A local association is trying to revive the popularity of seaplanes, the powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing in water. Its president, Jonathan Galea, tells Stephanie Fsadni that Malta could provide an ideal operations base for seaplanes and a hangar in a location like Marsa would draw locals and tourists and help regenerate the area.

Catching sight of a seaplane in Europe might be rarer than picking up a four-leaf clover, so you may consider yourself lucky if you spotted a few landing in Malta earlier this month.

The Roberts Cup, organised by the Malta Seaplanes Association in collaboration with Aeroclub Como, annually brings a small number of these ‘flying boats’ from all over the continent to the island.

“Como and Malta have over 200 years of seaplanes history and what better way to celebrate and share this history than by actually flying a route between them,” said Jonathan Galea, president of the Malta Seaplanes Association.

The fleet of seaplanes in Europe counts less than 150 and the current participation in the rally is of about three to five aircraft.

“Our present aim is to keep the spirit of maritime aviation alive,” said Galea. “However, for the future, we see more private entries. I appreciate the continous support of the Malta Tourism Authority for their help but would appreciate greater financial support from the authorities which would enable a larger fleet of eight to 10 seaplanes to participate in our event.”

The association was founded by Galea’s father, who served in the Royal Air Force, but the rally is named after his mother, Philippa Roberts, who provided the real inspiration for the competition: “My mother Philippa Roberts dedicated a large part of her life to supporting people in need and especially people with disabilities. She helped change attitudes and prove that the so-called disabled can, in fact, achieve all of what the rest of society would think to be impossible.

“We need more of that spirit nowadays and as far as aviation is concerned, we also need new challenges. The Roberts Cup seeks to address this; we salute those who will take the challenge and overcome it.”

Indeed, the seaplanes’ journey to Malta is not shorn of difficulties.

 “It is a gruelling task to fly small and slow seaplanes so far outside their comfort zone in the freshwater lakes of Europe, to Como and then all the way to Malta and back to whichever country the crew and plane happened to come from,” said Galea.

“This year’s event was as exciting as ever, with technical setbacks and weather forcing diversions as far away as Bastia in Corsica and 35 knot headwinds forcing fuel calculations really verging on to the limit for all participants.”

In the end, all aircraft made it through safely and all participating pilots completed their mandatory flying in the Grand Harbour.

“Receiving their medals at a special ceremony at the Hilton hotel, the pilots were much elated and despite the tough flying, they were already thinking about the next edition.”

In Europe... it is like hanging on to a dying species

Like every aircraft, seaplanes are designed and built to withstand the elements but they can so only up to a certain point.

“As they must deal with greater loads, seaplanes are more vulnerable than other aircraft, despite having bracing wires and struts that are there to make them stronger,” explained Galea.

The small planes that fly from Como to Malta usually cruise at around 100 knots at an altitude of 3,000 feet, with an operating ceiling of 10,000 feet or so and need at least two refuelling stops en route.

Galea, who has a seaplanes licence, is fascinated by these aircraft but admits that flying one is no easy task.

“Looking at a seaplane from afar it is unbelievably beautiful when taking off or landing over the waves. Sitting in that same plane, however, it is unquestionably tricky to get it in the air or back on to the water!,” he said. “Unlike a normal landplane which basically lifts off a runway at the appropriate speed, there is nothing sure about a flying boat getting off the water. Without the skill and intense action of the pilot, the plane might never fly.”

To him, these aircraft represent “beauty, endeavour and resilience” but they also appeal to those who are not “aviation petrolheads”.

“Children love them, watching them for hours on end in places like Como, where aircraft, pedestrians, cars and onlookers all interact in an intense and yet safe and harmonious manner,” he enthused.

Speaking of Como, its aviation club is recognised in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest seaplane operation and flight school in the world.

“It has a dynamic spirit traceable all the way back to the club’s birth in 1930. Malta lacks this sense of energy but, most of all, it lacks a real appreciation for the beauty of this community-based activity when it could quite easily provide a fascinating operations base for seaplanes again,” said Galea.

The association is, in fact, seeking government help to identify a site of land where a “socially-oriented”  hangar might be built. This would be a hub of community activity and cultural events where different generations of different social backgrounds could interact.

“We would like to see a deprived area in Malta benefit from a buzzing new hive of exciting activity, something similar to the wonderful Aero Club Como hangar.

“ Our preference would be for a small base near Flagstone Wharf in Marsa. A serviceable seaplanes ramp already exists there and it was positively surveyed by seaplanes experts for the government just a few years ago. Alternatively, the government could consider another location in Marsa or perhaps somewhere closer to Kalafrana, although this is less desirable.

“Seaplanes are an unbelievably great attraction for tourists and with a small hangar in a location like Marsa, I guarantee you that locals and foreigners alike would flock there. If the government recognised this prospect for regeneration, it would surely be able to justify its assistance to our association’s project to find a home.”

The voluntary organisation is also planning a museum; this has been met with acclaim abroad but is awaiting the right financial backer and government support for a venue, perhaps also in Marsa or the inner harbour region.

“The first power station at Crucifix Hill in Floriana would be an excellent choice, but the government needs to create new incentives that encourage all relevant stakeholders to consider coming forward for this project to happen,” Galea pointed out.

Meanwhile, the association is involved in the artistic and philately scene, creating posters and carrying specially printed mail covers in the hold of the rally aircraft, just like the pioneers of the postal services and airmail did over 100 years ago.

“Many of the world’s greatest and bravest early pilots were mail men or women carrying people’s communications cross country and across borders… of course, in the seaplanes of yesteryear. Sensing the appeal of this contest, the Poste Italiane this year collaborated with us and the resulting postal cover is really something special to behold,” said Galea.

These aircraft inevitably evoke a sense of nostalgia.

“Nostalgia is part and parcel of the world of seaplanes and this is why it would work so easily as a museum subject,” continued Galea. “The fact that the biggest seaplanes are long gone and most other smaller types are a dying breed too makes all such planes even more special. In Europe, at least, it is like hanging on to a dying species.”

A brief history of seaplanes in Malta

■ Seaplanes have been around since the dawn of aviation in Malta. The first aircraft flew in the Grand Harbour on February 13, 1915, coming off the Royal Navy’s first seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal. These aircraft quickly became a permanent feature of Malta’s aviation scene and remained so until the late 1940s.

■ By 1918, HM Dockyard in Cottonera had produced 18 large Felixstowe F3s, accounting for 20 per cent of the entire wartime production of this flying boat, which was the largest of its kind at the time.

■ Most of Malta’s seaplanes’ history is connected with the Three Cities and Malta’s south, particularly Kalafrana. The only real exception was the back-up station at Mistra, which was used as an alternate ramp in case of adverse winds at Kalafrana.

■ During both world wars, the flying boat personnel were tasked with anti-submarine patrols. The seaplanes’ advantage was their range but, on the other hand, they were also slow and vulnerable to enemy attack, and many crews perished. The Royal Naval Air Service and, after 1918, the Royal Air Force seaplane squadrons were joined at Kalafrana and Mistra by the rapid rescue boat crews which retrieved pilots and other crew bailing out over the central Mediterranean, particularly during World War II.