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Grumman HU-16 Albatross

27 June 2012

Grumman HU-16 Albatross

37º 22′ 05″ N / 120º 34′ 40″ W

Much has been written about this aircraft and pasting “Albatross” into the search window will bring you to some of it, as well as more photos of other HU-16s and their kin. Ungainly looking on the ground but beautiful in the air as well as on the water. Annual fly-ins for Albatross aircraft and pilots are held in Boulder CA (not CO) where type ratings can be obtained — which are required to pilot this aircraft due to its weight.

The Grumman HU-16 Albatross at the Castle Air Museum — photo by Joseph May

Bows on view of the Albatross — photo by Joseph May

The amphibious nature of the Albatross can be seen by how the landing gear retracts to leave a smooth stepped hull for waterborne operations — photo by Joseph May

The starboard wing float was fixed in position — photo by Joseph May

Starboard perspective of the Albatross — photo by Joseph May

More information can be found at the Grumman Albatross History Site.

One Comment leave one →
  1. 16 December 2013 17:52

    Hi Folks,

    The HU-16E Albatross is an awesome plane! Here is a great site I found for, very high quality wooden replica’s and they offer over 600 different Airplane, Helicopter and Military vehicles.
    Check this website out http://www.premiumwooddesigns.com

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