‘Flying Goat’

‘Flying Goat’
How cool would this be sitting in the back yard of your luxury home in an exclusive aviation neighborhood? Well, that is were I found this beautifully restored sea plane.
The HU-16, more affectionately known as the ‘Goat‘ is simply a vintage flying boat. The door to enter the plane was on the left side just behind the wing and it was a Dutch door-meaning a lower half and an upper half. The upper half was usually left opened during low-level patrols or searches as it provided the crewman a good view.
When Grumman first introduced the HU-16 Albatross amphibious flying boat, it was in the role as an air-sea rescue aircraft - bringing hope and succor to downed Navy and Air Force pilots and aircrew. That was sixty plus years ago. Quite a few of them, follow the "Cool Mon" image started by Parrothead singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and are employed in the luxury and marketing roles. The Albatross was the premier fixed-wing rescue aircraft for the U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard. Its very colorful history begins in 1946 and spans nearly a quarter of a century, including service with twenty-two foreign nations. With a total of 466 built by Grumman, more than eighty examples still thrive on the civil register. The Albatross also saw extensive service in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Albatross was designed for optimal 4-foot (1.2 m) seas, and could land in more severe conditions in 8–10-foot (2.4–3.0 m) seas or greater (not with me on board).

File Name Ramy_0011_CF24.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time 3/23/2013 2:58:36 PM
Author Michael Ramy
Copyright Notice Rock Art Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/160
Av( Aperture Value ) 14.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation -1/3
ISO Speed 200
Lens 50-500mm
Focal Length 113.0mm