Overview: In the Second World War the flying boats of RAF Coastal Command played a crucial part in the war at sea. In peacetime they became part of the BOAC fleet on the re-opened Empire routes, but their civilian role was short-lived. Bigger airports and larger runways meant bigger and faster land-planes, and the flying boat was redundant. The last to be built in 1952 was the Princess, the largest aircraft in the world at the time; she lived for only one year. David Lomax concludes the story of the flying boats - a story many believe should have no ending.