The Flying Boat Era

Before runways ruled the skies, some of the world's most ambitious aircraft rose from harbours, rivers, lakes and ocean lagoons. The Flying Boat Era: Oceans, Empires, Luxury, and the Aircraft Before Runways Ruled tells the story of the remarkable machines that carried passengers, mail, diplomats, crews and wartime patrols across a world not yet fully prepared for land-based aviation. From early ocean routes and imperial air mail to luxurious transoceanic cabins, remote water bases, Pacific island stepping stones, maritime patrols and rescue missions, this book explores how flying boats helped create modern long-distance air travel. It explains why aircraft could once use water more easily than land, how airlines built routes across oceans before global airport networks existed, and why the rise of runways, landplanes and jets eventually brought the great flying boat age to an end. Clear, fact-based and written in plain English, this book is for aviation enthusiasts, history readers, travellers and anyone fascinated by the lost age when the future of flight floated before it flew.