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 However, true flying boats have largely been replaced by seaplanes with floats and amphibian aircraft with wheels.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 earlier flying boats, along with the larger amphibious planes used for fighting forest fires. There are also several experimental/kit amphibians such as the Volmer Sportsman, Quikkit Glass Goose, Airmax Sea Max, Aeroprakt A-24, and Seawind 300C.
The ShinMaywa US-2 (Japanese: 新明和 US-2) is a large STOL amphibious aircraft designed for air-sea rescue work. The US-2 is operated by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.
The Canadair CL-215 and successor Bombardier 415 are examples of modern flying boats and are used for forest fire suppression.
Dornier announced plans in May 2010 to build CD2 SeaStar composite flying boats in Quebec, Canada.
The Iranian military unveiled a squadron of flying boats, named Bavar 2, equipped with machine guns in September 2010.
-
Chinese Harbin/Shuihong 5
-
U.S. PBY Catalina serving as an aerial firefighting plane
-
Japanese ShinMaywa US-2
-
Canadair CL-215
-
Canadair CL-415
-
Russian Beriev Be-200
Read more about this topic: Flying Boat
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or versions:
“It was announced that the trouble was not “malignant.”... It was a typical triumph of modern science to find the only part of Randolph that was not malignant and remove it.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)