Harbour Air: Keeping Seaplanes Afloat

NOWADAYS, FLYING flying almost always involves departing from and arriving on concrete runways. But, in the first decades of aviation, seaplanes were the most exciting and profitable method of transportation in the world.

The first seaplanes ever built started to appear even before the turn of the 20th Century, when Austrian aviator Wilhelm Kress developed the pioneering, albeit unsuccessful, Drachenflieger between 1898 and 1901. But it was not until 1910, with the arrival of the short-lived Fabre Hydravion, in France, that powered flying over the water became a reality.

After that, seaplanes were seen as the true successors of the ocean liners, especially on routes between Western Europe and the United States, then one of the biggest commercial markets in the world. This was the case until the arrival of the jet age in the 1950s.

And so, giant flying machines were developed, like the Italian Caproni Ca.60, sadly destroyed on its second test flight, and the Dornier Do X, the largest, heaviest, and most powerful ‘flying boat’ of its time. For transatlantic crossings, Boeing produced one of its most legendary aircraft: the 314 Clipper.

The legacy left by the Clipper on the transatlantic market was so influential that its primary operator, PanAm, appropriated the name for its aircraft until it ceased operations in December 1991.

But, today, seaplanes have been relegated to the far background and few companies employ this beautiful form of travel that is love at first flight for all those who try it. 

In this article, we will enter the exciting world of seaplanes, looking at their evolution through time and exploring the day-to-day operations of North America’s largest seaplane operator: Canada’s Harbour Air (YB).

What's Good about Sea Flying

In the early 20th Century, sea flying was a very powerful form of aviation for a very good reason: given the technology available at the time, it offered the most comfortable and flexible potential for industrial development.

Until the 1940s, aviation as a whole was still in its experimental phase. Tests, concepts, and bizarre ideas abounded, as physicists and engineers strove to identify the best way of flying. Fragile and primitive aircraft always had to be tested under the correct conditions.

While a modern Airbus A320 can deal with up to 10kt of tailwind on departure, the planes of the 1920s could only take off with headwind, and therefore had to be flexible enough to take...