Seaplanes of the World

Book excerpt: Seaplanes hold a special place in our memory of the wonderful aircraft of aviation's golden age. Streamlined by necessity, they were magnificent and beautiful machines that caught and held the eye and the imagination. In this magnificent album, aviation historian Bill Yenne has assembled a marvelous collection of photographs of the great Supermarine racers, the Pan American Clippers that pioneered the air routes across the Atlantic and Pacific, the fighting flying boats of World War II, and the post-war jet seaplanes. This book is illustrated with carefully selected color and black white photographs from the world's most important aviation historical archives. These are complemented by authoritative descriptive text and over a dozen exquisite cutaway paintings by John Batchelor, the dean of the world's technical aviation illustrators.