Media - Seaplanes History
With the geography of Croatia, seaplanes are a long overdue necessity. European Coastal Airlines is the first civil operator of floating planes in the Adriatic, but seaplanes have a long history in the area. It has been almost 100 years since the first seaplane “splashed in” in what are now Croatian waters. Then it was to support military action in World War I.
The first flying boat, “Le Canard” was built in 1910 by French aviation enthusiast and engineer, Henri Fabre. (www.hydravions-biscarrose.com)
Glenn Curtiss was the next to land on water in 1911 in Hammondsport, New York. The military significance of this multi-dimensional airplane/boat encouraged the rapid development a seaplane industry and by the middle of World War I over 2,500 pilots had been trained to operate these flying boats.
Following the war, seaplanes were taken in to service in a variety of arenas, but more energy was spent building longer range land-aircraft. However, as many will know from Ken Follett’s book, Night over Water, the PanAm Clipper was the definition of elegant, first class travel.
Since then, as is said, we’ve come a long way. Seaplanes have a long heritage in areas difficult to reach for example the bush in Canada or Australia, but also in regions dominated by islands, like in the Caribbean.
Today seaplanes remain the backbone of the day to day operations in many regions and have become significant in the transportation of tourists searching for the perfect getaway, not reachable by conventional means. In The Maldives and now in the Adriatic seaplanes are charting the ways to an economical and sustainable future.
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1930s Mali Losinj
Mijet
2008: Goose take off
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