Return of a Legend: How Seaplanes Are Making a Comeback | FD Engineering

foreign there's a heroic story reaching back to the earliest days of flying that is always thrilled and fascinated us the story of huge flying boats and Nimble float planes the story of seaplanes technically it's a bad boat and a bad plane but still it's the only thing that can do both their epic tale began as an almost accidental footnote to the history of Aviation the man who became world famous for inventing the seaplane was Ali fabul he sat down in his plane for the very first time and took off on his Maiden flight Brave and ingenious men and women risked their lives to make these machines more reliable technical prowess did not always scale up well the 1930s were the Glory Days of the ocean liners of the Skies [Music] seaplanes seem to have had their day but they're still alive and well because of all the places in the world that can't be reached by land the Canadian Beaver the ultimate Backwoods float plane gave seaplanes a new lease on life in the 1950s they can take you to the wildest remotest places wherever there's a river or a lake or a Shore you can get to it that's the Wonder of seaplanes nowadays the beaver and its successor the twin otter are the most widely used seaplanes in North America in many places around the world such as Vancouver and Canada seaplanes are a normal means of transport and fit seamlessly into the downtown Fabric in France you take the tube to get to work Vancouver we take the seaplane a berry of 200 water bomber could force firefighters Ally alongside the legendary candidaire in the popular imagination and even among firefighters is little short of magical the ultimate first responder but seaplanes are already rising to New Challenges as global warming hits our planet they could be the new Saint Bernards of the sea the other end of the scale Engineers are playing the odds on featherweight high-tech sea plans Utopias often give rise to some of the best inventions Einstein said to change society you have to change people and to do that you have to make them want to a century after their Maiden flight is a new golden age Dawning for seaplanes [Music] the Epic story of seaplanes began at the same time as flying itself as early as 1903 the Pioneer aviators used army training Fields as runways but they soon saw that they needed more space and that crashing on Solid Ground could easily be fatal these Pioneers had the idea of the test flying over water would be marginally safer if they crashed which is true at the sort of speeds they were flying at they had more chance of surviving than if they crashed on dry land in June 1905 French Pioneer Gabrielle voza lacked an engine powerful enough to take off with so he had his plane towed down the Sun by a motorboat the astonished locals watched it lift off and remain Airborne for several seconds at a height of about 20 meters the 150 meter flight was a promising start for Gabrielle boison but his aircraft was still only a glider not a seaplane among the real Pioneers the man who became world famous for inventing the seaplane was Ali Farber in 1910 at the age of 27 he sat down in his plane for the very first time and took off on his Maiden flight from bear Lagoon which he'd invented himself was completely original it was a canal it's an aircraft with wings at the back and an elevator at the front which is the opposite of most planes and fob controlled his elevator from where he sat by means of a fishing rod his plane had three floats made of canvas he had quite some nerve to try taking off like that but amazingly he did it achieved his feat by fitting his plane with the most powerful engine of the day the 50 horsepower gnome Omega rotary engine that could Propel it at over 50 kilometers per hour just fast enough to take off he flew over the water for 800 meters the seaplane was born in the United States motorcycle Champion Glenn Curtis who had paid a visit to alifaba during the second aeronautical exhibition in Paris in 1910 also had a passion for seaplanes on January 26 1911 in San Diego Bay in California Glenn Curtis took off from the water aboard his plane The Pusher the Rivalry between French and Americans was only just beginning technology progressed in Leaps and Bounds on April 13 1912 possuador tried out his latest invention on the river sand it was a hybrid machine Park Boat Part airplane it was a seaplane with a hull in other words he built a boat and then stuck Wings on it had invented the world's first flying boat but his first attempts to take off didn't work because his Keel wasn't stabbed [Music] is the notch in the Keel of a seaplanes hall that gives it Dynamic support on the water but also helps it take off once it reaches a critical speed by allowing air to flow in at that point the step prevents the suction effect that holds the plane down on the water as it approaches takeoff speed it was invented by Glenn Curtis's Carpenter after Curtis complained that his plane was stuck down on the water his Carpenter had the idea of fixing a small plank of wood under the hull to help it take off [Music] physics 101 when a seaplane moves across the water a bow wave builds up in front of its floats this Alters the plane's pitch it makes it nose up as they say pilot has to ease the stick back the plane has to be traveling fast enough to surf on its bow wave before it can lift off [Music] before it lifts off the front part of the hull or floats is freed from the suction effect of the water if the flows had no step the surface area in contact with the water would not be reduced and the suction effect would hold the plane down [Music] seaplane flying instructors make a big point of explaining the role of the step bravo charlie ready to land because another difficulty awaits the seaplane pilot coming into land a swell or a glassy reflection can make it hard to gauge the seaplane's exact height off the water the pilot has to present the plane with its nose slightly up and at a very low speed in order to land correctly on the step good maintain your pitch attitude and keep your Spade steady by using the throttle a bit like a car accelerator you better throttle till you finish the flare touch down on the step nose up a little bit more that's good now throttle back good otherwise if the seaplane didn't touch down on the step it would land like a diver doing a belly flop and the plane could literally break into pieces okay the trouble with a seaplane is that technically it's a bad boat and a bad plane but still it's the only thing that can do both ever since the pioneering days seaplane flying has always been a skill that requires excellent knowledge of both the air and sea environments [Music] explorers realize they could travel anywhere and use them for shelter in case of danger in 1925 Norwegian explore Royal de Munson challenged himself to be the first person to fly a seaplane over the North Pole seated with his dhoni doje nicknamed Val the German for whale a Munson chose the german-made donier because of its reliability and long range it even saved his life when he was trapped in the ice for three weeks it was only thanks to the donia's sturdy Hull that he managed to pull himself free perfect exploration vehicle because it can take you to the wildest remotest places with no need for any equipment on the ground wherever there's a river or a lake or a Shore you can get to it that's the Wonder of seaplane in Africa and Indonesia the husband and wife team of filmmaking adventurers Martin and oza Johnson were famous for being the first great aerial Safari cinematographers with their two Sikorsky s38 and s-39c plans in Borneo they over flew the jungle in their s-39 which they christened a spirit of Africa the amphibious three-seater with its 300 horsepower Pratt and Whitney engine could fly at nearly 200 kilometers an hour it was light and fast and useful not only as an exploration vehicle but also as a home on wings from the beginning of aviation history in the 1920s Europeans and Americans alike had their sights on flying the Atlantic their only hope was to replace the wheels with floats that could land on the ocean in case of a breakdown but technical prowess did not always scale up well as the Italian Pilots of the Monstrous caproni triplane found out designed to carry a hundred passengers the mammoth caproni sported nine Wings stacked up in groups of three and eight 400 horsepower engines intended to fly it at a potentially record-breaking 130 kilometers per hour but the caproni's first flotation tests in January 1921 revealed its instability on March 4th it finally took off but crashed into Lake Maggiore Italy's seaplane dreams crashed with it [Music] the Golden Age of seaplanes began with this flying ocean liner the donier doax the flagship of German seaplanes gigantic flying boat was supposed to carry 160 passengers safely across the Atlantic it was powered by six pairs of 610 horsepower Curtis engines and its top speed was a staggering for the period 210 kilometers per hour but with its 52-ton maximum takeoff weight the donutox was so heavy that it sometimes took several attempts to lift itself clear of the sea in 1931 its promotional around the world tour Laden with voluntary passengers Drew big crowds wherever it went such as here in New York on August 27th when it landed at the foot of Manhattan skyscrapers but the dhonia Dux never made a commercial flight it was scrapped when Lufthansa decided it would not be profitable all of the iconic sea plans of the Golden Age were more or less underpowered the fact is their engines were totally inadequate for the weight and size of the aircraft over in France aircraft Builder Pierre Josh the pilot who opened the France to South America route for Iowa postal to blaze another Trail for French Aviation by carrying passengers across the Atlantic in 1935 he rolled out his candidate The Latte 521 so he built these giant airliners back then in the Golden Age of seaplanes around 1935-36 these flying boats were designed to compete with ocean liners like the Friendship Normandy in fact the famous latico air 521 which made test flights across the North Atlantic was nicknamed the Normandy of the area the difference San Antonio Texas in 1938 an International Airport was planned here the main French airport of its days by train from Paris Peril was planned complete with a casino and golf course and other amenities so the clients could pleasantly while away the time if bad weather delayed their flight [Music] but the futuristic project never took shape and the only latte 521 that was ever built never had the chance to carry any passengers in 1939 World War II broke out United States had not yet joined the war and were seeking to build big seaplanes that fly long distances safely and profitably soon after it was founded in 1927 the Pan-American Airways company invested massively in Boeing Clippers the only American civilian plane of its day with an InterContinental range in November 1935 pan am's China Clipper opened the San Francisco to Manila route Pan Am had a new economic Vision on every island where its seaplane stopped over it built its own luxury hotels these became in effect the first holiday resorts am and its China Clippers exported the American way of life around the globe Pan Am eventually replaced its China Clippers with Boeing 314s the creme de La Creme of seaplanes pan am's new flagship soon christened the American Clipper opened the first New York to Southampton route in June 1939. the Boeing 314 was built entirely of metal with high wings and four engines developing 6400 horsepower altogether its large fins or sponsens on either side of the Hall made underwing floats unnecessary and embarking and disembarking much easier this new flying giant of the Seas could carry 68 passengers at 340 kilometers per hour in absolute safety but could only be afforded by the very wealthy but Pan Am abandoned this first ever transoceanic route only six months later in October 1939 with a breakout of World War II [Music] in this race for technical Innovation the British had some very audacious ideas for increasing the range of their flying boats they fixed a small Mercury s20 float plane onto the roof of a short S21 Maya flying boat when the fully laden flying boat with its more limited range had to come down to refuel the s20 fired up its engines undocked from the roof of the S21 in mid-flight and flew on to deliver its cargo of mail without wasting a minute child away from April the second world war boosted technological progress the British and Americans built very high performance engines the airlines invested in New Generation Douglas dc-3s and Lockheed constellations 2 that revolutionized passenger transport meanwhile the war spurred the building of airstrips all over the world regular safe transatlantic and Pacific Services were set to thrive the days of flying boats were numbered although France still clung to its faith in them [Music] in 1945 France emerged from the war drained but determined to be a power in the air again The Latte 631 would be its Flagship and a showcase for French style luxury [Music] our weakness was our engine strength compared to the Americans French engines were 900 horsepower times six that's 5400 horsepower the Americans already had 10 or 15 000 so they could fly bigger faster and farther on the other hand laticoair went for the luxury business before bunks a flight to Martinique took a good 15 16 hours you had to put up with the noise which wasn't easy and it was a complicated machine complicated equals malfunction you could walk on the wings they were so wide that the mechanics would oil the engines in mid-flight [Music] in a kind of last hurray starting in the summer of 1947 latte 631s flew two round trips per month carrying passengers into great luxury to the French West Indies via Mauritania but a string of accidents brought the passenger service to an end in August 1948 and sounded the death now for this golden age of seaplanes in the prior Northwest where the railroad ends Freight takes to the airport in North America the 1950s ushered in a society of consumption and Mobility the pragmatic Canadians went about spreading economic growth to remote areas of the country by developing a network of regional air routes served by small civilian float plans able to carry both cargo and passengers these aircraft had to cope with the harsh conditions of the far American north and west and be able to land on the smallest of lakes each Community built the facilities required for the planes to do their weekly rounds happy landing and skillful too and no time wasted either Express 5215 Tire traffic over the Lionsgate outbound Beaver climbing to 1000. the BET paid off nowadays in Canada seaplanes are a means of Transport just like any other in Vancouver on the Pacific coast seaplanes land and take off downtown among all the shipping and none of the other watercraft or the authorities seem bothered by it but this dense and intricate traffic needs careful management in this downtown skyscraper air traffic controllers take turns on duty every day to oversee the safety of over 60 000 aircraft movements and 25 000 flights over the Vancouver Water Area Drome area job because the takeoff and Landing services are constantly changing the tower's point of view it is a difficult place to land because the the water area is always changing so it's not a Runway that's protected and sterile the runway is always changing there could be logs in it there are animals in it sometimes there are sometimes whales in the runway there are other boat traffic on the runway and so that definitely makes it a challenging place even a boat that comes by and creates wake and wave behind it will become a challenge for Pilots to land for its 200 daily flights Harbor Air Canada's largest seaplane company uses three types of aircraft beavers single otters and twin otters which carry between 6 and 19 passengers their clients are mostly business people in a hurry my boss would always say time is money Lana time is money get the job done quickly and efficiently in France you take the tube to get to work in Vancouver we take the seaplane [Music] this is the star of seaplane transport in Canada deliver to Haviland Canada dhc2 designed to transport loggers and Trappers in the wild it first rolled off the de Havilland Factory lines in 1947. the Trappers take their children to school in their beavers Inuits for example stole their fishing rods in the float and off they go designed for the Canadian wilderness the beaver had to be both sturdy and practical made entirely from aluminum alloy its cabin can carry seven passengers or 900 kilos of cargo it's rugged multi-purpose easy to switch landing gear enables it to land anywhere the beaver is as at home on float as it is on skis it came to be the all-around utility seaplane a flying Workhorse 70 years later a third of the 1657 beavers built are still flying in Canada and the United States it's thanks to the beaver that after a week's work this man Bill Baines is going home to gombe Island 60 kilometers north of Vancouver to maintain its usefulness the beaver had to be re-engineered in the 1980s its original nine-cylinder radial piston engine was no longer made and finding spare parts was getting difficult new Pratt and Whitney turbo crop engine was three times lighter and ran on kerosene an aviation fuel available everywhere this boosted its power from 450 to 600 horsepower giving it a maximum speed of 290 kilometers an hour Bill knows what he owes his old Beaver the chance to work in the city and live with his family in an unspoiled Paradise the channel so I can be picked up here at eight o'clock and I can be working by nine o'clock thank you very much so instead of a day and a half in travel it's an hour and 10 minutes in travel and I get a lot more real work done but the Beavers days are almost over the last survivors will soon be replaced by single and twin otters [Music] twin otters are the new buses of inter-regional Air transport Natasha Shoebridge Pilots them every day on the 40-minute shuttle between Vancouver and the provincial capital Victoria so amazing store characteristics it's good for taking off and so versatile you can put it on floats skis yeah absolutely amazing the twin otter is a stall a short takeoff in landing aircraft its greatest asset on floats it's twin 750 horsepower Pratt and Whitney turboprop engines can transport 19 passengers at a top speed of 340 kilometers an hour it is fitted with double slotted flaps that give steep inclination creating additional airflow beneath the wings when landing on water this cushion of air quickly slows the plane down with no risk of stalling its Landing distance is less than 320 meters when taking off this same cushion of air boosts the wings lift so we can take off in a short distance about 360 meters Viking The Constructor of the latest version of the twin otter the 400 series is today investing in seaplane pilot training which fell off everywhere after the second World War Pilots of land planes can now train for their seaplane license on a flight simulator based on the twin otter 400. and in particular test its stole performance in operation since November 2017 this flight simulator is one of a kind the world's first seaplane flight simulator the advantage of having a full flight simulator like this is that it takes pilot trading to a different level for Pilots that only train an airplane they're not actually able to duplicate everything that they could ever encounter but we can program everything in a simulator that they would encounter such as emergencies with engines or flight controls propellers anything like that and because they're able to practice emergencies that they would never be able to practice in the airplane it makes the pilot more experienced and ultimately safer just as the sturdiness and reliability of the Beaver opened up the Wilds of Canada in the 1950s the versatility of the twin otter can boost development of the most remote regions of China and India tomorrow so the Chinese and the Indian markets represent two really interesting markets for us because they have very large populations and governments which are trying to create Regional connectivity to allow their less service populations in the remote parts of the country to access the new economies that are existing in their in their territories developing Regional seaplane traffic could bring several benefits it could open up whole areas of India and China but also quite possibly help relieve airport congestion many countries are studying the options very closely according to a recent European study 280 cities around the world could gain from building seaplane harbors the most promising markets are obviously in China and India but there is faith in the future of seaplanes in France the birthplace of the seaplane Marine architect jacuzz Lee is working with ambitious entrepreneur Eve plandu on his plan to start up two passenger routes along the Atlantic and Mediterranean seaboards is obviously realistic it makes perfect sense because in so many places the big towns and capital cities are on the water not always on the sea but on big Rivers like Paris so first we'll have to build a network of sea bases from there we'll operate business routes but also a lot of tourist traffic there will be regular Air Services between the major coastal cities such as Rochelle or marcinis in 33 minutes none of those Services exist yet [Music] on a completely different scale the European group Airbus is also betting on seaplanes by teaming up with Russian aircraft Builder Berry Ave on its Berry f200 [Music] the world's first jet-powered amphibious aircraft the Barry f-200 is primarily a water bomber but can also carry 72 passengers and its Engineers have come up with some inventive solutions for on and offloading its passengers [Music] the seaplane project is going to use inflatable pontoons or Landing stages that are the perfect solution for disembarking passengers on what you might call flexible structures you'll see a barrier of 200 come in and park that is dark at a pontoon and you'll board it just like you do now by an air Bridge embarking from a seaplane was trickier for a bevy of starlets arriving to meet their fans at the Khan film festival in 1946. they all had a good laugh including the local fishermen who happily volunteered to land the lovely lady safely on the beach of the Carlton Hotel foreign [Music] is also designed to respond to humanitarian emergencies today with climate change and the disasters emergencies earthquakes and hurricanes that come with it standard runways are not always available and we need to use stretches of water this plane is going to save lives can transport Medevac services that is to say medical staff and their equipment to emergency locations the global warming affecting our planet is leading to an estimated rise in sea levels somewhere between 30 and 100 centimeters by the end of the century one in 10 people in the world that's 700 million people will be directly affected coastal cities and Villages may not be completely engulfed but they will be much more vulnerable to flooding and overwash the Barry f200's main selling point is its versatility but its primary purpose is to fight forest fires [Music] like the North American amphibious water bombers the berry f200 has a famous lineage that stretches back to the first seaplanes [Music] it was only after World War II had produced the technology to build planes able to carry very heavy loads that aircraft designers started to consider building water bombers USA the giant Martin Mars of which only six were built was a spectacular Trailblazer flying at 150 kilometers an hour the Martin Mars could dump 27 tons of water on an area as big as two soccer fields but it left Devastation in its wake enter another war hero that narrowly escaped being sold for scrap the American Catalina who hasn't dreamed of piloting a Catalina it's a totally iconic plane Catalina is able to fly on a single engine even though it was designed to work with two they can fly for up to 24 hours non-stop in Australia there are Crews that have What's called the double Sunrise certificate meaning that they saw the sun rise twice during a single Patrol in the same aircraft designed as a patrol bomber and submarine Hunter the catalini could carry up to two tons of bombs or depth charges it was Catalina's that famously spotted the German battleship Bismarck in 1941 and the Japanese Fleet at Midway in 42. the Catalina enjoyed a second youth in the 1960s especially in France As A Firefighter it really was the first mass-produced aircraft to be used against forest fires catalinas could reach very hard to access Mountain areas for the first time in human history thanks to Airborne support forest fires could be fought effectively and efficiently spurred by its success French Canadian aircraft Builder Canada worked with American and French Pilots to design a modern aircraft to replace the Aging Catalina and so in 1967 the canadar was born the Canada is Iconic in a popular imagination even among firefighters this yellow and red plain is little short of magical the ultimate first responder absolutely jumping in flowing with Canada air cruise I can tell you it's pretty physical you scoop up water from the sea that isn't always smooth or a choppy Lake comes to the same thing it's like bumping over corrugated iron for a good minute while you load up with water okay all 90 of the second generation canadares are currently operating in 10 or so countries mostly in Europe their great strength is that they can scoop up six tons of water over very short distances and drop it very accurately by flying at very low speeds this makes them extremely effective in mountainous areas first it's very tough on the plane you come in over a fire and smoke and very high temperatures in just a few seconds you've changed the weight of your plane by six tons and hot air covers are pushing it up now the canadaire fleet is Aging in its turn and the question is how to replace it since they're no longer being made 2016 Viking bought the Canad air type certificates from Bombardier and is planning to build a new generation the cl515 that could make history by fighting fires even by night the berry f200 is waiting in the wings in its water bomber configuration which can scoop up 12 tons of water in Under 12 seconds it is so far the only amphibious aircraft that can fly at 750 kilometers per hour thanks to its jet engines can't fight fires in the kind of terrain that the more agile Canada can fly into to cover every option you really need a combination European Incas are considering pool ing their firefighting resources in the future by sharing a fleet of barriers and canadares to complement each other in the field of heavy load seaplanes versatility is definitely the order of the day but is that versatility purely for civilian purposes or more for military ones flying and fighting in all weather during the second World War Two seaplanes demonstrated their versatility as warplanes the American Catalina and the British short Sunderland both were used for sea patrols and as submarine Hunters awful radar and guns the Sunderland was the bane of the German Navy which earned it its nickname The Flying porcupine in Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany in 1937 aircraft manufacturer blumenfos built the country's first giant flying boat the bb-22 Viking was originally commissioned by Lufthansa as a civilian aircraft intended to fly 16 passengers from Berlin to New York in 20 hours but when war was declared in 1939 the 7bv222s were reassigned to the German military [Music] carry a load of 18 tons the equivalent of 92 men and their equipment six 980 horsepower engines it didn't have the power to lift its 50 tons off the water other water traffic had to be stopped for several kilometers to let it take off but the bv22's advantage over its foreign Rivals was its stability and a key technological breakthrough retractable floats improved its aerodynamics 22 had who had self inaction see Aviation Minister set the bar even higher by building a colossal flying boat on a par with the battleship Bismarck this was the bloom and VOS vv238 the Prototype made its Maiden flight in April 1944 with a wingspan of over 60 meters it was the heaviest and largest aircraft ever produced by the Axis powers it had a payload of 30 tons the weight of 150 soldiers and their gear twice as much as the bv-22 it was designed to perform Maritime surveillance but in September 1944 American P-51 Mustangs sank the only bv-238 ever built in its hiding place on Lake Charlotte North of Berlin the Allies fear that when the Third Reich fell Hitler and his inner circle might use it to escape the sinking Delta death blow to German military seaplanes in 1942 American billionaire pilot and flying fanatic Howard Hughes joined the race to produce gigantic aircraft in the Atlantic the Liberty ships that transported troops and equipment from America to Britain were constantly preyed on by German submarines the U.S army considered replacing them with Freight carrying seaplanes [Music] was to transport cargo Munitions construction materials and men in complete safety in an enormous seaplane plan to build out of wood because wood unlike aluminum alloy was not a strategic material [Music] most of the fuselage and lifting surface apart from the flaps were covered in fabric 67 meters long 24 meters high and with a wingspan of 98 meters the H4 Hercules Remains the largest flying boat ever built the giant weighed over 180 tons on takeoff and it could carry no fewer than 750 soldiers or two battle tanks completed in 1947 the spruce gooks as its critics called it flew only once on November 2nd of that year in Long Beach California that day Hughes himself was at the controls the flying boat climbed to 21 meters and stayed in the air for less than a minute flying 1600 meters at a maximum speed of 217 kilometers an hour even then some people say it only managed to stay airborne due to ground effect the cushion of air created between the surface of the water and the belly of the plane [Music] the H4 really was an amazingly big plane bigger than any plane built nowadays but it always comes back to the same problem it was underpowered and in November 1947 the war had been over for years there was no longer any reason to build such a huge military seaplane before the H4 many much smaller military seaplanes had served on every front saving lives and carrying men and supplies to all the theaters of the war today countries that are developing versatile seaplanes may have the same strategic interest in intervening rapidly far away from their Shores be it to save lives or conceivably to claim or defend a territory or an island territorial issues are a growing concern between China Russia and Japan all three of these Regional powers are developing heavy load seaplanes with ranges reaching far beyond their own borders tomorrow they could be deployed on the front line but as yet these big machines have now avowed military purposes the Japanese Shin mewa is a case in point under the Japanese Constitution the dates from its surrender in 1945 Japan can only have a defensive Army nicknamed The Saint Bernard of the sea is a patrol and air sea rescue plane capable of landing on Heavy Seas to save lives over two thousand kilometers from the Japanese Coast has some very useful features including an auxiliary 1000 horsepower turboshaft engine dedicated to speeding up the boundary layer for a plane to fly more slowly the air must be made to keep flowing very quickly over the upper Wing surface the auxiliary turbine creates a depression above the wing that considerably increases its lift so the plane can make a sea landing at less than 90 kilometers per hour with no risk of stalling it's a major breakthrough which enables the plane to land very slowly this in turn allows very short takeoffs and landings especially in Heavy Seas it command in only 300 meters half the distance the lighter candidaire needs and its Hall is fitted with deflectors that direct the spray downwards so it can ride out waves up to four meters high [Applause] the Chinese ag-600 nicknamed kunlong or water buffalo is the newest and biggest seaplane in the modern world able to scoop up 12 tons of water in 20 seconds and with a range of 5 500 kilometers the long is officially designed for Forest firefighting and air sea rescue but it can also carry up to 50 passengers the Chinese it's mostly about territorial claims the seaplane enables them to patrol islands that they may potentially want to claim [Music] be it the Japanese or the Chinese rolling out their seaplane or the Russians with their barriers there's always a strategic purpose which can have civilian spin-offs the military angle unfortunately but that's the way it is could give a new lease on life to the seaplane in general the prospects for heavy load seaplanes look safe in Asia the next generation of seaplanes in Europe may be ultra light [Music] last took off in 1950 the seapling fraternity rallies for a big International get-together alongside the seaplanes of Legend the American Catalina and Canadian beaver and the stars of the moment The Berry Ave and canadares that wow the crown with their muscle power [Music] ultralight seaplings are The Darlings of the day for the general public perhaps because they give the impression that the promise of freedom is actually within our rage the extra thrill of flying a seaplane is that sense of Freedom you go down the lake you take off where are you going to land today you don't really know what's the surface going to be like you don't know you never really know what to expect you just go ahead and do it and that's when flying gets really interesting because you have to be one with your plane and know how to adapt you can't fly with your head at times [Music] the thing that revived a taste for seaplanes is microlights because microlights offer much more freedom they can only see two they have only one engine and so forth but along with the other advantages a lot of small Constructors have started building seaplings and the build it to yourself Community is very fertile very interesting and inventive besides Utopias often give rise to some of the best inventions the French made akoya is making a name for itself in the growing market for sport seaplanes it is developed by the Lisa airplanes company the akoya is a two-seater able to fly at 250 kilometers an hour and has a range of 2 000 kilometers its inventors are also working on a version they call highbird which will be lighter and more eco-friendly using only renewable energy modern seaplanes built a carbon like the akoya that can land on water snow or land or the epitome of luxury the absolute dreams Einstein said to change society you have to change people and to change people you have to make them want to could be one way to go because you have more fun with a plane that you know really well [Applause] former long distance yacht racer luik poche is a seaplane Enthusiast he doesn't just fly them he invents them his latest creation the Morgan looks set to revolutionize the world of ultralight seaplanes Morgan is a deep sea project it's designed to take you anywhere it's a machine that can handle 80 centimeter waves that's something no existing microlite with its single engine and folding Wings the Morgan is built entirely of 100 carbon Composite Materials making it almost completely immune to salt water corrosion instead of floats it has two foils at speed the foils lift the plane out of the water and clear of the Waves the water friction affects only the foils not the whole body which makes the plane much more aerodynamic as a result it can take off in a quarter of the distance just under 50 meters imagine 50 years from now a seaplane that runs on hydrogen it's oxygen and water it's my objective another use for ultralight aircraft today is exploration the brazilian-made super petrell is a good example it can fly at 170 kilometers an hour it has a range of 1200 kilometers and weighs less than 500 kilos it's the only plane in its class that can land and take off in a very short distance less than 100 meters fly over some of the most remote places on Earth they decided the super Patrol was an ultralight seaplane is brilliant it's Airborne in a matter of seconds incredibly tempting to land wherever you like but the big question is can we get out again but lightness can also be a handicap a sprinkling of morning Frost and there's a problem we can't take off with this Frost because it interferes with the airflow we'll scrape some of it off with our hands and then wait for it to dry if all goes well we'll be able to take off in an hour in a seaplane you're often the first person there and after you're gone your weight closes up and nobody knows you were there you always feel like the first wherever you go I think seaplanes of the future may be the last type of aircraft to be flown by human hand in the very standardized world we live in sea plane flying is one of the few small niches of freedom and Adventure the pilots have left despite being born in the shadow of land planes just have grown up to be indispensable they have let men and women Venture where no other aircraft can go back in the 30s long before land planes could do it the Magnificent but underpowered Skye boats blazed new trails across the oceans during World War II airfields were built all over the world and Aero engines increased in power planes seemed doomed to Oblivion but it survived through the post-war era by specializing in accessing hard to reach areas and fighting forest fires nowadays due to their versatility seaplanes are widening their field of action tomorrow the heavy load Russia Chinese and Japanese seaplanes will be the superheroes of air sea rescue but quite possibly also of warfare medium-sized seaplanes the new growth industry will be vital for inter-regional travel and helping to open up remote areas last but not least ultralight seaplanes packed with state-of-the-art equipment are not merely recreational vehicles but high performance machines for sports scientific research and exploration now and always seaplanes will keep evolving to take up the new challenges facing our planet and accompany mankind on its Perpetual quest for adventure [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Engineering

Views: 121,341

Keywords: free documentary, free documentary engineering, engineering, engineering documentary, tech, tech documentary, constructions, constructions documentary, technology documentary, seaplane takeoff, flying on floats, seaplanes, seaplanes documentary, return of seaplanes, amphibious aircraft, seaplane landing, seaplane take off, planes documentary, planes, plane, plane documentary

Id: Efrg2RuCXyY

Length: 51min 12sec (3072 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 04 2023