Vidicom : Flying Boats : Text

Once upon a time, boats could fly - cruise liners of the sky connecting countries and continents. In the infancy of aviation, flying boats visited the great cities of this world and advanced to horizons yet unknown.

Big and ponderous, with up to twelve propellers and wingspans of more than 300 feet, the giant flight machines were supreme rulers of the skies.

They helped build the fame of former Pan American Airways and serviced the first commercial air route across the South Atlantic. Then they lost out to quicker, lighter "land planes" - much like dinosaurs did to mammals.

In Flying Boats, VIDICOM brings back a lost era of aviation. In the present day, we visit the last relics of an extinct species. On Vancouver Island, the last two giant flying boats are still in service - as the world's biggest water bombers.