Any x-plane 12 seaplane recommendations ?

Any tips on configuring the simulator for seaplane ops ?

And finally any recommendations for on-line resources for seaplane flying ?

 

Cheers Tim

An interesting request. I have always been a great fan of flying boats in the sim but the range is limited. I will limit my remarks to XP12 and those I have tried or have and this is not a comprehensive list, so lets see in the GA range there are:

Thranda C206

Thranda Beaver or DHC2

Thranda Kodiak

Default Laminar Cessna C172

Piper Cub

Tiger Moth is there as well AWX version. 

Republic SeaBee These are all quality sim models there are a few lesser quality models about but I have not tried them all.

There are some great specialty floatplanes namely the Supermarine Schneider Trophy model (S6), a couple of Italian and French models from the same era of the Schneider trophy as well all beautifully done but not practical for everyday floatplane ops and can be a real handful in the sim as they were in real life.

There is the RVW Designs DHC6 Twin Otter (This needs mod work to be applied to get it working in XP12) Payware. But very nice otherwise.

In the flying boat or large amphibian class there are the:

A Fokker  early seaplane is available but difficult to get working or install.

Hangar 23 Bellanca Airbus which was payware but is now freeware. A big old fashioned single engined aircraft superbly crafted with excellent detail and textures. 

The AWX C-47 which can be had in the floatplane version, unusual but freeware and the best C-47 bar none. 

Hydroz PBY Catalina an XP11 model which works fine in XP12 with a few mods, this is ex payware but now freeware at the ORG. You only get the amphibian version. A good rendition of this classic. 

There is a Shinmaya US2 by Flying Tak a very good rendition of this unusual Japanese TurboProp Amphibian this freeware available at the ORG. 

There is a first class rendition of the Boeing 314 Clipper available as Payware only (not cheap but worth the money).

That is about it there may be more small or light aircraft with floats that I have not checked out.

Alas the more interesting large flying boats such as the Shorts C Class, Sandringham etc are not done although there are some attempts at these they are incomplete or not worth the effort (disappointing) 

Generally there are no issues with seaplanes or flying boats in XP12 but it is not perfect - there is an issue with high take off weights making the models difficult and the wave presentation and modelling is still well behind the P3D standard which was designed for boats and submarines as well. The wake effects are ok but nobody has seriously tackled this to make it realistic but it is not cartoonish by any stretch. On the water behaviour of all of them, that is drift and wind is generally ok and there is a nifty anchor tool about to help out. Simple Ground Services and Equipment also provides  a facility to have a boat or tender instead of stairs etc for floatplanes. The general behaviour or responses in XP12 in my and others view still needs attention and rectification I won't bore you with the details but it does not mean floatplanes or amphibians are bad at all in the sim they just the odd glitch now and then. 

That is about it there may be some I have missed but those are the good ones in my view. I used to do models for FSX of Flying Boats but have not bothered in XPlane as I do not have the time or skills to that sort of work. 

You may find some XP11 models such as the Walrus etc about but they are all in the category of being good models but limited to 2D cockpits which I avoid like the plague!

Hope that helps!

Edited August 31, 2025Aug 31 by coastaldriver

Hope that helps ! ........ it certainly does !

Thanks for the time and effort . Who needs Large Language Models when you have access to Coastaldriver.

I know next to nothing about seaplane operations so I'll need to do a little digging. I'm looking to get a "flavour" of this type of aviation so someone knowledgeable saying the models are good and the simulation's representation is , with caveats, okay spurs my interest.

Picking from the eclectic range of aircraft you have provided I think i'll test the water (pun intended) with the float plane version of the default C172. If that "learning to crawl" phase goes okay, being the word not allowed I am, I fancy skipping the "walking phase" and going straight into the PBY Catalina before ascending to the responsibility of paying passengers with the Boeing 314 Clipper.

I vaguely remember a review of the Catalina back in XP11 era. What you lost in workload through sedate airspeeds you more than made up for in seaplane operations and old school engine management.

Thanks again for your time and effort.

Cheers Tim

I forgot not sure about seaplane operations. lots of stuff about (well within limits) but most of it is in print form and as I have quite a few of these books have not bothered to see if this is electronically available on the internet. 

For a potted summary I would say this once they are flying a seaplane or a flying boat is just another aeroplane so nothing special there, generally they are slower because of the need for a hull shape or floats to accommodate the fact that you are landing and taking off on water that in itself means drag and loss of speed capability. The key to them is this once they are on the water you now have a boat so all the usual problems arise about water handling, waves etc. Going right back crews for flying boats were given months of training on ship handling and boat handling because that is what they are and there are a whole bunch of arcane rules and different signs for pilotage, water depth right of way etc etc. They have to be moored or anchored just like any ship or boat and as you cannot carry big heavy anchors most flying boats and seaplanes required special docks, wharves and buoys to tie up too. The other thing is they are a high speed boat until they fly so can be tricky (the design of hulls and floats is a special field because you need a low drag planing hull to go fast and be able to manouevre. So basically the hull or floats need the line and form of high speed motor boat. The hull shape is critical because water is sticky and creates its own drag problems think of it as being like suction wanting to keep you on the water as you go faster so getting to a speed where you can break this is critical. Despite what people think flying boats and float planes are fair weather boats that is not build nor can sustain large waves and swells and very rough water, your control problems are too great especially in high winds even a bad choppy sea can stop you operating. The other thing is your landing and take off distance is very long, takes a while to get up to speed and this means distance same when you land no brakes so your deacceleration is not so simple and again they weather cock or swing into wind badly that is you have to have a keen appreciation of what the wind is doing and always take off into wind. I know the Catalinas and big old flying boats could sometimes consume several miles of distance before they finally got to flying speed so where you can go and not go is a lot more problematic, hard to operate if at all in close confined and small areas. Cross winds are possible but you risk dipping a wing or similar and hence a crash if you cannot control it and hence crosswind limits are a lot lower as well. Losing a float due to damage from waves was always an ever present problem, lose a float means a crash. Water is heavy so wave or wake spray can seriously damage a prop or the aircraft structure which is why they are all high wing or the engine mounted up high so it does not get hit by a wave or large spray. ON the water your turn radius is very large compared to land and you need to really get a feel for distance etc to be able to dock and pull up to buoys and wharves. 

This is where the simulation is tricky you just do not have the clues (wind and waves to help you out) and that is part of the deficiency in the sim lack of clues of wind and waves and the drag factor on the water is not a neat properly developed similcrum only an approximation. XPlane has yet to sort out the water drag issue for hulls or aeroplanes at high weights why yet to be worked out but I fly the Catalina a lot and you will not get flying at MTOW because of this sim limitation. 

There is a whole bunch of other stuff about technique to fly a float plane or flying boat but that would need a book and every aeroplane was different so no one size fits all. Other than that they are great fun and you can really explore the sim world with a flying boat or seaplane in a way you cannot with a wheeled aeroplane. Amphibians are ideal because well you can just use the wheels and fly in and out of airports anywhere keeping in mind your a lot higher of the ground so perception is an issue. 

Have fun

Configuring the sim for seaplane flying boat operations. There are no tricks or mods to apply. XP does model waves ok but is well behind what LM achieved with P3D (Different computing algorithims and they are employing NVIDIA's wave behaviour algorithims so you can see hurricane scale winds and sea in that sim but not XP).

Not that I can go back to P3D a shame because I lost access really to years of FSX models that worked in P3D none of which can be ported and reproduced in XP. That said XP is so far ahead and better in every other aspect I just live with it. Do miss those Sikorsky's (all of them), Shorts Flying Boats (Sunderland, Sandringham, Solent, Calcutta etc ) Russian weird stuff (Beriev) not to mention the Martins and other 1930s boats done beautifully in that sim. Way it is! I kept them all but they are now just digital entries. The other deficiency in XP is no workable sextant program, and no water bases or flying boat ports have been done. You do get location entries to use or start with the Boeing B314 Clipper but no other scenery but at least you can easily start of locate a flying boat or seaplane at these well known spots around the globe. 

My biggest problem with the sim is wind or wave direction, there is no reliable or useful means to establish this visually in the sim, this is a major issue or problem because landing and take offs have to be into wind and ocean or lake wave patterns (direction and size) in real life are easily worked out (tree directions, smoke, shadow patterns etc) but I just cannot see this easily or at all. I guess the best outcome would be a popup wind indicator so you can see directions and strength! Maybe if Mr Myers had a floatplane it may have been different but the killer is the wave algorithim and you have to pay NVIDIA to use it, that will not happen with Laminar. Why is that a problem - because NVIDIA and some others spent over 5 years working on the math of buoyancy, wave motion forces etc. Blade theory is irrelevant here a completely different set of physics problems. 

Just a bit of an assessment of my views of the sim and airborne water craft. Save people from working it all out. 

 

I'll have to dive into floatplanes in XP12 again, I haven't tried that in a while.

When it comes to learning how to fly them properly, I'd recommend viewing the videos from AngleOfAttack on Youtube. He's a pilot in Alaska. In some of his videos, he goes to Talkeetna to take some floatplane lessons from the Christiansen Lake just next to the airport. Plenty of explanations from his instructors on how to taxi, takeoff and land in various conditions, and many nice landscapes around.

Edited September 2, 2025Sep 2 by Daube

I have the ICON-A5 - VSKYLABS. Its just ok. It lacks water sounds sort of ruining the whole water immersion part being eerily silent when landing/taking off/taxing on the water.

One aircraft i have yet to see in XP-12 is the Lake Buccaneer seaplane. Granted it is an old frame but worth seeing a model in the sim.

A lot of seaplane models are missing from XP, but somebody has to make them.

Ah well, this afternoon I had a few minutes free so I triggered XPlane12 just to give a try to the default C172 on floats on the Christiansen Lake next to Talkeetna, to see how it's like and compare it to the same experience in MSFS.

What can I say... the final experience was a mixed bag, for sure. On one hand, the behavior of the aircraft on water was MUCH BETTER than anything I've seen in MSFS (water physics in MSFS a not even good enough to be a joke). On the other hand, man I had forgotten how bad the default scenery can be... the forest around the lake was not convincing and the lake surface was not even flat, making the place useless. I guess I'll have to check the other lakes around (there are hundreds after all)... if I ever find the motivation...

Edited September 4, 2025Sep 4 by Daube

On 9/4/2025 at 4:31 AM, Bjoern said:

A lot of seaplane models are missing from XP, but somebody has to make them.

Too true! My problem been there done that in FSX and P3D - not up for a re run any more. Starting to think about reinstalling P3D and be done with it!

On 9/4/2025 at 10:33 PM, Daube said:

What can I say... the final experience was a mixed bag, for sure. On one hand, the behavior of the aircraft on water was MUCH BETTER than anything I've seen in MSFS (water physics in MSFS a not even good enough to be a joke). On the other hand, man I had forgotten how bad the default scenery can be... the forest around the lake was not convincing and the lake surface was not even flat, making the place useless. I guess I'll have to check the other lakes around (there are hundreds after all)... if I ever find the motivation...

Don't you have some of the ORBX stuff installed? Maybe there's some seaplane bases in that area.

 

11 hours ago, coastaldriver said:

Too true! My problem been there done that in FSX and P3D - not up for a re run any more. Starting to think about reinstalling P3D and be done with it!

Soon after I had tried XP11 for real, I've tried to go back to a fully kitted out DX10 FSX:SE because of the ATC and the custom AI traffic I've assembled over the years, but I've almost immmediately realized how outrageously old and inflexible its entire code base was. I guess it's not much different when comparing XP12 to newer iterations of P3D.

Edited September 5, 2025Sep 5 by Bjoern

45 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Don't you have some of the ORBX stuff installed? Maybe there's some seaplane bases in that area.

That's a good suggestion, but there's only one scenery in that area which covers Talkeetna itself, and the description says nothing about the surroundings, so I'm not confident it would solve my issue 😕

57 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Soon after I had tried XP11 for real, I've tried to go back to a fully kitted out DX10 FSX:SE because of the ATC and the custom AI traffic I've assembled over the years, but I've almost immmediately realized how outrageously old and inflexible its entire code base was. I guess it's not much different when comparing XP12 to newer iterations of P3D.

Alas yes, tried to do the same but gave up when the old install disks were corrupted by WIN10. Followed the changes to P3D and came to the same conclusion just wishful thinking on my part. Hard to let go of a decades worth of work (Every seaplane base and the scenery around the world) not to mention the models but they are all stuck in that code era. So I stay with XP but lately getting close to being done with flight simulation altogether - I am now an old dog and don't want to learn new tricks!

I've not been on the forums for a week so a delayed further thank you for your time and effort in detailing some of the idiosyncrasies of seaplane flying in the real and virtual worlds.

Cheers Tim