  a seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.gunston, "the cambridge aerospace dictionary", 2009. seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft. seaplanes and amphibians are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteristics: floatplanes and flying boats; the latter are generally far larger and can carry far more. these aircraft were sometimes called hydroplanes,de saint-exupery, a. (1940). "wind, sand and stars" p33, harcourt, brace & world, inc. but currently this term applies instead to a motor-powered watercraft which use hydrofoils to levitate their main hull above the water when running at speed. ==types== the word "seaplane" is used to describe two types of air/water vehicles: the floatplane and the flying boat. * a floatplane has slender pontoons, or floats, mounted under the fuselage. two floats are common, but other configurations are possible. only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water. the fuselage remains above water. some small land aircraft can be modified to become float planes, and in general floatplanes are small aircraft. floatplanes are limited by their inability to handle wave heights typically greater than 12&nbsp;inches (0.31 m). these floats add to the empty weight of the airplane, and to the drag coefficient, resulting in reduced payload capacity, slower rate-of-climb, and slower cruise speed.  * in a flying boat, the main source of buoyancy is the fuselage, which acts like a ship's hull in the water because the fuselage's underside has been hydrodynamically shaped to allow water to flow around it. most flying boats have small floats mounted on their wings to keep them stable. not all small seaplanes have been floatplanes, but most large seaplanes have been flying boats, with their great weight supported by their hulls. the term "seaplane" is used by some instead of "floatplane". this is the standard british usage.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. this article treats both flying boatsdictionary definition, "flying boat" and floatplanes[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=floatplane dictionary definition "floatpl
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