[Llarry]

Further post-script to the seaplane story: One of the outstanding flying boats of World War II was a four-engined, heavily-armed model used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and designed and built by Shin Meiwa. Shin Meiwa survived the war and in the 1960s-70s designed a new four-turboprop amphibious seaplane with unsurpassed rough water capabilities due to an unusually low stall speed. That 1st-gen postwar model was succeeded about 20 years ago by the improved US-2, used for search and rescue in small numbers by the Japanese JMSDF (Navy.) In addition to four turboprops, the aircraft has a gas turbine used to blow air over the flaps for excellent low-speed characteristics.

The Chinese have recently come out with a slightly larger model that looks to me to owe a lot to the Shin Meiwa design.