Why did every country have a flying boat ?

[buffnut453]

Many a downed aircrew was grateful to see the ugly Shagbat approaching:

 

[WARSPITER]

Why did every country have a flying boat ? Because a floating plane would have been just silly.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

How about this?

Because they have need and requirement for one.

 

[WARSPITER]

How about this?

Because they have need and requirement for one.

Yeah... i didn't think of that.

 

[vikingBerserker]

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]

Well, in all fairness, the Fw200 *could* land on water.

Once...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeah... i didn't think of that.

I have no doubt you understand and know that.

 

[WARSPITER]

I have no doubt you understand and know that.

Well I certainly do now.

 

[VA5124]

But not as pretty as the Do 24.

Correction if we are picking a cute flying boat it has to go to the H8K

 

[Capt. Vick]

Boeing Sea Ranger all the way!

 

[SaparotRob]

Saunders-Roe Lerwick.

 

[Viking1066]

Flying boats are awesome! The Kawanishi H8K2 is one of the best most overlooked flying boats of WW2.

 

[EwenS]

Nah. Got to be the Saro Princess (even if it never got beyond the prototype stage).

Saunders-Roe Princess - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Or the Seamaster

 

[GrauGeist]

My pick is the BV238 for the beast category and the BV222 for functionality (and the world's largest gunfighter).

 

[Spindash64]

Naw. PBY is the PBJ of flying boats: not exactly a unique pick, but there's a reason for that.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Postwar would be Martin P6M Seamaster, hands down

 

[muskeg13]

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.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Nah. Got to be the Saro Princess (even if it never got beyond the prototype stage).

Saunders-Roe Princess - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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]

What was the point of flying boats they were slow lumbering weekly armed aircraft , If you need patrol aircraft use a medium bomber or if your greman use the condor. same answer applies to search and rescue . I dont understand the worlds affinty with flying boats someone please help

Kawanishi H8K "Emily"
Look this one up. 290mph and five 20mm cannons.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

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?