Biggest seaplane in service

Hi mhuxt, the Latecoere 631 was the prototype F-BAHG (c/n 01) first flown on the 4 November 1942. It was confiscated by Germany and flown to Lake Constance(Bodensee), where it was destroyed by Allied air attack in 1944.
Ray

Thanks mate.

Check for yourself ck! I doubt if a king of google could manage to find this pair of photos.
Ray

Nice! So, along…

I am trying to get an idea of how Latecoere 631 compares with Boeing 314.

Super Sioux:

Do you know if that source gives an exact date for the destruction of a Latecoere on Lake Geneva in 1944?

Hi mhuxt, the Latecoere 631 was the prototype F-BAHG (c/n 01) first flown on the 4 November 1942. It was confiscated by Germany and flown to Lake Constance(Bodensee), where it was destroyed by Allied air attack in 1944.
Ray

Super Sioux:

Do you know if that source gives an exact date for the destruction of a Latecoere on Lake Geneva in 1944?

Were the berths along or across fuselage?

Check for yourself ck! I doubt if a king of google could manage to find this pair of photos.
Ray

Ah well…. completely wrong as usual… Llanbedr, Prestwick… both in foreign countries…. 😮

Also completely confused over the KM… a picture I have seemed to place it well and truely on dry land… on further inspection, its in a dry dock… dammit

I have never seen a piccie of a KM in dry dock – so I’d be interested to see it.

What you may have seen is ‘Spasatel’ – a proposed ‘Rescue’ variant of the Lun ekranoplan.

Check out :- http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php

Ken

Ah well…. completely wrong as usual… Llanbedr, Prestwick… both in foreign countries…. 😮

Also completely confused over the KM… a picture I have seemed to place it well and truely on dry land… on further inspection, its in a dry dock… dammit

The two P6M losses were down to problems with the primary flight control systems, the first accident being fatal. That aircraft was doing a low level, high speed run over the sea during a test flight when the elevator jack malfunctioned and slammed the elevators into the full nose down position. The aircraft bunted so suddenly that it momentarily carried on travelling horizontally even though the nose was almost vertical. Analysis of the film of the accident later established that the wings had flexed downward so far that the wingtips had actually touched beneath the fuselage before the wings failed.

PS For more awesome ekranoplan stuff, see here:

http://www.samolet.co.uk/ekranoplan.html

Ah, the old project… here is the only picture I have in the office, will dig out some more of the model. The runway suggested, as seen in the picture, was in fact Llanbedr.

It will fly one of these days:)

yes, i believe both prototypes were lost in accidents, leading to their total destruction though i don’t know the causes. still, as is the case with many aircraft, it would be awesome to see one fly :diablo:

I’m sure I remeember something about the fact that they lost 2 out of 3 prototypes in the space of 6 months due to accidents. Midair breakups or something. Could be the reason it never went into service. Shame really as it was a smart looking machine.

But it would need to go to an airport.

If you think about the infrastructure required for modern day mass travel the actual runway is one of the smallest bits of construction.

It’s the passenger handling stuff that would still requite building even for a flying boat. You couldn’t just pull into a harbour and putter out in a motor boat any more.

Moggy

PS Thanks to all those who posted the P6M material. Good looking aircraft huh?

The P6M was a stunning aircraft its rather odd considering that the USN had already started converting ships to act as tenders, she was very close to being operational. it broke some altitude and speed records in its early flights and was capable of more that 1100 km/h at 7000 metres. she would have been on hell of an aircraft.

It’s the passenger handling stuff that would still requite building even for a flying boat. You couldn’t just pull into a harbour and putter out in a motor boat any more.

Quite right Moggy. Even in the late 1930s puttering was out of fashion – Imperial Airways was building flying boat docks at places such as Southampton. In 1943 a study on the future for flying boats proposed floating semi-covered docks (see pics). And of course, you’d need a supply of aviation fuel stored at the habour and able to be supplied to the aircraft.

PS Thanks to all those who posted the P6M material. Good looking aircraft huh?

Very nice – but equally you can never have too many photos of Beriev’s flying boats.

His plan was to equip the ekranoplan with wheels (see Caspian Sea Monster)

The KM (the so-called Caspian Sea Monster) did not have wheels.

Only a single KM was built – and at 540 tonnes with ten engines was the largest Ekranoplan ever built.

It was totally sea-bound.

You are thinking of the much smaller and much more practical A-90 ‘Orlyonok’ (Eaglet) – a 3-engined(two lift & one propulsion) amphibious assault ekranoplan.

It had a bank of wheels under the planing hull – and could travel up a beach or ramp to discharge its cargo through a nose door.

Ken

46 passengers = 46 seats = 46 berths. Each 2 seat cabin could be made into a 2 berth cabin one lower and one upper. The same for the 4 seat cabin, two lower and two upper.
Cabins were on each side of the central corridor.
Ray

Were the berths along or across fuselage?

Will J has a plan…. an ekranoplan…. hehe.

From memory, (please back me up Will) his university project detailed the construction and operation of a large ekranoplan. Prestwick Airport was mentiuoned in its operation – a large runway with vertually no obsacles between it and the open sea – ideal ekranoplan operating territory. His plan was to equip the ekranoplan with wheels (see Caspian Sea Monster) and fly from Prestwick to anywhere! I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to detail his plan…… I thought it was a good idea, but I’m not Richard Branson

But ‘most large ports’ already have an airport nearby. So what would be the advantage?

You go on a cruise because you want to walk around, play deck quoits, dance, have a few days or weeks away from the everyday rush.

A cruiseliner where you were strapped in your seat and the cruise lasted a few hours wouldn’t have much of a pull.

Moggy

Compare a liner, like Queen Mary I, with Queen Mary II or a cruise ship like Freedom of the Seas.

Queen Mary I draws 12 m. Queen Mary II draws just 10 m. Freedom of the Seas draws just 850 cm.

This is a consideration. Cruise ships do not want to be restricted to a few major ports like the liners are. The option to visit out-of-the-way, shallower ports is important.

A longhaul jet plane runway means well over 2000 m have to be flattened and paved over. Add a lot of land which has to be clear of trees, houses et cetera.

A port for a seaplane using a natural harbour or lagoon is much less intrusive.

[QUOTE=chornedsnorkack;1119965][QUOTE=super sioux;1119666]

Is it then the case that Latecoere 631 is the biggest seaplane anyone has ever had tickets on? It is definitely bigger than Boeing 314… what are the fuselage and cabin like?

How many berths? How are the berths arranged?

Does it mean, cabins on both sides of corridor?

46 passengers = 46 seats = 46 berths. Each 2 seat cabin could be made into a 2 berth cabin one lower and one upper. The same for the 4 seat cabin, two lower and two upper.
Cabins were on each side of the central corridor.
Ray

fair point, just a hypothesis, and, of course you are right, its always tempting to try and justify building and operating the largest aircraft in the world 🙂