It’s a bird! It’s a plane No, its a flying boat airplane! The first commercial airplane flight was actually a flying boat. It happen in January 1914. A former mayor of St Petersburg, Florida, paid 400 to fly from St. Petersburg to Tampa. The 18mile trip took only 23 minutes by plane. Traveling the same distance by ship would of taken over two hours. Since the flight was successful, plane trips across the Tampa Buy became popular. Passengers paid $five each way to take a trip on the special boat plain.