buffnut453
Captain
Many a downed aircrew was grateful to see the ugly Shagbat approaching:
Why did every country have a flying boat ?
- Thread starter VA5124
- Start date
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How about this?
Because they have need and requirement for one.
Because they have need and requirement for one.
Yeah... i didn't think of that.How about this?
Because they have need and requirement for one.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
I think in the Pacific it was key crittical to have one due to the distances and lack of land mass for runways. A wonderful benefit is they could land on the water and refuel from a ship, boat or another plane.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Well, in all fairness, the Fw200 *could* land on water.
Once...
Once...
I have no doubt you understand and know that.
Well I certainly do now.
- Thread starter
- #29
Correction if we are picking a cute flying boat it has to go to the H8KBut not as pretty as the Do 24.
Boeing Sea Ranger all the way!
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Saunders-Roe Lerwick.
Viking1066
1st Sergeant
Nah. Got to be the Saro Princess (even if it never got beyond the prototype stage).
en.wikipedia.org
Or the Seamaster
Saunders-Roe Princess - Wikipedia
Or the Seamaster
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
My pick is the BV238 for the beast category and the BV222 for functionality (and the world's largest gunfighter).
Spindash64
Airman
- 87
- Oct 21, 2021
Naw. PBY is the PBJ of flying boats: not exactly a unique pick, but there's a reason for that.
Postwar would be Martin P6M Seamaster, hands down
To expand a bit on points already made, flying boats were indispensable in the Pacific to provide long range heavy transport to small islands and atolls. These often had small airstrips but lacked sufficient land area to construct runways long enough to operate heavily loaded land-based aircraft with similar capacity as flying boats. Flying boats were a perfect match for use in/out of atolls with a large lagoon that protected the landing and take-off area from the open seas.
Although this is in "What If" territory, I believe the outcome of the Battle of Wake Island could have been much different if the USN either had a small dedicated fleet of Boeing 314 or Martin M130s based out of Hawaii in 1941 to service the outpost islands and atolls, or if the USN had acted more quickly to commandeer the Pan Am Clippers already in Hawaii in the days immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. A few more men and critical materiel, like additional fire control equipment for coastal and antiaircraft artillery could have made the difference.
Although this is in "What If" territory, I believe the outcome of the Battle of Wake Island could have been much different if the USN either had a small dedicated fleet of Boeing 314 or Martin M130s based out of Hawaii in 1941 to service the outpost islands and atolls, or if the USN had acted more quickly to commandeer the Pan Am Clippers already in Hawaii in the days immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. A few more men and critical materiel, like additional fire control equipment for coastal and antiaircraft artillery could have made the difference.
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Thumpalumpacus
Major
Nah. Got to be the Saro Princess (even if it never got beyond the prototype stage).
Saunders-Roe Princess - Wikipedia
View attachment 678213
Or the Seamaster
That's not an airplane, that's a flying food processor. "Salad for eighteen hundred, you say? Right-o, we can do that."
Howard Gibson
Senior Airman
Besides if they had not had flying boats what the hell would I have flown while assigned to anti U-Boot patrols in the Caribbean?
