Patent ID: 8807478

Claim:
An aircraft configured to take off and land on water, the aircraft including at least one fuselage and at least one wing connected to the fuselage, the aircraft including an aft-most center of gravity and at least one float, the float comprising: a float body that includes a bottom surface; a bottom surface forward portion located on the float body bottom surface, the bottom surface forward portion including a ski surface that is planar in a left-to-right horizontal direction; a bottom surface rearward portion located on the float body bottom surface, the bottom surface rearward portion including a rudder; and a bottom surface step located on the float body bottom surface and interposed between the bottom surface forward portion and the bottom surface rearward portion, the step including a point that is located forward of or at an intersection of the bottom surface and a line that extends from the aircraft aft-most center of gravity at an angle of less than ten degrees rearward from a vertical direction.