Photo: Michael Barksdale
A short while ago, we showed you a splendidly restored vintage Consolidated Cataline Flying Boat that, at $1 million, sounds like a pretty sweet bargain compared to a private yacht you could buy for the same money. But the Catalina was far from the only converted ex U.S. Navy flying boat kicking around the world's bodies of water.
Say hello to the Grumman HU-16 Albatross; think of it as serving the same purpose as the Catalina did in the Second World War. It was an enormous twin-engined flying boat as opposed to a float-plane, which uses pontoons at the end of landing gears for floatation. A true flying boat uses the same structure as the fuselage to maintain buoyancy on the water.
The plane is aerodynamically adept both on the water at low to medium speeds. As well as in the air at a cruising speed of around 124 miles per hour (200 km/h). It's possible to get this lumbering beast of a flying boat up past 200 miles per hour (321 kph) and a maximum altitude of 21,500 feet (6,600 m) if you wanted to.
This kind of aircraft is most at home closer to the water. Where its twin Wright R-1820-76A Cyclone nine-cylinder radial engines can use their 1,275 horsepower each to pull the 22,883 lb (10,380 kg) airframe over the waves with all the dense near-sea-level air it desires. In its day, the Albatross did a venerable job replacing the Catalina in the American's primary Navy search and rescue operations.
As it sits, this example is still equipped for that mission. It left the Grumman factory in Bethpage, New York, in 1954. Some military aircraft from the same period experimented with flashy and cool color schemes, this Albatross's bare aluminum skin is just as striking.
Granted, the interior of this plane is still as spartan as it was during its days with the Navy. But at least all the required current communication and navigation equipment to take it home as soon as the paperwork is done. At $400,000 before taxes and fees, it's less than half the cost of the Catalina we featured a short time ago.
Then again, the Catalina already had a couch in it. Still beats a non-airworthy yacht you could have for the same cash. Imagine coming in for a landing up to the fancy yacht party in one of these? The disbelief on people's faces would sustain you for many days.
The plane is aerodynamically adept both on the water at low to medium speeds. As well as in the air at a cruising speed of around 124 miles per hour (200 km/h). It's possible to get this lumbering beast of a flying boat up past 200 miles per hour (321 kph) and a maximum altitude of 21,500 feet (6,600 m) if you wanted to.
This kind of aircraft is most at home closer to the water. Where its twin Wright R-1820-76A Cyclone nine-cylinder radial engines can use their 1,275 horsepower each to pull the 22,883 lb (10,380 kg) airframe over the waves with all the dense near-sea-level air it desires. In its day, the Albatross did a venerable job replacing the Catalina in the American's primary Navy search and rescue operations.
As it sits, this example is still equipped for that mission. It left the Grumman factory in Bethpage, New York, in 1954. Some military aircraft from the same period experimented with flashy and cool color schemes, this Albatross's bare aluminum skin is just as striking.
Granted, the interior of this plane is still as spartan as it was during its days with the Navy. But at least all the required current communication and navigation equipment to take it home as soon as the paperwork is done. At $400,000 before taxes and fees, it's less than half the cost of the Catalina we featured a short time ago.
Then again, the Catalina already had a couch in it. Still beats a non-airworthy yacht you could have for the same cash. Imagine coming in for a landing up to the fancy yacht party in one of these? The disbelief on people's faces would sustain you for many days.
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