On 4 December 1952 Grumman Aircraft flew the prototype of what was, for many years, one of the most important anti-submarine aircraft in the western inventory.

The Felixtowe F.3 (also known as the Porte Felixtowe F.3), the prototype of which made its first official flight on 9 February 1917, was one of a series of large flying-boats built for the Royal Navy.

Friedrichshafen Flugzeugbau GmbH was founded in 1912 in the town of that name on Lake Bodensee, this area being famous for its construction of the Zeppelin airships.

The PBY Catalina was designed by Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation, which received an order from the US Navy on 28 October 1933 to build an experimental patrol aircraft designated XP3Y-1. The prototype (c/n 9459) flew for the first time on 21 March 1935 at Hampton Road, powered by two 615 kw

The Catalina was required in large numbers for anti-submarine patrols, bombing and reconnaissance duties, amongst other things, and the type was manufactured for the US Navy and other operators .

The Channel was built by the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd at its Woolston facility at Southampton.