The final argument does not reduce flying boats to a temporary expedient. They answered the shortage of airfields capable of handling large, heavy aircraft, but also exploited waterborne facilities that were more widely available. Those rudimentary facilities became a positive capability because they let forces distribute long-range aircraft without constructing an equivalent runway network. That combination made flying boats valuable for reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrol, and moving goods even as land aviation advanced.
Chapter · 38:55-39:55
Flying boats as capability as well as necessity
The conclusion argues that flying boats met an infrastructure necessity while also giving navies distinctive ways to move, patrol, and sustain forces over long distances.