It took 130 days to make it halfway, and they crashed off the Aleutian Islands.<p>The first sort-of-successful flight around the world was by the U.S. Army Air Corps.[1]
Five planes started, two finished. Along the way, five engine changes and two wing changes.<p>The Graf Zeppelin, in 1929, made the first real circumnavigation of the earth, carrying passengers and without a major rebuild enroute.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_circumnavigation</a>
I've always thought seaplanes were very cool, yet they've almost completely gone away from commercial air transportation.<p>What's the reason for this? Are they just too hard to maintain because of salt water etc.?