Amphibious aircraft
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An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can take off and land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically fixed-wing, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well.
A Canadair CL-415 amphibian with retractable wheels
Vickers Viking - an early amphibian.
Replica of Osa's Ark - a Sikorsky S-38 used to explore Africa in the 1930s.
Italian Air Force Piaggio P.136 during takeoff, retracting the wheels that make it an amphibian.
ShinMaywa US-2
Videos
The ShinMaywa US-2 is a large Japanese short takeoff and landing turboprop amphibious aircraft that employs boundary layer control technology for enhanced STOL and stall suppression performance. Manuf
Amphibious aircraft
…because an airplane's wing is more efficient than a helicopter's lifting rotor. This makes amphibious aircraft, such as the Grumman Albatross and the Shin Meiwa US-2, useful for long-range air–sea rescue tasks. In addition, amphibious aircraft are particularly useful as bush planes that can engage in light transport…
ShinMaywa US-2
A ShinMeiwa US-2 search and rescue amphibian
A side view of the engines and wing of a US-2
A US-2 during takeoff