Due to the complexity of aircraft construction, aircraft are classified on a variety of bases. We can classify aircraft by their speed, their structure, shape, or age of their performance.

On 18 July 1905, a young French architect, Gabriel Vazan, flew a water glider on a towing test on the Seine. As the kite glider itself was not powered, it failed to lift off by towing, but the test was highly groundbreaking and inspiring for future generations.

On 28 March 1910, a duck seaplane designed by a young Frenchman, Fabre, flew successfully over the sea at his home port of Maltig near Marseille, becoming the world's first powered seaplane to take off successfully.

On 26 January 1911, the famous American aircraft designer Curtis designed and built the D-shaped flat-bottomed floating seaplane, and in 1912 he designed the E-shaped hull seaplane, and in 1914 he developed the H-shaped twin-engine hull seaplane, which became the world's first mass-produced seaplane.

A seaplane is an aircraft that can take off, land, and berth on water referred to as a water plane. Seaplanes can be divided into two types according to their structure: floatplane and hull type.

A floatplane is generally a small aircraft design with one or two floats underneath the fuselage to separate the fuselage from the water, and sometimes small floats on either side of the wings to avoid tilting the aircraft sideways.

The fuselage is generally used for large and medium-sized seaplanes, the fuselage is different from the rounded and streamlined shape of a normal aircraft, but has a boat-like shape, hence the name 'boat fuselage'. The fuselage is also sometimes fitted with auxiliary floats on either side of the wings.

When a seaplane enters a seaport in preparation for landing, the pilot has to slow down in advance. The laws and performance of hydrodynamic forces that a seaplane is subjected to when moving on the water.

The seaplane should not only have the aerodynamic characteristics of an ordinary aircraft but also ensure the hydrodynamic characteristics of take-off, landing, and navigation on the surface of the water. When the aircraft descended to about 25 meters from the water's surface, it began to slide.

When the aircraft is 1m-1.5m above the water, the pilot pulls back gently on the stick and does a "level flight deceleration". When the speed of the aircraft is close to the speed of the water, the lift force is slightly less than the gravity, the aircraft will gently drift downwards, the fuselage touches the water, and the buoyancy generated by the water surface will lift the aircraft.

Taking off and landing on the water is more complicated than on land, as not only does the wind direction and speed have to be taken into account, but also the effects of the wind and swells on the water.

This requires the pilot to be flexible and agile in maneuvering the aircraft to battle the waves in order to reduce the oscillations of the aircraft and maintain a normal glide heading and aircraft condition.