and found enemy ships. In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck was discovered by a PBY Catalina flying out of Castle Archdale Flying boat base , Lower Lough Erne , Northern Ireland. The largest flying boat of the war was the Blohm & Voss BV 238 , which was also the heaviest plane to fly during World War II and

13875-660: The war in June 1940, the Mediterranean was closed to Allied planes and BOAC and Qantas operated the Horseshoe Route between Durban and Sydney using Short Empire flying boats. The Martin Company produced the prototype XPB2M Mars based on their PBM Mariner patrol bomber, with flight tests between 1941 and 1943. The Mars was converted by the Navy into a transport aircraft designated the XPB2M-1R. Satisfied with

14000-565: The war). Porte also acquired permission to modify and experiment with the Curtiss aircraft. The Curtiss H-4s were soon found to have a number of problems; they were underpowered, their hulls were too weak for sustained operations, and they had poor handling characteristics when afloat or taking off. One flying boat pilot, Major Theodore Douglas Hallam, wrote that they were "comic machines, weighing well under two tons; with two comic engines giving, when they functioned, 180 horsepower; and comic control, being nose heavy with engines on and tail heavy in

14125-652: The world, and the first airline service of any kind at all in the United States. At the same time, the British boat-building firm J. Samuel White of Cowes on the Isle of Wight set up a new aircraft division and produced a flying boat in the United Kingdom. This was displayed at the London Air Show at Olympia in 1913. In that same year, a collaboration between the S. E. Saunders boatyard of East Cowes and

14250-475: Was a 1912 graduate.) The original site of this winter encampment is now part of Naval Air Station North Island and is referred to by the Navy as "The Birthplace of Naval Aviation". Through the course of that winter, Curtiss was able to develop a float (pontoon) design that enabled him to take off and land on water. On January 26, 1911, he flew the first seaplane from the water in the United States. Demonstrations of this advanced design were of great interest to

14375-528: Was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904, he began to manufacture engines for airships. In 1908, Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association , a pioneering research group, founded by Alexander Graham Bell at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia , to build flying machines. Curtiss won

14500-515: Was attempted by some early flight attempts, but water take off and landing began in earnest in the 1910s and seaplanes pioneered transatlantic routes, and were used in World War I. They continued to develop before World War II, and had widespread use. After World War II, the creation of so many land airstrips meant water landings began to drift into special applications. They continued in niches such as access in remote areas, forest fire fighting, and maritime patrol. The Frenchman Alphonse Pénaud filed

14625-404: Was found to handle "heavily" on takeoff, and required rather longer take-off distances than expected, the full moon on 5 August 1914 was selected for the trans-Atlantic flight; Porte was to pilot the America with George Hallett as co-pilot and mechanic. Curtiss and Porte's plans were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. Porte sailed for England on 4 August 1914 and rejoined the Navy as

14750-534: Was intended to combine the good qualities of the F.2 and F.3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but, to ease production, the production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F.3, which resulted in lower performance than the F.2A or F.5. Porte's final design at the Seaplane Experimental Station was

14875-554: Was more suited to building a larger long-distance craft that could operate from water, and was also more stable when operating from a choppy surface. With the backing of Rodman Wanamaker , Porte and Curtiss produced the America in 1914, a larger flying boat with two engines, for the transatlantic crossing. With the start of World War I , Porte returned to service in the Royal Navy , which subsequently purchased several models of

15000-455: Was on 13 April 1912. Throughout 1910 and 1911, American pioneering aviator Glenn Curtiss developed his floatplane into the successful Curtiss Model D land-plane, which used a larger central float and sponsons. Combining floats with wheels, he made the first amphibian flights in February 1911 and was awarded the first Collier Trophy for US flight achievement. From 1912, his experiments with

15125-470: Was short-lived, as the aircraft crashed into the lake. Wakefield's pilot, however, taking advantage of a light northerly wind, successfully took off and flew at a height of 50 feet (15 m) to Ferry Nab, where he made a wide turn and returned for a perfect landing on the lake's surface. In Switzerland, Émile Taddéoli equipped the Dufaux 4 biplane with swimmers and successfully took off in 1912. A seaplane

15250-399: Was such a success that the volume of mail soon exceeded aircraft storage space. A solution was found by the British government, who had requested Short Brothers to design a large long-range monoplane for IAL in 1933. Partner Qantas purchased six Short Empire flying boats. Delivering the mail as quickly as possible generated a lot of competition and some innovative designs. One variant of

15375-694: Was to stencil numbers on the paper backing of the film manufactured by the company. He figured out how to speed up the process of stenciling and built a "stencil machine": a rack with a brush on a hinge which would stencil one hundred paper strips with a single stroke of the brush. This improved his throughput ten times, and eventually the company adopted his invention. He also built a rudimentary camera to study photography. On March 7, 1898, Curtiss married Lena Pearl Neff (1879–1951), daughter of Guy L. Neff and Jenny M. Potter, in Hammondsport, New York. They had two children: Carlton N. Curtiss (1901–1902) and Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1912–1969) Curtiss began his career as

15500-586: Was used during the Balkan Wars in 1913, when a Greek "Astra Hydravion" did a reconnaissance of the Turkish fleet and dropped four bombs. In 1913, the Daily Mail newspaper put up a £10,000 prize for the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic , which was soon "enhanced by a further sum" from the Women's Aerial League of Great Britain . American businessman Rodman Wanamaker became determined that

15625-472: Was well-recognized, and every country bordering on water operated them in a military capacity at the outbreak of the war. They were utilized in various tasks from anti-submarine patrol to air-sea rescue and gunfire spotting for battleships. Aircraft such as the PBM Mariner patrol bomber, PBY Catalina , Short Sunderland , and Grumman Goose recovered downed airmen and operated as scout aircraft over

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