David Cooke has put together a short account of what Glenn Curtiss first called the ""hydro-terra-aeroplane."" Although only a few seaplanes remain in military service, many experts continue to insist that the seaplane has operational qualities which cannot be matched by any land plane. On each page is a brief history of the men and the machines they developed. Directly opposite is a full-page, clear photograph of the seaplane under discussion. Every essay is finished off with the engine and measurement data for each ""aerial yacht"".

David C. Cooke is an authority on aviation history who has written, among many others, Transport Planes That Made History (1957, p. 605, J-303) and Jets and Rocket Planes That Made History (1961, p. 264, J-118)