Flying Boats

[Nik]

IIRC, up to about 1940, big aircraft were generally flying boats due lack of huge runways...

Then the exigencies of war meant that runways were put everywhere, and enlarged to accommodate bigger & bigger aircraft. Yes, there were the sub-hunting Sunderlands ( 'Der Porcupine' to the exasperated Luftwaffe ;-), and the few Martin Mars which supplied some Pacific outposts...

So, of course, end of WW2 left lots of large, land-based aircraft and the runways for them. Only niche markets were left for flying boats & sea-planes...

One irony is that the 'floating debris' problem was later solved with a air-bubble system deployed from submerged pipes...

Without losing too much from OTL, can you find a POD that keeps lots of big flying boats ??

 

[Nik]

POD I found may be too early...

Perhaps I've missed something, but the best POD I could find was the unofficial Christmas truce in 1914...

Perhaps the weather is worse, the generals less stubborn, the people more aware of the mayhem, the Royal Houses more horrified or something, but there's a temporary agreement reached for everyone to stand in place...

Gradually, the situation cools as all sides realise the enormity of the horrors before them. Negotiations begin. Some areas are bilaterally demilitarised. Then the Tsar calls for help against Communist uprising. Note this coup has less support than OTL as brief fighting.

Joint Expeditionary Force sent to restore control in provinces shoots sundry agitators. ( Later, historians will speculate on Reds' chances... ;-)

Flanders Fields becomes a Peace Memorial, a reminder that sanity may prevail. The European Treaty & Trade Organisation soon reaches from Iceland to Urals, Finland to Turkey, forms dominant block in League of Nations. Add Imperial Possessions, colonies etc, and The Roaring Twenties is a time of extraordinary international enthusiasm & creativity, plus the growth of ETTO into Extended Treaty & Trade Organisation. No 'Danzig Corridor' questions, no reparations, no Crash of '29. Trans-Siberian Railway built early.

USA isolationism is less severe as they were not hurt by 'The 14'. They can get on with earning money, attracting European investment etc and making movies.

Japan may have stomped the Russian fleet in ~1903, but they could not survive ETTO trade embargo or fleet, so hold off from China...

My head hurts...