Growth Of Flying Boat.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 16, 1913:
    New Craft Growing in Favor with Yachtsmen and Motor Boat Owners. The development of the hydro-aeroplane during the last two years indicates that it will in the near future become the fastest propelled thing in the world. The new hybrid motor boat, for, after all, it is a power boat built along novel and interesting lines, is already capable of a high rate of speed, but the question of limit in this respect is dependent alone upon the construction of the engine. Hydro-aeroplanes are, perhaps, not, technically speaking, motor boats, but it is the logical successor of the present power craft and will soon be familiarly known as the flying motor boat. Already this craft has attained a speed of seventy-five miles an hour, which makes the record of the Harmsworth Cup contenders look very slim, especially when the relative power plants of the two boats are considered.
    The new flying boat is less than thirty feet long on the water, a little more than that to the tip of the rudder and elevator plane at the stern. It differs from the standard form of hydroplane in that on the water it does not ride on the stern, but on the forward plane or step. This step is located about ten feet from the bow and just astern of the cockpit. It is, perhaps, six inches deep and fitted with two large air pipes some three inches in diameter. The general shape of the boat is that of a fish, wide at the bow, tapering to a point at the stern. The cockpit has two comfortable seats, and the passengers are well protected from wind and spray by a collapsible hood. Either of the passengers can control the flying boat, the dual system of control making it a simple matter to teach any one to operate it. The streamlike form of the boat offers very little head resistance to the air, even less, it is asserted, than the standard landing gear of the ordinary aeroplane.