Floatplane

A de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbo Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery

A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, making the vehicle an amphibious aircraft.[1] British usage is to call floatplanes "seaplanes" rather than use the term "seaplane" to refer to both floatplanes and flying boats.[2]

  1. ^ James M. Triggs (Winter 1971). "Floatplane Flying". Air Trails: 39.
  2. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary defines "seaplane" as "An aeroplane designed to be able to operate from water; specifically, one with floats, in contrast to a flying boat."