The Seaplane's Second Act

After years of obsolescence, flying boats are experiencing a glamour-fuelled revival.

- Basem Wasef

DECADES BEFORE JETLINERS zigzagged across the planet at near supersonic speeds, a more genteel aircraft ruled the skies, designed to function in harmony with the 71 per cent of Earth that’s covered in water. Amphibious planes were among the first to bring a halo of panache to air travel, and not just thanks to their leisurely pace. Many models, among them the Martin M-130 China Clipper and the Sikorsky S-40 Flying Forest, remain paragons of aircraft design. It was only after World War II triggered a sprawl of airports that commercial aviation veered from harbours and waterways to more efficient point-to-point solutions, rendering seaplanes all but obsolete.

Yet like record players and film cameras, these retro machines are making a comeback, and it’s not hard to see why. Consider the once-ubiquitous Grumman Albatross, which counted as clientele everyone from Jimmy Buffett to the US Air Force’s search and rescue services. In a world in which commercial air travel grew exponentially over 50 years ago, the very fact of its chunky, decidedly un-aerodynamic shape makes the Albatross seem saturated in the romance of a bygone era.