Before Radar – This Is How It Was Done

Winglets The most noticeable feature to appear on new 737s are the winglets. These are wing tip extensions which reduce lift induced drag and provide some extra lift. They have been credited to Dr Louis Gratzer formerly Chief of Aerodynamics at Boeing and now with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB). They were first flown on a 737-800 in June 1998 as a testbed for use on the BBJ. They are now available as a standard production line option for all NGs with the exception of the -600 series, for which Boeing is “continuing to assess the applicability”. They are also available as a retrofit from APB. They are 8ft 2in tall and about 4 feet wide at the base, narrowing to approximately two feet at the tip and add almost 5 feet to the total wingspan. The winglet for the Classic is slightly shorter at 7ft tall. Over half of all 737NGs have had winglets retrofitted.

All of the information, photographs & schematics from this website and much more is now available in a 370 page, 8.5" x 11" book available here. Updated 29 Jan 11

Winglets are also available for Classics. The first winglet equipped 737-300 flew in Nov 2002 and gained its FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) on 30 May 2003. Winglet equipped Classics are known as Special Performance (SP). Winglets have the potential to give the following benefits: Improved climb gradient. This will enable a higher RTOW from climb limited airports (hot, high or noise abatement) or obstacle limited runways. Reduced climb thrust. A winglet equipped aircraft can typically take a 3% derate over the non-winglet equivalent aircraft. This can extend engine life and reduce maintenance costs. Environmentally friendly. The derate, if taken, will reduce the noise footprint by 6.5% and NOx emissions by 5%. This could give savings on airport noise quotas or fines. Reduced cruise thrust. Cruise fuel flow is reduced by up to 6% giving savings in fuel costs and increasing range. Improved cruise performance. Winglets can allow aircraft to reach higher levels sooner. Air Berlin notes, “Previously, we'd step-climb from 35,000 to 41,000 feet. With Blended Winglets, we can now climb direct to 41,000 feet where traffic congestion is much less and we can take advantage of direct routings and shortcuts which we could not otherwise consider.” Good looks. Winglets bring a modern look and feel to aircraft, and improve customers' perceptions of the airline. If winglets are so good, you may wonder why all 737s don’t have them. In fact 85% of all new 737s are now built with winglets, particularly the 800 and 900 series and of course all BBJs. It comes down to cost versus benefits. Winglets cost about $725,000USD and take about 1 week to install which costs an extra $25-80,000USD. Once fitted, they add 170-235kg (375-518lbs) to the weight of the aircraft, depending upon whether they were installed at production or a retrofit. The fuel cost of carrying this extra weight will take some flying time each sector to recover, although this is offset by the need to carry less fuel because of the increased range. In simple terms, if your average sector length is short (less than one hour) you wont get much the benefit from winglets - unless you need any of the other benefits such as reduced noise or you regularly operate from obstacle limited runways. There is a small difference in rotation rate for aircraft with winglets installed and, as a result, the crew needs to be cautious of pitch rate. There is approximately a ½ unit take-off trim change between non-winglet and winglet aircraft so the green band is slightly different for winglet aircraft. Finally, the dry “maximum demonstrated” crosswind limit is slightly reduced with winglets to 34kts. According to APB this is because“the FAA will only let us document the max winds experienced during flight test... so if we had been able to find more crosswind, then the 33kts might have been more. There appears to be no weather cocking effect due to winglets.”

Honeymoon Space Shuttle

Understanding Aircraft Insurance Policies

Many states require that owners and/or operators of aircraft have insurance covering their aircraft and operations. At a minimum, states usually require third-party liability coverage. This applies to injuries to third-persons that result from operation of your aircraft. Additionally, if your aircraft is pledged as collateral for financing, the lender will require that you have hull coverage and/or replacement value insurance to insure the value of the aircraft collateral. Obtaining the Policy So, how do you obtain aircraft insurance? Typically, you apply for aircraft insurance through an insurance agent or broker who represents an insurance company or companies that provide aircraft insurance policies. The insurance company then reviews the application and does any additional investigation necessary for it to assess its risk in providing you with insurance for your aircraft or operations. Its risk is the likelihood that it may have to pay out on a claim against your policy.                                                                                                                           In exchange for its acceptance of risk, the insurance company charges you a premium. The amount of that premium is a direct product of the amount of risk that the insurance company is assuming by extending coverage to your aircraft or operation. The greater the risk, the more expensive the insurance coverage will be. In some cases, the insurance company may not be willing to accept a particular risk for any price. Factors that affect the underwriting decision include type of aircraft, pilot qualifications (e.g. total time, time in type, pilot certificates/ratings), nature of the operation (e.g. pleasure, business, Part 91 or Part 135) and base of operations. General aviation policies can include non-commercial pleasure and business use under FAR Part 91 or commercial use under FAR Part 135. Reading the Policy When an aviation insurance policy is issued, it represents a contract between you and your insurance company. As long as you comply with all of the terms and requirements of the policy, your insurance company will provide you with coverage. If you fail to comply and a claim arises, you may find yourself without coverage. But, what does the aircraft insurance policy actually say? Well, as a practical matter, it is quite common that pilots and operators do not read their policies. Sure, they may review the declaration page to confirm that the correct parties are named and that the appropriate coverage limits are in place, but often times that is as far as it goes. Sometimes an owner or operator may even ask his or her agent to explain some of the policy’s terms.  Unfortunately, the policy contains quite a bit more information of which the pilot or operator needs to be aware of to ensure that he or she complies with the terms of the policy. A thorough review of the policy is both prudent and recommended. This review should begin with the Data Page or Declaration Page. First, confirm that the aircraft is correctly identified and that the appropriate owner and any additional insured parties are included. Also read the coverage limits to make sure that you have the limits for which you are paying. Aircraft Damage Coverage The typical aircraft insurance policy will include both aircraft damage coverage, as well as aircraft liability coverage. The aircraft damage coverage applies when your aircraft sustains damage (e.g. bent metal, broken windows etc.). This coverage comes in two flavors: In-flight/In-motion and Not-in-flight/Not-in-motion. As you may have guessed, in the first instance your aircraft will be insured for damages it sustains while it is in use: moving under the power of its own engine, whether taxiing or flying. In the latter instance, you aircraft will only be insured while it is parked on the ramp or in the hangar. This coverage is less expensive because it presents far less exposure to the insurance company. It will only have to pay a claim if something happens to your aircraft while it is standing still and not in use. An aircraft owner may want this limited coverage when the aircraft is going to be stored and unused for a period of time. It is also possible to purchase “all risk ground and flight” coverage. This coverage protects you whether the aircraft is moving or not. However, a policy with this coverage will likely be more expensive than a policy that is either In-flight/In-motion or Not-in-flight/Not-in-motion. The aircraft damage coverage provides for transportation of the aircraft to and from the location at which the repairs are made, any related storage charges and the actual repair of the aircraft. However, most policies will also exclude coverage for damage sustained by your aircraft as a result of governmental seizure, resulting from repossession or enforcement of a lien against your aircraft or damage that is due to ordinary wear and tear, deterioration or age. Assuming the damage to your aircraft is covered, you should read your policy language to determine whether it contains any specific restrictions or requirements relating to processing of your claim, who performs the repairs, where they are performed and even how they are to be performed. Simply because you have insurance coverage, this does not mean that you have carte blanche for having your aircraft repaired. Aircraft Liability Coverage Aircraft liability coverage protects you from liability or responsibility to third-persons for damages they may suffer resulting from the operation of your aircraft. The coverage requires that the insurance company both indemnify and defend you against such claims. Indemnification means that if you are responsible for the damage to a third-person, the insurance company will pay the third-person directly, up to the policy limits, the amount for which you are responsible. The duty to defend means that the insurance company will pay for your defense costs if you are sued by a third-person alleging that your operation of your aircraft caused damage. The insurance company will hire an attorney, usually experience in aviation law, to represent you and defend against the claims. Given the complexity and cost of aviation litigation, this benefit alone can be worth a substantial amount of money and may even exceed the amount of money actually paid by the insurance company to indemnify you. Your policy will always have a maximum limit for liability coverage that can be either “sub-limit” or “smooth” coverage. An example of sub-limit coverage is a policy that provides for $1,000,000 per occurrence and $200,000 per passenger. This does not mean that you have $1,000,000 to pay all claims. Rather, the insurance company will pay a maximum of $1,000,000 per occurrence, but will only pay each passenger up to a maximum of $200,000. Thus, for an accident in which only one passenger is injured, the insurance company’s maximum exposure is $200,000, exclusive of any amounts it spends on your defense. On the other hand, smooth limit coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence will provide up to $1,000,000 of coverage regardless of the number of passengers. This coverage presents a greater risk to the insurance company since it could have to pay the full policy limits even if only one person is injured. As a result, greater risk means that the premium for this coverage is going to be more expensive than the premium for a policy containing sub-limits. Policy Definitions When you read an aircraft insurance policy, you need to pay special attention to the definitions section. Many of the terms used in the policy have specific definitions that are different from a dictionary definition or common usage for that word.  Examples include the definition of “accident” which is often defined as a “sudden and unexpected event resulting in bodily injury, death or property damage”. This is different than the definition of accident contained in NTSB Rule 830 and is also more specific than a dictionary or common usage definition of the word. Another example is the definition of “commercial operations” or “commercial purpose.” An insurance policy’s definition of this term is usually different from, and in some cases may be broader than, the FAA’s or IRS’s definition or a dictionary definition. These are just two examples. However, remember that the aircraft insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. Both you and the insurance company agreed to the policy definitions when you paid the premium and the insurance company issued the policy. As a result, both you and the insurance company will be bound by those definitions. Coverage Exclusions Your aircraft policy will also contain exclusions. Exclusions define circumstances in which the insurance company will not provide you with coverage for operation of your aircraft. An aircraft insurance policy usually includes both specific and general exclusions. Specific exclusions arise when you assume additional liability (e.g. you sign a contract that indemnifies or holds someone else harmless for damage they cause), damage occurs to your own property or injury occurs to members of your family. The policy may also specifically exclude coverage for your own medical expenses or for your operation of an aircraft that you do not own. Depending upon the state in which the aircraft is based, general exclusions can result in denial of coverage regardless of whether they directly caused a particular claim. These exclusions will preclude coverage for operation of your aircraft in commercial operations (as defined by the policy, not necessarily the FAA or IRS), using your aircraft to commit unlawful acts, damage caused by war or terrorism or if your aircraft is operated by a pilot that is not named as an insured on the policy and does not meet the open pilot qualifications. Who Is Covered Assuming no exclusions are applicable, the policy will provide coverage to each person named as an insured under the policy and to pilots who meet the “open pilot” requirements. As a threshold matter, each pilot operating the aircraft, whether named insured or qualifying under the open pilot provision, will need to possess the appropriate pilot and medical certificates and meet all currency requirements for operation of your aircraft. The open pilot provision extends the coverage of your aircraft insurance policy to a pilot operating your aircraft who is not a named insured on your policy. The provision sets out total time, time in type and training requirements that the unnamed pilot must meet in order for the pilot to be covered under the policy. Generally, if those requirements are met and the pilot is operating your aircraft with your consent, your insurance coverage should extend to that pilot. What You Can Do The complexities of aircraft insurance can seem daunting. But, what can you do to protect yourself? The first, and one of the most important things you can do, is to read your insurance policy. If you have questions regarding terms or coverage talk to your insurance agent or contact an aviation attorney who is familiar with aviation insurance matters. Once you understand the policy, make sure you abide by the policy and comply with its terms and requirements. It makes little sense to spend substantial amounts of money on insurance premiums and then place your coverage in jeopardy by doing or allowing something your policy prohibits. Next, document your operations. What do I mean by that? Simple: Keep good records. Make sure your pilot logbook is up-to-date and current. If you take your pilot logbook with you when you fly, make copies of the pages containing your satisfaction of the FAR currency requirements and keep the copies in a safe place. This way, if something happens to your pilot logbook and your insurance company or the FAA later question your currency, you will have back-up proof that you were current for your flight. Although not as critical, you may also want to keep a photocopy of your pilot certificate(s) along with your logbook records. Finally, you should use this same procedure for your aircraft and engine logbooks. If you must take them with you in the airplane, make copies and keep them in a safe place. In this instance, you may want to make a full set of copies of the logbook entries, rather than just the pages showing the aircraft’s current airworthiness.  An aircraft that contains logbook entries for all of the work ever performed on the aircraft is worth more to a potential purchaser than if those records are incomplete or missing. These simple steps can prevent potentially costly disputes down the road. It’s been said that the best insurance is the insurance you never have to use. That may be, but if you take these steps, you should have greater peace of mind that your insurance will be there if you need it.

Boeing SolarEagle – Zero-Emission UAV Will Be Powered By Solar Energy

Skylifter

QSST Could Well Be The Future Of High-Speed Luxury Jets

SAFETY IS PRIORITY

Worker killed during maintenance check in El PasoThe Associated PressEL PASO — An airplane mechanic was killed Monday morning after he was sucked into a jet's engine while passengers were boarding from the tarmac, officials said.

"A mechanic walked in front of the engine and was pulled into the engine," National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said.
She said she didn't know if any passengers saw the accident as they boarded Continental Airlines flight 1515 to Houston. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the worker was sucked into the right engine of the 737-500.

The mechanic's identity wasn't released, but Continental identified the victim as an employee of one of Continental's suppliers. Continental released few other details about what it called a "ground incident" at El Paso International Airport.

"My fellow co-workers and I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of the mechanic involved in this tragic event," Larry Kellner, Continental chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
There were 114 passengers and five crew members boarding the plane.
Peduzzi said there had been an earlier problem with the Number 2 engine, so the engine's metal covering was open at the time of the accident.

The NTSB was investigating. 

 

 

 

 





 



Remember one thing  "SAFETY IS PRIORITY"

That is very fine; but it is impossible to make the men perfect; the men will always remain the same as they are now; and no legislation will make a man have more presence of mind, or, I believe, make him more cautious; and besides that, the next time such an accident occurs, the circumstances will be so different, that the instructions given to the men, in consequence of the former accident, will not apply.


In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.
 

Flying Boats

 

A flying boat is a specialised form of aircraft that is designed to take off from and land on water, using its fuselage as a floating hull. Such aircraft are sometimes stabilised on water by underwing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage. It is the use of the fuselage to provide the main buoyancy of the aircraft which distinguishes flying boats from floatplanes, which use one or more floats attached below the fuselage or the wings to keep the fuselage clear of the water.

 

Flying boats were some of the largest aircraft of the first half of the 20th century. Their ability to alight on water allowed them to break free of the size constraints imposed by general lack of large, land-based runways, and also made them important for maritime patrol and air-to-sea rescue, capabilities put to great use in World War II. Following World War II, their use gradually tailed off, with many of the roles taken over by land aircraft types.

 

In the 21st century, flying boats maintain a few niche uses, such as for dropping water on forest fires and for air transport around archipelagos.

 

HISTORY

ORIGINS

Curtiss NC Flying Boat “NC-3″ skims across the water before takeoff, 1919.In 1911 Curtiss unveiled a development of his earlier floatplane and landplane model D, this time fitted with a hull, and designated as the Model E. In 1913, the boat building firm J. Samuel White of West Cowes on the Isle of Wight, set up a new aircraft division and produced a flying boat. This was displayed at the London Air Show at Olympia in 1913[1]. In that same year, a collaboration between the S.E. Saunders boatyard of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight and the Sopwith Aviation Company produced their “Bat Boat”, an aircraft with a consuta laminated hull that could operate from land or on water [1]. 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.

Before World War I the American pioneer aviator Glenn Curtiss, who had been experimenting with floatplanes, joined with Englishman John Cyril Porte to design a flying boat that could take the prize offered by the British Daily Mail newspaper for the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic ocean. Porte developed a practical hull design with the distinctive ’step’ which could be married to Curtiss’ airframe and engine design. The resulting large aircraft would be able to carry enough fuel to fly long distances and could berth alongside ships for refuelling. The war interrupted Porte’s plans.

WORLD WAR I

From 1914 Curtis produced his “America” flying boat, several examples of which were acquired by the Royal Naval Air Service and tested at their Seaplane Experimental Station, now run by Porte. Porte developed an improved hull, resulting in the Felixstowe F.1 and its larger derivatives, used for coastal patrols and hunting U-boats.

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 US Navy. Curtiss among others also built the Felixstowe F5 as the Curtiss F5L, based on the final Porte hull designs and powered by American Liberty engines.

BETWEEN THE WARS

A Curtiss NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919, crossing via the Azores. Of the four that were to make the attempt, only one completed the flight.

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 the termini for many early transatlantic flights. Where land-based aircraft lacked the required airfields to land, flying boats could stop at small island, river, lake or coastal stations to refuel and resupply. The Pan Am Boeing 314 “Clipper” planes brought exotic destinations like the Far East within reach of air travellers and came to represent the romance of flight.

In 1923, the first British commercial flying boat service was introduced with flights to and from the Channel Islands. The British aviation industry was experiencing rapid growth. 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 using aircraft such as the Short S.8 Calcutta.

Supermarine SouthamptonIn 1928, a new world achievement in aviation attracted the attention of the Australian public when four Supermarine Southampton flying boats of the RAF Far-East flight arrived in Melbourne on a circumnavigation and flag-waving mission. The RAF crews were warmly welcomed by the waterside crowds, and the flight was considered proof that flying boats had evolved to become reliable means of long distance transport.

Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, better known as Qantas, had been registered in Brisbane during November 1920. With good levels of public support for the new faster public transport and agreements to carry domestic mail, the outback airline grew. By 1931, Qantas was trialling land plane flights connecting with Imperial Airways services. Mail was now reaching London in just 16 days - less than half the time taken by sea.

Government tenders on both sides of the world invited applications to run new passenger and mail services between the ends of 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 Sydney’s Rose Bay and Southampton was such a success with letter-writers that before long the volume of mail was exceeding aircraft storage space. A solution to the problem was found by the British Government, who in 1933 had requested aviation manufacturer Short Brothers to design a big new long-range monoplane for use by IAL. Partner Qantas agreed to the initiative and undertook to purchase six of the new Short S23 ‘C’ class or ‘Empire’ flying boats.

Delivering the mail as quickly as possible generated a lot of competition and some innovative solutions. A variant of the Short Empire flying boats, Maia and Mercury, was a strange-looking solution where a four-engined floatplane Mercury was fixed on top of Maia, a heavily modified Short Empire flying boat. The idea was to use the larger Maia to get the smaller Mercury (the winged messenger) off the ground at weights that would have been impossible otherwise, so that it could carry sufficient fuel for the trip. Unfortunately this limited the usefulness, and after crossing to New York the Mercury had to be returned by ship. The Mercury was to set a number of distance records before in-flight refuelling was adopted.

Sir Alan Cobham devised a method of in-flight refuelling in the 1930s, so that the Short Empire flying boats serving the transatlantic crossing could be refuelled over Foynes on the River Shannon in Ireland allowing them to carry more fuel than they could take off with, so as to enable them to make the trans-Atlantic flight[1]. A Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow was used as the fuel tanker

Dornier Do-X flyby over a seaport town in the Baltic 1930The German Dornier Do-X flying boat was noticeably different from its UK and US-built counterparts, using wing-like protrusions from the fuselage to stabilise on the water. It was powered by 12 engines and carried 170 persons. [1]. It flew to America in 1929 [1]crossing the Atlantic via an indirect route. 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 different engines installed, in an attempt to overcome the lack of power. Two of these were sold to Italy.

WORLD WAR II

The military value of flying boats 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 maritime search and rescue and gunfire spotting for battleships. Aircraft such as the PBY Catalina, Short Sunderland and Grumman Goose recovered downed airmen and operated as scout aircraft over the vast distances of the Pacific Theater and Battle of the Atlantic during World War II, as well as sinking numerous submarines, and finding enemy ships. The German battleship Bismarck was found during a routine patrol by a PBY Catalina.

The largest flying boat of the war was the Blohm und Voss Bv 238 which was also the heaviest plane to fly during the Second World War.

In November 1939, the structure of Imperial Airways was changed to create British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation with the change being made official in 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.

POST WORLD WAR II

Hughes H-4 Hercules.The Hughes H-4 Hercules in development in the U.S. during the war was even larger than the Bv238, but it did not fly until 1947. The “Spruce Goose”, as the H-4 was nicknamed, was the largest flying boat ever to fly. That short 1947 hop of the ‘Flying Lumberyard’ was to be its last however, a victim of post-war cutbacks and the disappearance of its intended mission as a transatlantic transport.

Following the end of World War II, the use of flying boats rapidly declined, though the U.S. Navy continued to operate such aircraft (notably the Martin P5M Marlin) until the early 1970s, even attempting to build a jet-powered seaplane bomber, the Martin Seamaster. Several factors contributed to the decline. The ability to land on water became less of an advantage owing to the considerable increase in the number and length of land based runways, whose construction had been driven by the needs of the allied forces during the Second World War. Further, as the speed and range of land-based aircraft increased, the commercial competitiveness of flying boats diminished, as their design compromised aerodynamic efficiency and speed to accomplish the feat of waterborne takeoff and alighting. Competing with new civilian jet aircraft like the de Havilland Comet and Boeing 707 was impossible.

BOAC continued to operate their flying boat services out of Southampton until November 1950.

Bucking the trend, in 1948, Aquila Airways was founded to serve destinations that were still inaccessible to land based aircraft. This company operated Short S.25 and Short S.45 flying boats out of Southampton on routes to Madeira, Las Palmas, Lisbon, Jersey, Majorca, Marseilles, Capri, Genoa, Montreux and Santa Margherita. The airline ceased operations on 30th September 1958 .

From 1950 to 1957, Aquila Airways also operated a service from Southampton to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The flying boats of Aquila Airways were also chartered for one-off trips, usually to deploy troops where scheduled services didn’t exist or where there were political considerations. Three Aquila flying boats were used during the Berlin Airlift. The longest charter, in 1952, was from Southampton to the Falkland Islands. In 1953 the flying boats were chartered for troop deployment trips to Freetown and Lagos and there was a special trip from Hull to Helsinki to relocate a ships crew.

Saunders-Roe Princess G-ALUNThe technically advanced Saunders-Roe Princess first flew in 1952 and later received a certificate of airworthiness. Despite being the pinnacle of flying boat development, none were sold, despite Aquila Airways reportedly attempting to buy them. Of the three Princess that were built, two never flew and all were scrapped in 1967

Helicopters ultimately took over the flying boat air-sea rescue role.

The land-based P-3 Orion and carrier-based S-3 Viking became the US Navy’s fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

Ansett flew a flying boat service from Rose Bay, New South Wales to Lord Howe Island until 1974.

MODERN VERSIONS

The shape of the Short Empire was a harbinger of the shape of later aircraft yet to come, and the type also contributed much to the designs of later ekranoplans. However, true flying boats have largely been replaced by seaplanes with floats and amphibian aircraft with wheels. The Beriev Be-200 twin-jet amphibious aircraft has been one of the closest ‘living’ descendants of the flying-boats of old, along with the larger amphibious planes used for fighting forest fires. There are also several experimental/kit amphibians such as the Volmer Sportsman, Glass Goose, the LSA SeaMax, Aeroprakt A-24, and the Seawind.

The ShinMaywa US-2 (Japanese: ??? US-2) are large STOL aircraft designed for air-sea rescue (SAR) work. US-2 is operated by Japan Self Defense Force.

The Canadair CL-215 and successor Canadair CL-415 are also examples of modern flying boats and are used for forest fire suppression.

Wisconsin Aviation’s Jon Weigand adjusts standby compass compensator during a compass swing. Setting up aircraft on compass rose to perform a compass swing. Aircraft positioned on compass rose for compass swing.