Thank you,Mike,my dad was a Flight Engineer on those Boeing 314's,and when he died in 1960,he was the Senior Flight Engineer for PanAm,in the Atlantic Region,having put 10,000 hours,in the 20+ years of operations! I hope that there are people out there,who still remember him!! Thanks for your efforts,and definitely that was a time of the real romance of Aviation!! Thank you 😇!
My dad was a crew member on the Martin P5M Marlin 2 which was the one with the T tail. He was based at Naval Air Station Norfolk VA from 1956 to 1959. His specialty was the anti submarine electronics that helped them find Russian submarines during the Cold War. His squadron VP56 deployed to many places even beyond the Caribbean including Rota Spain and throughout the Mediterranean. This is a nice history overview of seaplanes.
The prize for racing seaplanes was always referred to as "The Schneider TROPHY "rather than "The Schneider Cup". There's a good reason for this - it's not a cup. It's a statuette depicting a winged nymph dipping down to kiss a wave. It's a very "Art Nouveau" piece of sculpture - as you might expect given that it was designed and made in 1913. The trophy is on public display in a cabinet in the aeronautical gallery of London's Science Museum. It's quite small and I am sure thousands of people walk right past it without understanding its significance.
Great comment, thanks, and yes the trophy looks nothing like a 'cup' per se, but the official name of the race series was "Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider," with the prize being referred to as both the "Schneider Trophy" and "Schneider Cup" in tghe U.S. The monetary prize was initially 70,000 Francs (approx. $250,000 in today's dollars), and it was truly amazing to see the top speeds go from 47 mph to 340 mph in only 19 years. Thanks for watching!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 I love your channel. I've just finished reading Jonathan Glancy's book on The Schneider Trophy and it is well worth a read. Glancy is actually an architect so his views on aircraft and their significance goes beyond just the technical, military or economic side of things. He comments on cultural and design impact, for example.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 Lots of folks don't understand the role that seaplanes had in the developing field of aviation. They just don't understand what unlimited-length runways allowed. The implications in the adjustable pitch era are plain.
Mike: GREAT presentation! Thank you very much. Back in about 1955 or so, I was on a field trip to Alameda NAS. I was 10 or 11 at the time. I got to sit in the pilot's seat of a Martin Mars. They said that it flew to Hawaii about once a week. We got to go swimming in a local park after our tour of the NAS. The local park was right on the approach path into Alameda NAS. Every couple minutes we'd see Cougars, Panthers, Corsairs, Sky Raiders, and Privateers. Priceless! Please - keep up the excellent work.
When I was 9 in 1957 we flew to Hawaii from the San Francisco area in a seaplane. I guess it was a Martin Mars, probably flew out of Alameda. My US Navy dad was being transferred from Vallejo to NAS Barbers Point. I recall landing in Pearl Harbor.
Great video. Really appreciated the old photo's of New York and San Francisco. Even spotted old Penn Station! That was a lot of great info in 25 minutes! Thanks!!!!!
Thanks Mike, great video. My Dad had 2 SeaBees from 1952 the year I was born up to 1970 when he retired from flying. Both planes I believe are still flying, the second one here in Canada and the first one in the U.S. Many good memories of flying in the Bee. We'd fly across the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, land at C.F.B. Greenwood to visit with my Mom's relatives on a weekend or fly into Sherwood lake where we had the camp there, total privacy. Last memory I'd like to share. The plane at the time was parked at the Saint John Flying Club and when we would return, the plane had the best parking spot next to the club hangar. Well when the people inside the hangar heard that sound, everyone inside and outside stopped what they were doing to watch my Dad bring the Bee straight into it's parking spot and then turn her, full brake on the right wheel and add power to swing her around 180 deg. then a little wiggle into it's tie down position and one last bit of power before shut down and that all so familiar shake of the plane. Dana Titus , Canada.
There was a unique design that was developed by the British. It was called the Short Mayo composite. It was a flying boat used to launch a float plane in an attempt to boost range. The float plane flew piggyback on the flying boat.
I am happy to say I got to see the Martin mars fly. There was a fire in my area. And it flew right over my house a few times. It made everything shake. It was a red and white one
Just excellent! I live on Vancouver Island and have often seen the Martin Mars on their home at Sproat Lake. Unbelievable aircraft. Thanks again for another outstanding video.
[14:19] I did, I did! I built it as a Chalk's Airliner with a glossy white finish, blue trim and celluloid discs for prop arcs,. I was going to cut stencils of the Chalk's font from copies of the luggage tags, to airbrush over the tail and fuselage forward -- but didn't get that far. My Mom and I flew on one from Paradise Island, Nassau to the Miami Ship Canal. Great hop. At low altitude the Carribbean was absolutely georgeous. The twin Wright Cyclone R-1820s made so much noise, I could hardly hear my Bob Marley tapes even with my Walkman at 11. Fantastic flight. Another great show, Mike.
As a former USAF Crew Chief, I can only imagine that an engine change on the Martin Seamaster would have been a real PITA! Great video Mike. Kermit Weeks has a Short Sunderland in his collection in Lakeland, FL. And I know he recently looked at the Mars. Peace and love.
PITA indeed. During my time as a fighter Crew Chief I think the most difficult airframe I ever helped change an engine on was the F-111, followed closely by F-4. Helping out with those as an F-16 Crew Chief made me really appreciative of how good I had it, especially at the end of my career on F-22's.. It took longer to do the forms documentation than it took to change the engine.
@@RMJTOOLS Roy, my dad started working for American Export Airlines in 1942 as an A&P on the last flying boats Sikorsky built, the 3 VS-44a's. He said he was taught to tie a good, long piece of thin rope to his tools where possible. It saved everyone a lot of time, and money on tools!
Nice video, thanks. My dad was engineer on flying boats (I think the PBY) in WWII, mainly submarine patrol. I know you can't put everything into a 25-minute video, but I have long thought that the link between the Schneider trophy and the Spitfire was fascinating. My understanding is that they raced seaplanes in the Schneider trophy because land runways were too short to allow a really fast racer to get to takeoff speed, whereas the ocean gave them as long a runway as they wanted. Supermarine chose an elliptical wing for the Supermarine S.6B. It performed so well that the government asked Supermarine to design what would become the Spitfire, with its famous elliptical wing. The other connection was that the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was, I believe, developed for the Schneider cup and it went on to power both of the iconic fighters of WW II, the Spitfire and the P51-D.
Excellent video! I grew up in Southeast Alaska and that is an area where flying of water is normal. There used to be many Grumman Goose, but today it's all floatplane with the world's most perfect airplane the DeHavilland Beaver being the workhorse of the sky. There are also turbine DHC-4, but they just don't have the same magic.
Hi Matthew: I worked for the USFS in SE in 1972. Alaska Airlines was still Flying Grumman Gooses (Geese?) to towns in SE although 185’s and 206’s on floats were also ubiquitous. In fact I flew into Ketchikan from Seattle on an Alaska Airlines ex PanAm 720 (PanAm was still embossed on the seatbelt buckles). Of course I didn’t actually fly into Ketchikan on the jet. It flew into Annette Island and then we got on an Alaska Airlines Goose and flew into the harbor at Ketchikan.
@@terryspath1302 Ketchikan is my hometown! They finished the airport in Ketchikan in 1974, and shortly after that an Alaska Airlines 727 overshot and ran into Government Creek just past the end of the runway. I was too young then to remember, but my parents worked for the Daily News and were involved with the reporting.
@@matthewelberson4140 I do remember the overrun. I hadn’t been back to SE since 1972 but then started flying MedEvac Lears in 2008. Most flights were military to Elmendorf and Eielson but some civilian flights to Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage but never back to Ketchikan, unfortunately. One of these days I’m going to fly my own plane back and will make a stop at your hometown.
As a pilot, and an aspiring seaplane/floatplane/flying boat pilot, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It saddened me to be reminded that all of this fantastic water capable flying apparatus was widely available a nearly century ago, and the innovation that enabled this, while today amphibious planes remain fairly rare, and there are only a far more rare number flying boats still in service today. Let’s hope this recent resurgence in bush flying leads to a resurgence in flying boats, as well.
My dad loved amphibians and was building what I am pretty sure was a Volmer VJ-22 Sportsman in our basement for most of my early childhood. Sadly he was too busy with 7 kids and 3 jobs to finish it and sold the project when I was about 9 or 10.
The subject is big enough for a series, which would be very welcome, a slight correction on this one would be the Sunderland, it was a maritime patrol aircraft, never intended as cargo or troop transport, with it spending long hours on patrol they had bunks, a proper galley and even a toilet, a number were converted after the war as airliners, with two decks, true luxury. The Japanese aircraft is rather interesting as it uses a gas turbine to provide air to blow over the wing, dramatically cutting down on its take off and landing speed, enabling it to operate in heavy seas. Will look forward to parts two and three😊.
Mike, your love of seaplanes is abundantly clear in this excellent presentation. You certainly twanged my heartstrings talking about both the PBY Catalina and the P6M Seamaster. I made Revelle models of each, and displayed them side by side. The Beast and the Beauty.
Thanks Mike. I went to work at Rockwell Downey in 1976 on the shuttle and remember DC10’s crossing Lakewood Boulevard. Your videos about SoCal aerospace take me back to my earlier days. I appreciate the accuracy of your videos, too.
I appreciate the work it takes to make a video such as this in trying to fit several decades worth into 25 minutes, but there are several important omissions which rather skew the history towards the US. Absolutely no mention whatsoever of the Imperial Airways flying boats culminating in the Short "Empire" class which was the forerunner of the Short Sunderland. The Sunderland itself was not a troop/cargo transport. It was an ultra long range maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft equipped with depth-charges. It had an endurance of about 14 hours on patrol. A fascinating subject, bring back the flying boat.
Great vid. One of my early glider buddies started at Pan Am as an engineer on the 314. They sometimes carried a spare engine in the hold, and the crew could make an engine change while moored to a buoy. Oh, you left out the other float aircraft--planes on skis for frozen water.
Correction : you got it backwards .The convair sea dart originally had twin Retractable skis. Vibration problems at high speed on water caused the experimental fitting of a single ski that did not retract. This was the last version of the sea dart to fly.
Love these old flying boats and pontoon planes. Especially those flying ships from way back, that era was magical in movies and I would love to fly one
Thank you Mike. Great topic. This was so good I hardly noticed it was nearly half an hour. Hand raised on both the Mariner and Albatross kits. I loved building Coast Guard related models
The Spruce Goose was actually one of the most important prototypes to ever be created because its research and development is what made today’s jumbo aviation possible. The most important of which being in the field of hydraulics.
Mike, although you have covered a couple of the experimental and prototype designs.... the ill-fated or mistimed Saunders-Roe SR.45 Princess did not have six but ten engines, the inboard and centre nacelles are pairs of engines driving contrarotating propellers and the outbourd nacelles are singles. There were three in various states of construction, with only one completed. There was a planned jet engined and subsequent larger variant called the Jet-Princess and Duchess, also a 1,000 passenger version aimed at the likes of P&O, Cunnard-White Star, etc rather than the traditional airlines.
I'd take the style, beauty, and luxury of a flying boat over the convenience and speed of a jet any time... sadly an experience I'll never have. The Oakland Air Museum has a Short Solent on display, if you're ever in that neighborhood. A truly impressive sight. Although perhaps not technically airplanes, Ekranoplans are another fascinating topic. Many look like they're straight out of a SciFi movie.
Great presentation as always Mr Machat! I must admit, past my favorite sea plane, the Consolidated PBY Catalina, I know very little about them. The float planes always were neat, but I only had reference to them mostly from tv adventure shows. The big sea clippers were of interest because of early aviation history. That's about it. Thanks so much for shining a light on the subject! As always God bless you and yours and thanks again for all you do! Take care always Sir!
Thanks Mike for another great video! Several of these I built the models from Revell kits in the mid-late ‘50s. Great knowledge now as a docent at The Cradle of Aviation Museum.
With a job that takes me around the country, I have had the pleasure of going to most of the air museums. One of my favorite was in McMinnville Oregon where I was able to get an early morning picture of the H-4 through the front glass of the museum. Amazing airplane.
Another great one Mike! The Monogram SA-16 was a terrific kit, even with all the rivets, the Revell PBM built by my dad for me over 60 years ago and I have an unbuilt one in the stockpile. The Martin Mars is mentioned in the song WONDERING WHERE THE LIONS ARE by Bruce Cockburn as "huge orange flying boat rises off a lake". Thanks for your work!
Since the beginning of this year, I have had a fascination with flying boats and how all of them could be powered with turboprops, especially GE turboprops 😍😍😍
I discovered your channel a few days ago and really enjoy your content and delivery. On this one, despite your justifiable disclaimer that you can't cover everything, I was hoping to see a piece on the precursor to the Short Sunderland, the so-called "Empire Flying Boats", built by Short which flew to Europe, North Africa, India and beyond as part of Empire Airways and then, I think, BOAC, in the 1930s. They were attractive designs and flew passengers in luxurious, but no doubt noisy, cabins. You also referred to the first crossing of the Atlantic in May 1919, but I wonder if they stopped en-route since, in the UK, we are taught that the first non-stop flight was a month later by two Brits, Alcock and Brown, in a converted Vickers Vimy bomber. Either way, I will continue to enjoy your videos!
16 in 1976 me and my friends were driving in New Hampshire when I saw a sign next to a small sea plane, rides $ 5, I jumped at the chance, it was great, flew around for 45 minutes, the old pilot was a character, a very nice guy.🇺🇸
You were right, so many tales to tell. The greatest story is the Pan Am clipper that got caught in the start of WW2 and had to fly around the world. When you get time, say something about the 103 DIY float planes.
Thanks Mike ! Great presentation. As a young pilot in the late sixties in northern Canada I was fortunate enough to be in on the tail end of true bush flying , The Beaver, Otter, Norseman and a stint on the PBY known as the Canso in it's Canadian iteration water bombing brings back many memories ! I eventually made my way up the food chain and loved the DC 3 but alas......It wasn't on floats. In retirement I loved my Lake Buccaneer !!!
Good one. I am not really a devoted aviation buff, but for some reason seaplanes etc. fascinate me. Probably because of learning, when I was a kid, about PBY rescues.
Mike. There was a C-47 on floats owned by pilots in Greenville Maine. It flew at many of the “International Seaplane Fly ins” which are held the weekend after Labor Day. I will try to send a photo. If you love water flying there are hundreds of planes that gather. Love to see you there this year. A Soviet pusher twin engine displacement hull plane was one of the more unique. Wing in the water when plane at rest. It carried about eight.
Great summary. How about part 2 featuring Short ‘C’ boats and their derivatives through to the 1950s and British and European developments between the world wars?
I had the unforgettable joy of caring for a dear lady who worked on the spruce goose in her final years, what a treasure and fascinating plane We still use a number of the classic flying boats and bush planes on floats are everyday here in Alaska
Loved the vid Mike. My first flight experience was in a Goose flying from Long Beach to Avalon where my parents had moved to in the late 60's. Ive been in love with seaplanes ever since.
The Piper Cub landed on the wing of the Mars, (heading wingtip to wingtip), with room to spare. Or, maybe, the more likely answer, they just used a handy crane.
Nice to see the mention of the Martin PBM. It is often given short shrift in WWII aircraft presentations. It means a lot to me because my father (who is my hero) was a PBM pilot in WWII hunting U-boats out of Guantanamo, Cuba. The U-boats shelled the refinery in Aruba where aviation gasoline was being produced. Ironically, my father later was an executive manager of that refinery.
This video was very informative. I never knew there were so many different manufacturers around the world making flying boats. That Latecoere 631 is an elegant and aerodynamic looking machine, pretty cool.
In such a short video there were bound to be some omissions. Two notable ones were the Rohrbach Ro-III which attempted a non-stop flight from San Francisco-Honolulu. It flew 1800+ miles before running out of fuel, but these Rohrbachs had emergency mast and sail kits on board. The plane then sailed 450+ miles until a submarine found it and towed it the last 10 miles. How about that for a yarn! More aeronautically significant I would say is the history of Beriev flying boats. The latter could be counted a more serious omission. But an interesting video, thank you.
I flew on a Grumman Duck from Long Beach to Catalina in the 1970's. It was much smaller than the Mallard, so the engines were right outside the pilot and copilot's windows. They started each engine by reaching out of their respective windows and inserting a shotgun shell (without shot in it, obviously) into a chamber, then igniting the gunpowder by pressing a button on the instrument panel. A thrilling start to an adventure for a teenager, but it probably wouldn't go over too well now.
Yes, apparently not retired from military service until New Zealand retired theirs in 1967. Definitely a success, with many built and used globally. I believe at least one still flies in pravate hands, but not sure.
I built the Martin Mariner by Revell back in the 60's. Nice kit. Also ten years age I built the Martin Marlin by Hasegawa. Highly recommended. It's hanging from my ceiling in the living room now. Looks great!
Mike, thanks for this outstanding video. 👍💯 The amount of fascinating information and photographs that you have included in this program have left me in awe of your talent for presenting aviation history in such an enjoyable and informative way. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That was a lot of fun! Never knew about consolidated's commadore. Love all your works...sorry I haven't commented much lately, but I'm able to spend more time here now. As always, excellent and wonderful work. Thank you,Mike
One more outstanding video, Mike! I am fascinated about seaplanes, although never flew in one. Glad you talked about Dornier DoX as my late grandfather has seen it at Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, and always told his grandsons how amazing it was to see it land and takeoff! Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷
Another very enjoyable video on one of the lesser covered, but very important, subjects of aviation history. Incredible photographs. Over my lifetime, I've built and collected many seaplane and flying boat models, mostly U.S. military specimens from Revell and Monogram. The Grumman Albatross shown at 14:43 is the same one depicted in the original Monogram SA-16 kit of 1957. A very nicely done model for that time, and also looks great in the 1970s reissue with white plastic and USCG markings. Got to fly on an Antilles Air Boats Grumman Mallard, one gorgeous morning at sunrise in 1976, between St. Thomas and St. John in the Virgin Islands. Spectacular water landings that I will never forget. Thank you again Mike for all your effort in putting these fun videos together
22:36 The famous Twilight Zone episode, "The Odyssey of Flight 33" is set aboard a trans-Atlantic 707 (at least that's what the included stock footage shows) and the flight crew is shown as five -- pilot, co-pilot, engineer, navigator, and radioman. The episode was first broadcast on 24 February 1961, so it appears at least some routes flew with the 5-man crew for years after 1958. It would be an interesting project for Mike's channel to investigate the evolution of airline flight crews from the dawn of commercial aviation to the standard 2-man crews of today. With advancing IT technology and even more extensive satellite navigation systems we may shortly see one-person cockpits with a pilot serving primarily as a supervisor of a largely autonomous aircraft for passenger flights and fully autonomous drone cargo carriers.
Saunders Roe Princess could definitely be said to have 6 engines but 4 of these were doubled versions of the Bristol Proteus turboprop making 10 engines on board.
Great presentation Mr. Machat. I'm so glad that you mentioned the MC72, and a speed record that will certainly never be bettered. There are still amphibians being flown out of Edwards. The Test Pilot School contracts with someone who provides a Grumman, what model I don't know. I'm guessing that they use Lake Isabella for the water portion of the training. Thanks for your time and effort on your great channel.
That's a Grumman SA-16 Albatross like the one in my video, and yes, they fly it up to Lake Isabella for water OPS (and swimming, I might add). Thanks for watching!
