Flying boats are fixed-wing aircraft with hulls like boats, allowing them to land on water instsead of runways. Lakes, seas, reflecting pools, you name it.

In the early history of flight this kind of thing was popular because there were a lot of places without runways and airstrips, and a lot of those that did exist were too small to accomodate larger, long-distance airplanes. There were other advantages too - because their size wasn’t limited by the length of runways, they could be built to an impressive size, and had longer range than land-based airplanes. I imagine it was also comforting to be able to land safely on the water in case of mechanical problems.

I think my favorite flying boat is the Dornier Do X (pictured in the thumbnail) which was made in the 1920’s. In addition to seats for about a hundred passengers, its three decks contained an onboard kitchen, a dining room, multiple bathrooms, and a bar. Each nacelle on the top has two engines, for a total of twelve. There’s just something magnificent about it.

In the 21st century flying boats are quite rare, although there are a few models used for fighting wildfires. The CL-415 Super Scooper for example, can skim the surface of a lake or reservoir for a few seconds and take in more than six thousand liters of water without stopping!

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  • gaystyleJoker [she/her]@hexbear.netMEnglish
    4·
    27 days ago

    HELLO THIS IS THE MEGA SIGN UP POST/LIST POST

    if you have a preferred week please tell me

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    ​ * after name denotes someone who has posted before and will be skipped by first-time posters

  • Alisu [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
    20·
    29 days ago

    Sometimes I feel very basic for the name I chose, it’s one of the most common trans girl names and is very close to my birth name but female. But I always loved it and wished it was my name if I was a girl.

  • lilypad [she/her, it/its]@hexbear.netEnglish
    20·
    27 days ago
    harassment

    So, why is harassment funny sometimes? Like, today some guy walking past me said “damn, I still wouldn’t fuck [unintelligible (possibly ‘that’)]” in a very overemphasized tone, and it just was kinda hilarious. Like, buddy, I wouldn’t fuck you either but ya dont see me whingeing on about it. And I know its supposed to be a put down, and that its rooted in cishet mans self importance that he is the arbiter of who (or rather, what, as the proverbial cishetman doesn’t relate to those he finds attractive as people) is “fuckable”, but goddamn it was just kinda funny. Like, I’m living rent free in this guys head, all his thoughts about me are about sex and how he doesn’t want to have sex with me, and I’m just living my little life over here bridget-pride-stay-mad

    • lilypad [she/her, it/its]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago
      goddamn its just constant with these people.

      Less funny today.

      lea-ugh

      Normally I just get the odd rando screaming slurs at me, which is eh whatever not fun but not something I’m gonna do anything about.

      apparently my fuckability is greatly contested by the local hatemongers

      I walk to my car. Fiddle with the keys and hear “would you hit that?”. Get in and look up and see two construction workers glancing off and on my way, one says something and the other acts embarrassed and ashamed in what I read as a “two men doing man play time/ribbing” way. They keep glancing at me. Dollars to donuts one of em recognized I’m trans (the work site has been up for a while, and I walk past every day) and asked the other if he would “hit that”, and then gets to make fun of his bud for “being gay” and “wanting to fuck a removed”.

      Just like, goddamn, I’m so glad I’m not attracted to men. The bar is in hell. Sometimes I forget just how entitled and crass and shitty and just like… Why? Genuinely how is this a male bonding fun time thing? I get how it functions but I think I’ll always be baffled as to why people like doing this shit, how is it fun for either of them?

  • Romeo [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    19·
    24 days ago

    I spent 120 Canadian fun bucks to buy ethereum to buy estrogen and fucked it up because I didn’t read a guide and now I don’t have girl juice nor do I have my money and now some random crypto asshole has my womoney because I sent it to the wrong bajillion digit crypto wallet. Pity me, and let my woes be a cautionary tale to do the reading lest you hurl money into the void. catgirl-flop

  • 3rdXthecharm@lemmy.ml
    19·
    29 days ago

    Ladies and Gentlemen, we did it, my husband and I moved to a new city in a new state. We checked it out before and loved the community.

    I might finally start trying to leave the house as Me. I can finally get a doctor that can get me hormones. It might finally work out

      • 3rdXthecharm@lemmy.ml
        5·
        29 days ago

        I’m too afraid to do DIY. I’m not consistent with myself checking my own levels or trying to be sly with a Healthcare professional seems too scary

        Congrats on the move, I hope it fills as many of your dreams as it can!

  • XiaCobolt [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    18·
    28 days ago

    Okay so I’ve seized control of the BBC (so much blood gosh).

    Doctor Who. Now played by a tall clocky trans woman. Explicitly brought up in episodes that this regeneration has gender going on.

    The doctor doesn’t understand because she has had both male and female bodies in the past and is chill. People ask if she’s a man and she say “no galifreyan”

  • OffSeasonPrincess [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    16·
    29 days ago
    venting, transmisogyny

    Got indefinitely muted and threatened w a ban on a discord server weve been v active in for over 4 years and have a bunch of friends in for being too loud and catty/mean/impatient abt transmisogyny. At one point this server was basically the only place we socialized in and we have a ton of good memories of the ppl there, so were pretty upset that we might now lose all that for being a trans girl doggirl-cry

  • BountifulEggnog [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    16·
    26 days ago

    I hate people who go around spreading that they “used” to be trans. Like no, you’re either trans or you were confused. There is no way to resolve being trans. You didn’t have a “trans phase”. You’re a bumfuck cis person. Stop spreading this shit. It hurts trans people.

    • XiaCobolt [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      12·
      26 days ago

      You know I had this thought a while ago that some of the worst perspectives on a topic are the people who are superficially close to but not in the group being talked about.

      Sincere desisters/detransitioners feel a proximity to trans-ness through lived experience, but as you say, they are cis, their experience is fundamentally different.

      I saw a similar thing where a feminine twink insisted he understood what trans women go through, because of the discrimination a feminine mans goes through, and no he doesn’t.

      Personally for me I thought I was non-binary for a long time, but I wasn’t, I am a binary trans woman. I don’t go around using this to tell people what being non-binary is about. Because I wasn’t non-binary.

      • XiaCobolt [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        10·
        26 days ago

        I saw a similar thing where a feminine twink insisted he understood what trans women go through

        Also yes I was like “Oh baby-girl, is there maybe a deeper reason you might think you understand what a trans woman goes through?” just incase that helped crack anything.

      • SerialExperimentsGay [she/her, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        7·
        26 days ago

        Actually 90% of them openly state that there are external reasons for them detransitioning. An environment that’s too dangerous, medical complications, family, partners or a workplace that does not accept them. Nothing cis about that. The next biggest group are nonbinary trans people who used to think they’re binary trans and found out they do not want to be on HRT any longer.

        There may be cases that do not fall into these categories, but they are very far from making up the majority. Most detransitioners are provably and by their own account still trans people. When somebody says they are ex trans, that does not coincidentally sound like somebody saying they are ex gay because Jesus healed them.

        • BountifulEggnog [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
          6·
          25 days ago

          I’m not talking about the sum total of detransitioners, nor enbies. I’m talking about people who explicitly identify as cis. Who say things like “my trans phase” “when I was trans”. Plenty, probably most, of these people were not on hrt. I absolutely think if you were on a proper dose of hrt for like, call it 6+ months, and it didn’t make you feel terrible you’re clearly transsexual.

          and by their own account still trans people.

          I am explicitly not talking about them. I am talking about people who identify as their agab and say they “used to be trans”. By their own account, that’s a cis person. Sure some of them are trans, and repressing, but some of them are just actual cis people. As they themselves identify.

          medical complications

          Fertility, sure, but what else? Cis people don’t take cross sex hrt so I have never understood why trans people should stop hrt. It usually strikes me as a cis doctor abusing a trans patient.

          While this is very niche, there’s not a lot of these people, their rhetoric is still extremely damaging. Actual cis people who claim they used to be trans, that it was all a phase they grew out of.

          • SerialExperimentsGay [she/her, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
            5·
            25 days ago

            Fertility, sure, but what else?

            Mostly autoimmune diseases for estradiol HRT. It’s extremely rare that it gets so bad it outweighs hormonally transitioning from the patient’s perspective, i know several girls who have pretty severe autoimmune issues that got worse with starting HRT and they all say it’s still 100% worth it. But the absolutely tiny number of trans women who get such severe autoimmune issues that being on E is actually worse than living with the increased dysphoria is still orders of magnitude more common than a person who claims to be cis and to have had a trans phase.

            Cis people don’t take cross sex hrt

            Well duh, that’s my point. “Ex trans” is as real as “ex gay”. These people who claim to be cis and to have been trans are almost certainly not cis.

  • OffSeasonPrincess [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    16·
    26 days ago
    transmisogyny

    Update to this: got banned now aubrey-sad lovely to know all these ppl we thought we could trust care more abt keeping transmisogynists safe than abt keeping trans girls safe

  • Leiri [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    15·
    28 days ago

    Got pretty drunk during some local summerfestival, came out to several of my friends which seems to have went well. Still very drunk, might not be fully happy about it when I stop being drunk but feel like it is definitely a good thing right now.