Abstract: The invention provides a firefighting float plane having a fuselage and two floats mounted to the fuselage. The fuselage has a water tank with open and closed configurations. In some embodiments, the water tank is integrated into the fuselage, and/or both the water tank and the fuselage have a generally triangular cross-sectional configuration. The water tank has a closed bottom in its closed configuration and an open bottom in its open configuration. In some embodiments, the plane has specified ratio of water tank holding capacity to total power of two engine assemblies. It can optionally also have the above-noted fuselage configuration, tank configuration, or both. In some embodiments, the plane has dual propellers, two engine assemblies, and two tail booms, optionally together with specified ratio of water tank holding capacity to total power of two engine assemblies. It may also have the above-noted fuselage configuration, tank configuration, or both.

Abstract: An aircraft hull attachment device may be configured for attachment to a fuselage of an aircraft. The aircraft hull attachment device can include one or more floats to enable the aircraft to operate on water. The aircraft hull attachment device can also include a structure such as, for example, a saddle-shaped structure, for mounting the device against a bottom region of a fuselage of the aircraft. Upon being operatively coupled to the aircraft, the aircraft hull attachment device can convert an aircraft previously configured to operate only on ground landing strips into an aircraft configured to operate on water landing strips. Additionally or alternatively, the device can include a water tank and a water-tank door to enable the aircraft to which the device is mounted to perform in-flight water drops (e.g., during fire fighting aerial operations).