A fresh collection of classic footage provides a new look at the world's largest flying boats; it has been posted by the popular US science and technology blog Sploid.
Their evolution began with the Dornier Do X, a German amphibious aircraft which was built back in 1929. The 40-meter-long hydroplane had a wingspan of 48 meters, comparable to that of Russia's Tu-95 strategic bomber.
The 10-minute clip also singles out the Martin JRM Mars, a four-engine cargo transport seaplane originally designed and built in limited numbers for the US Navy during the World War II era.
Four of the surviving aircraft, nicknamed Flying Dreadnoughts, were later converted to be used fighting forest fires in Canada. One such aircraft still remains in limited service in British Columbia.
Additionally, the video shows the German flying boat Blohm & Voss BV 238, a German hydroplane which was also built during the Second World War. It was notably the heaviest aircraft ever flown when it first took off in 1944, and it was the largest aircraft produced by any of the Axis powers in World War II.
As for the world's current largest flying boat, it is the Soviet-made A-40 Albatros, a jet-powered amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company for use against submarines.
@marcelsardo Beriev A-40 Albatros, an ekranoplane. pic.twitter.com/yPLIZx6IX1
— Christophe Robin (@XopheRobin) 18 июля 2015 г.
The project was suspended after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. However, the project was later revived, with an order placed by the Russian Navy.
