Henri Fabre's Hydravion

Henry R Palmer Jr. The Seaplanes, Leonard Morgan Publishing, 1965

On March 28 1910, this unlikely craft, named the Hydravion , became the first aircraft to lift off and land on the water. Although others had experimented, Fabre was the first one to find the right combination of strength, lightness and the ability to break free of the water in the design of the floats. After 5 flights, he modified the craft to a rear rudder configuration and then crashed the it in a stall. Rebuilt, it was later wrecked in a gale. It now resides in the  Musée de l'Air in Paris.