The Flying Boat is Back

Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 12:50 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The Dornier Seastar is a versatile seaplane constructed with composite materials, featuring a shallow draft that allows close shore approaches and amphibious capabilities, including removable landing gear for pure floatplane configuration.
It boasts a remarkably spacious cabin, significantly longer than a Cessna Caravan on floats or a King Air 200, and is certified to carry up to 12 passengers.
The aircraft's complex hull design enables quick step-up for takeoff and provides exceptional stability on the water, preventing the porpoising common in older flying boats.

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Composite construction makes Dornier Seastar a practical seaplane for all sorts of missions.

The Seastar draws only about two feet with the landing gear up, so it’s possible to approach very close to shore so long as the bottom is not so jagged that it damages the hull. If a ramp is available, you can lower the gear in the water and taxi the Seastar up onto land.

The Seastar cabin is big, nearly six feet longer than a Cessna Caravan on floats and more than a foot longer than a King Air 200.

If needed, the landing gear can be removed to make the Seastar a pure floatplane and then later reinstalled without modifications.

The one and only Seastar in existence has a plush executive interior that is appropriate for a flying yacht. It is certified to carry up to 12 passengers in high-density utility seating. Dornier will have to get the empty weight down, or takeoff weight up, to haul that many.

The Seastar’s complex hull shape gets the airplane up on the step quickly for take-off or fast taxiing. The Seastar is very stable on the step, with none of the tendencies to porpoise in pitch that has made flying older-design flying boats a challenge.

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