The Aeromarine AMC was the first American all-metal hulled commercial

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

Development

Design work on the AMC started in 1921 with the goal of producing an

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

-hulled flying boat that would be more durable than contemporary all-wood construction. Aeromarine's wooden-hulled boats required drying out when waterlogged. The excess weight of a waterlogged hull could be as much as 456 lb. A model of the AMC was wind-tunnel tested at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

before choosing an open cockpit design.

Design

The AMC was a two-bay biplane flying boat with an aluminum hull. The spruce woodspar wings were fabric covered with small tip floats for stability. The engine was mounted just below the top wing in a pusher configuration with a forward-mounted radiator. Two 50-gallon streamlined main fuel tanks sat on the top wing on either side of the engine with a 70-gallon fuselage-mounted reserve. The hull was constructed of eighteen forms and five watertight bulkheads. It had two rows of small bench seats for passengers in the front. The pilot and mechanic sat slightly raised in individual open cockpits behind the passengers, beneath the main wing. The hull used

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

17S aluminum treated with potassium nitrate with Canton flannel/Asphalt watertight seals and

Valspar The Valspar Corporation is an American manufacturer of paint and coatings based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With over 11,000 employees in 26 countries and a company history that spans two centuries, it was the sixth largest paint and coating corpor ...

aluminum paint.

Operational history

The AMC was intended to replace the

Aeromarine 75 The twin-engine F5L was one of the Felixstowe F series of flying boats developed by John Cyril Porte at the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe, England, during the First World War for production in America. A civilian version of the air ...

flying boats used by Aeromarine Airways in service between New York, San Juan, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. Within three days of its first flight on 1 June 1923, the aircraft was flown from

Keyport, New Jersey Keyport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,240,Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

totalling fifteen thousand miles before returning to New Jersey. Aeromarine ceased service in late 1924, without a customer base for sales, only the one AMC was completed. The sole AMC was sold to Fairchild Air Transport (Fairchild Aerial Surveys Co of Canada Ltd ) on 25 May 1926 for use on Canadian passenger service and aerial photography. It was dismantled on 28 February 1930.

Specifications (AMC)

References

External links

Image of an Aeromarine AMCCanada Air & Space Museum AMC picture library
{{Aeromarine aircraft Flying boats

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...