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Forget a Private Yacht, This Grumman Goose in Pan Am Liveries Does What They Can't

It takes little more than a briefcase full of cash to buy a private yacht. But to prefer something less mainstream, like a period-correct Grumman G21 Goose amphibious airliner in Pan American Airways livery, it takes deep respect for classic aviation. It also takes a desire to buy something altogether different from the norm, aside from the obligatory money suitcase.
Grumman Goose Cradle of Aviation 6 photos
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
Grumman Goose Cradle of AviationGrumman Goose Cradle of AviationGrumman Goose Cradle of AviationGrumman Goose Cradle of AviationGrumman Goose Cradle of Aviation
Happily, this old Goose is owned not by an eccentric multimillionaire aviator. Instead, it's in the collection of the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York. A facility dedicated to the accomplishments in aviation achieved in the local Long Island region of New York State, much of which was done by the men and women of Grumman. Though they're more fondly remembered for their "Big Cat" line of carrier-based fighters, Grumman dipped their fingers into every facet of the aviation sector.

In the days before major airports, seaport-based flying boats and amphibious aircraft were the go-to solutions for commercial airliners. Of all the airlines you could fly in those days, Pan Am had to top the list pre-WWII. The Cradle of Aviation even has a whole section of its museum space dedicated to showing why flying on Pan Am was an unforgettable experience.

That said, we can't help but think this G21 Goose feels more at home in the company of its F6F Hellcat, F4F Wildcat, and TBM Avenger brethren located nearby. Don't tell anybody, but it's a fully airworthy replica used in several television and movie shoots. Most notable among these was the 1982-83 action series, Tales of the Gold Monkey. At least it was flightworthy before it found its way into an indoor museum.

First flown in 1937, the G-21 Goose is a rare breed because it was designed to be a sea-faring commercial airliner first and a relatively decent military cargo transport a distant second. Because of its attributes, wealthy businessmen in the nearby neighborhoods of Long Island could charter a seat on these novel flying boats and be transported to their offices in Manhattan in a fraction of the time it took by driving in those days.

Grumman Goose Cradle of Aviation
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
The Goose was Grumman's first production monoplane, i.e., an airframe with just a single wing instead of two, as was the custom in the early days of manned flight. It was also one of the earliest American cargo transports to be made nearly completely of metal. Only the trailing edge of the main wing and all the control surfaces except for the flaps are covered in canvas instead.

Powering this frankly adorable little amphibious was a set of two Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-6 Wasp Junior nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines generating 450 horsepower at the crankshaft each. Future upgrades saw these engines swapped out, with everything from liquid-cooled Lycoming flat-six engines to a set of Pratt & Whitney Canada Turboprops. In its base configuration, this was good for a cruising speed of 201 mph (323 kph).

Still, it beats driving a rickety Ford over mostly unpaved roads from Long Island to Wall Street back and forth every single day. With that in mind, you could understand how the Goose was an immediate smash hit in service with America's East and West Coast elite. But come Lend Lease and America's entry into the Second World War, it turned out the G21 Goose was also a fairly competent military cargo hauler once you removed all the comfy seats and in-flight dinnerware.

Most famously, the Grumman Goose found its way into the Armed Forces of countless nations outside the United States both before and after the war. These include Argentina, France, Cuba, Peru, Portugal, Brazil, Greece, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. That's not counting all its international civil airline services in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Croatia, Indonesia, and the Dutch East Indies, to name a few.

Grumman Goose Cradle of Aviation
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
It's hard to say just how much it costs to have the Cradle of Aviation Museum's G21 Goose Replica built. But at least to our eyes, it's a million-dollar airplane any day of the week. Not in any small part to how authentic its stunning Pan Am blue paint job looks. You can buy plenty of big yachts for that kind of money. But can any of them take to the skies? We rest our case.
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