What would keep "gamers"
from using them as 100+ mph water-skimming "craft" to resupply bases or
put drunks ashore to capture them? They'd be a lot faster than M3s or landing
craft and unlike C47s they can stay REAL low and off the radar without fear of
"crashing" into the ocean for touching it.
Eh... with the F3 key, C47s can get
VERY low, and sea-planes usually can't hit the water without going slow enough to land. Over the years, there have been many many catastrophic crashes of Catalinas and others from touching the water slightly too fast and buckling gears doors and other parts. C47s are also faster than Catalinas, and the Cats wouldn't spawn from CVs, so they'd have to fly just as far. Finally, C47s already land near enemy bases for a stealthy capture anyway, so it's about the same thing as seaboats landing on water and waiting for everything to go down...
and the current MA fantasy-land setup with the awacs radar and bar indicators
they're not needed for scouting at all.
Once, a base's radar goes down, defenders are pretty blind regardless of what the darbar's showing... Having a seaplane show all of the actual dots within its range would probably be pretty helpful in a support role. As for fleets, plenty of people ask constantly for CV positions and can be oblivious otherwise, so a Cat would be able to direct friendly fleet fire (from the map dot), and attacking planes would know which direction to head... It'd add a cat-and-mouse game of AWACS vs hunters.
