In the Schneider Cup competition the Italians had the most imaginative designs as shown by this 1929 entry, the Piaggio-Pegna P.c.7. To eliminate the drag of floats, the fuselage doubled as the hull with small hydrofoils in place of the normal landing gear. The 970 hp engine drove a boat propeller till the airplane propeller cleared the surface when it became a normal aircraft. The craft failed to get into the air, perhaps fortunately, I can't imagine the hydrofoils would provide an easy landing.
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