Author Topic: Seaplayne  (Read 22069 times)

Offline Jimbo

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Seaplayne
« on: April 03, 2006, 14:33:56 »
Hello my friends,

This seaplane was made using the top of the hull from the speedboat in kit 3041.  The fuselage is made from pine wood, and the wings of plywood.  The engine has stainless steel exhaust pipes.  The craft was influenced by the plane flown by Porko Roso in the Japanese movie by that name. (That is an animated movie.)

Best regards,

Jim

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2006, 16:26:03 »
Wow, fantastic.  Nice use of the speedboat top there, and the stainless steel exhausts are a great detail touch.
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Offline CountBogro

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2006, 18:48:47 »
Firstly and most importantly: FANTASTIC !!!
I really love that craft!

But it's actually not a seaplane; but a flying boat (I think) as it's the hull itself that floats. It reminds me of the early models of the Interbellum years ...

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2006, 20:03:30 »
But it's actually not a seaplane; but a flying boat (I think) as it's the hull itself that floats. It reminds me of the early models of the Interbellum years ...

Bogro

You're quite right, bogro, it is a flying boat.  Seaplanes landed on the sea but only with floats (the equivalent of the wheels for land-based aircraft) in the water, while the flying boat had the hull in the water.  Then of course there was the weird British Short Mayo system where a flying boat carried a small mail-carrying seaplane on its wings to give the latter greater range.

Here's a link to it:

http://www.planefacts.co.uk/cards/short/pages/short_mayo_jpg.htm

which also nicely shows the accuracy of James hull design.

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Offline CountBogro

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2006, 16:58:16 »

which also nicely shows the accuracy of James hull design.

It does, doesn't it?

as a side note: I allways thought that the Mercurius/ Maya combination was actually rather brilliant!

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2006, 19:33:55 »

as a side note: I allways thought that the Mercurius/ Maya combination was actually rather brilliant!

Bogro

Yes, but still weird! :)  Dinky used to make a model of it before the war and maybe afterwards, too.
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Offline CountBogro

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2006, 04:49:46 »
I remember that one!
There someone who had brought it in at the Antiques Roadshow ...
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Offline Morgan

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2006, 15:57:08 »
Nice plane  :D

Offline Dan

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2006, 09:07:40 »
Any chance of a photo or two from other angles?  I'd love to see the engine and propellor.

My dad was an Air Mecanic in the Navy in the 1940s and I still have his handbook for maintaining flying boats - amazing stuff.  They carried anchors and had watertight compartments like any other boat!

Apparently NASA looked at the Mayo when they designed the 747 Shuttle carrier.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2006, 09:12:44 by Dan »

Offline Jimbo

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Re: Seaplayne
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2006, 00:55:52 »
Thanks all, for the nice comments!

CountBogro and Playmofire, I did some research on the "seaplane" title.  It seems, so they say, that floatplanes, and flyingboats, are both seaplanes.
I didn't give it much thought before though.  I was an aircrewman in the U.S.Navy during the sixties for a short time.  (Vietnam) I was in a land based patrol aircraft, but the neighbor squadron flew the big P5M flyingboat.  We called them seaplanes.  The U.S.N. also had seaplane tenders ...large ships that serviced the seaplanes at sea.

Dan..I think I can get more photos. My boy has the plane.   I was an aircraft mechanic in the Navy, as was your Dad!  Neat stuff!