Did you hear the one about Bob Hope and the Queen of the Netherlands going to N.B. in a flying boat?

The term "flying boat" might remind you of a fantastical pirate ship from Peter Pan, but in the 1930s and '40s, it meant something entirely different and quite real in the Shediac area, where a group of locals is determined to see a commemorative project cleared for take-off.

"Everyone who sees it says, 'Wow! This is fantastic! I didn't realize we had this history," said Wade Short, president of Shediac's new Flying Boats Historical Society, which has made presentations to a number of groups in the Shediac and Moncton areas.

Short would like to see a replica of a large type of flying boat, also called a "superplane," built on Shediac's Ohio Road near the traffic light. People would see it as they enter town from the east, he said, as they see the giant lobster when arriving from the west.

"Flying boats" were actually sea planes, explained Short, including the type that land on pontoons and the type that land on their bellies, such as water bombers.

In the early 1900s, when aviation began, many aspects of it were described in sailing terms, he said.

Shediac was a well suited refuelling stop for some of the earliest trips across the Atlantic, thanks to its large, calm harbour, low hills and lack of fog, said Short.

In 1933, for example, the Italian general, Italo Balbo nicknamed "the Columbus of the air" landed in Shediac Bay as one of six stops en route to the World's Fair in Chicago.

About 30,000 visitors turned out for the spectacle, said Short.

To that point, there had been fewer than 30 successful crossings of the Atlantic by plane and more than 40 failed ones, he said.

"Here this gentleman comes with 24 airplanes in one armada."

"It was meant to demonstrate Italian air supremacy and capability which he did in a very big way," said Short.

Before the 1930s were out, the American airline Pan American also made history in Shediac with its maiden voyage over the North Atlantic.

The Boeing 314 Clipper started flying in 1939, billed as "the superplane of tomorrow," said Short.

It could carry 74 passengers on short hauls or 36 on overnight flights, for which seats were folded down into bunks.

"It was high-luxury accommodation," he said.

Flights would depart from New York City at about 7:30 a.m. and arrive in Shediac at noon, said Short.

Some famous people passed through, said Peter Breau, whose father Harold worked for Pan Am from the beginning to the end of its Shediac operations.

Comedian Bob Hope and the Queen of the Netherlands were among the passengers who were waylaid in Shediac due to poor weather, he said.

After a slow-down during the beginning of the war, the schedule picked up again in 1942, said Short. It peaked in 1943, with six return flights a week.

They ended abruptly the same year.

One factor was the plane that had been used for the flights crashed in Lisbon Harbour. This happened on its winter route, he said, from New York through Bermuda and the Azores. Twenty-four people died.

Pan Am backfilled with other planes from its fleet of nine B314s for a while, he said, but soon transitioned to planes with greater fuel capacity that used paved runways.

The company brought in a boat to haul away all its valuable equipment, said Breau, who is another member of the group trying to commemorate the flying boat era.

"It's a part of history that seems to be disappearing," he said. "A lot of people don't know it happened at all."

Many people in the Shediac area remember a little something about flying boats, said Short. Their father or grandfather may have mentioned it. Some have old photographs of planes on the bay.

Short still has many unanswered questions, including how fuel was stored.

A researcher from the University of Tennessee is keeping an eye out for any mention of Shediac while going through Pan Am archive material this summer at the University of Miami, he said.

Shediac is mentioned in a Ken Follett book about this period, called Night Over Water, he noted.

Both men said they think a lot more could be done for tourism and historical preservation.

Botwood, Newfoundland, and Foynes, Ireland, both have flying boat museums, they said.

At the one in Ireland, there's a full-scale replica of a B314.

"You can go inside sit in the seats. The galley is there. You can go upstairs. There's the flight deck, the cockpit You can access the whole thing," said Short.

The society would like to see something similar in Shediac.

It has received a grant, said Short, and is setting up a not-for-profit organization to start applying for grants and do a feasibility study.

He roughly estimates the cost of what they have in mind would be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Short is optimistic, but said things aren't moving as quickly as he'd like.

In the meantime, the group hopes to put up a 3D mural of a flying boat somewhere in downtown Shediac by next spring.