XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: kehoea@parhasard.net   
      
    Ar an tríú lá is fiche de mí Iúil, scríobh J. J. Lodder:   
      
    > Hibou  wrote:   
    >   
    > > [...] Apparently it depends on the species of duck. Some think they're   
    > > flying boats, others that they're seaplanes.   
    >   
    > On usage: In my English they are all seaplanes,   
    > to be divided in floatplanes and flying boats.   
      
   Wikipedia comments that ‘British usage is to call floatplanes “seaplanes”   
   rather than use the term “seaplane” to refer to both floatplanes and flying   
   boats.[2].’ I had a strong interest in aviation as a teenager and this usage   
   seems to have stuck with me; the magazines I read were from the UK.   
      
   I have no strong interest in aviation now, and similarly, my sister also   
   has no interest in owning a horse.   
      
    > Floatplanes are typically smaller, while flying boats can be huge,   
    > up to Spruce Goose size.   
    > AFAIK the flying boats have gone almost completely extinct,   
    > (some dinosaurs from WWII excepted)   
      
   I saw an amphibious PBY Catalina at Enniskillen airport (perhaps “airstrip”   
   would better characterise the facility) a few years ago, just as I was driving   
   past, glad to see one still operational. It may not be any more.   
      
    > while small floatplanes still florish in special habitats, like the   
    > Caraibean, or Alaska,   
      
   I learn right now from Wikipedia that the Catalina is no longer in service as a   
   waterbomber   
      
   --   
   ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /   
   How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’   
   (C. Moore)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)