The seaplane tattoo is very unique. The seaplane refers to the aircraft that can take off, land and park on the water surface. It is mainly used for maritime patrol, anti submarine, rescue and sports, tourism, commuting, aerial photography, etc. Type of habitat: amphibious aircraft and amphibious aircraft. The amphibious aircraft can be divided into flying boat and seaplane.

The first plane to take off from water was made by the famous French early aviators and aircraft designers Wazan Brothers. This is a box kite glider. A pontoon is arranged under the fuselage. On June 6, 1905, the glider was towed by a motorboat on the Seine River and flew into the air.

Landscape Seaplane Tattoo on Chest

Source: @cihantattooart

The seaplane is used militarily for reconnaissance, anti submarine and rescue activities; It can be used for transportation, forest fire protection, etc. in civil use. The main advantages of water jet are that it can be used on rivers, lakes, rivers and sea water with vast waters, has good safety, has economical ground auxiliary facilities, and has unlimited tonnage; The main disadvantages are that due to the limitation of hull shape, it is not suitable for high-speed flight, the airframe structure is heavy, the requirements for wave resistance are high, the maintenance is inconvenient and the manufacturing cost is high.

Lightning Seaside Seaplane Tattoo on Upper Arm

Source: @glassdarklyart

However, the weakness of seaplanes is obvious. Because of the requirements for taking off and landing on water, good watertightness is required, the structural weight and flight resistance of seaplanes are too large, and the load, range, speed and other aspects are inferior to ordinary shore based aircraft of the same level. It is more difficult to accept in the aspect of operation that the belly of the seaplane is used for water skiing and cannot be equipped with a hatch, so the fuselage bomb compartment cannot be used; However, if the missiles and other weapons on the wings take off and land on water, the external weapons will also be subject to the strong impact of the waves and will be easily damaged. In addition, seaplanes are in direct contact with seawater, and they also spend more time on corrosion resistance and maintenance than shore based aircraft.

Night Seaplane Tattoo on Upper Arm

Source: @jer.makes.da.artz

Since the beginning of World War I, most warships above cruisers will carry one or more buoy seaplanes for long-distance detection, target search and error correction during artillery shooting. These planes are usually parked on warships. Some of them are catapulted from the take-off slideway above the turret. Some ships with large tonnage have special slideways or hangars to place these observation seaplanes. When the aircraft lands, it first lands on the sea near the warship, and then the crane on the warship lifts the aircraft back to the ship for the next mission. This kind of pontoon seaplane can also take off directly from the water surface.

Mountain Seaplane Tattoo on Arm

Source: @virgocreative

The first real seaplane in the world that can take off and land on water by its own power was invented and manufactured by Henri Fable of France (note: different from the entomologist Fable). Faber came from a family of ships. He became interested in engineering when he was young and inherited his family’s special feelings for the sea. After the birth of the plane, he decided to follow the Wright brothers and the Wazan brothers, and envisaged making planes that could take off and land at sea. From 1907 to 1909, he carried out a lot of basic research work on water and land, and his most important work was the theoretical research on submerged wings and pontoons.