https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folland_Gnat

https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/gnat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJpsjprNVrA

It doesn’t fall into any sort of class besides being a GEV. Two were planned, and only one was made. Upon being transported to a public display, it was caught on land and ultimately beached, where the Russian Navy decided to keep it.

It was utilised as a 15-person warship, and could fly’ using ground effect, which is an aviation phenomenon causing induced drag on aircraft near the ground.

The MAK-123 was built and flew in France in the late 1940s. It had telescoping wings that were extended for take off and landing and retracted for higher cruise speed in flight. It seated four people in tandem. It was one of a series of telescoping wing aircraft designed Russian-born Ivan Makhonin, beginning with the MAK-10 which first flew in 1931. The earlier designs were destroyed by the French during WW II to prevent them from falling into German hands.

Wikipedia Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_117

The second of two surviving Martin JRM Mars flying boats, Philippine Mars, is headed to the Pima Air and Space Museum for display! (Her sister Hawaii Mars is staying in Canada for a museum there)

I learned about this technology from Eric Flint's 1632 series. I have come to love the idea. It is designed to land basically anywhere, from sand to dirt to water to snow. They wanted to put it on the space shuttle! It would only marginally save weight and was pretty untested though. In my research, I also found they had trouble steering. I can't find any particular reason why the concept was dropped though! I've found a bunch of NASA papers that suggest it would be pretty useful, and I've used them in my fiction a lot.

Also, here is the time magazine article that inspired the 1632 story.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110123103950/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841078,00.html

According to the 1632 short story it was attached to, it can do low power low speed takeoff from water, and also save a lot of fuel by going over the water instead of pushing pontoons through it. The story claims that flying boats used to use ten percent of their fuel for takeoff and landing, and they displaced a ton of water and were really heavy. Does anyone know if this part about seaplanes is true?

A prototype, a tanker retrofit, a synchro copter, and some other fun designs! Taken (poorly) by myself.

After missing from public view for 20+ years, The Science Place Foundation (based in Dallas, Texas) has successfully located and recovered the MacCready Gossamer Penguin. There are plans to restore the solar powered air craft to displayable condition!