PPT Slide
MC-27L Seaplanes by skis…nose off-load Amphigavins into the water and beach?
In the can-do ethos of the 1950s, the navy still had seaplanes and an inspired vision for them. The Tradewind 4-engine seaplane transport actually created a 300+ mph-deploy-anywhere-in-the-world capability so marines could assault beaches without having to sit for 6 months at a time in WWII-style amphibious ships vulnerable to coastal defense
attacks from aircraft, missiles, submarines. The closed-minded USMC was not interested to their everlasting shame and thus today they are desperate for V-22 tilt-rotor half-helicopter-airplanes to get strategic air reach that are mechanically too complex to work, and cannot land on water! The USMC could have had 300 mph global reach by seaplanes
since the 1950s. Not enough budgetary $ pork for them. We bring up the Tradewind because it solved the off-loading of vehicles while-in-the-water problem by a nose that folded upwards; vehicles then drove down ramps. With some more fuselage modifications and a boat hull shape to sit high enough in the water, the MC-27L could land in water and open its nose for M113A4 Amphigavins to splash into the water or onto the beach.
Fastest Prop seaplane ever!