1976/77 Iwas a flight mechanic on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes with Pratt and Whitney R1820 radial engines. I then went to Sikorski HH52a Seaguard amphibious helo C school and became a Flight Mechanic/ Hoist Operator. In 80 my enlistment was up. In 84 I got a job at Dean Franklin Aviation restoring a Grumman Goose. Dean was the second owner of Chalks. He sold it to finance buying up the rights to all Grumman Corperations seaplane parts, manuals, blueprints and rights to repair, refurbish, manufacturer and certify all of the above for Grumman seaplanes. . He also bought the assests of a seaplane airline similar to Chalks that serviced the Virgin Islands and others when the owner cheated on his engine service logs and he and a copilot plus several passengers were killed then the prop shaft failed and the prop spun into the cockpit cabin roof backwards decapacitating everyone. The plane was in Deans storage area behind his shop. He showed it to me and told me about how he aquired it. The owners widow sold the airlines assets to dean as she had known hom since the late 1930's. She was famous actress red head Maurine O'Hara who made many movies with John Wayne. Dean hired me because of my Coast Guard experience wirking on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes. Great guy to work for. Paid good wages above the normal pay and took me to lunch with him and his best friend who was his test pilot.
Brings back memories. My Dad (RIP) and one of his flying buddies used to fly a Mallard up into Canada (from Detroit) to fish. His pal was corporate pilot for the old Briggs Corporation, and they owned a Mallard. I flew on it once when I was a little kid, but remember what a beautiful airplane it was. However, though those turbines are probably more efficient and cheaper to operate, it needs those big twin radials!
the company i work for Paspaley Pearls has 3 of these, i have had hundreds of flights on them from the Coburg peninsula in the Northern Territory to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. they are a beautiful aircraft
From 1979 to 1982, I shipped out of Miami on a weekly service between the port and Venezuela on a British registered ship mv Imparca Miami on charter to the Imparca Shipping Company. During our stay in Miami, I would spend hours enjoying the take off and landings of these great Grumman aircraft. What I can remember is, in those days, they were radial engined - a great homely sound - those twin props sound anything but friendly, if you guys' know what I mean. Those turboprops sound like banshees by comparison - lean n' mean is what you Americans' would say. Ah, well! All in the past for me. But, great memories. Bye for now, Bill.
Right, old school radials have a lovely sound, but I realized while watching this that the PT6 turbines which have reversible props are probably a huge improvement when conducting water taxi operations. They're also more powerful, sleeker, and generally more reliable.
Nice turboprop conversion! I LOVE all the old Grumman flying boats. Would love to get behind the controls of one to try water ops! Im ex Air Force aircraft engineer, flying choppers at the end of my service, now doing my JAA licence. I would LOVE to find an old Goose to restore
I remember working for Resorts International in N Miami when they owned Chalks. It was when Chalks was doing the refit to turbine engines on these planes. Very cool video, thanks.
I was at the Port of Miami about an hour before the 2005 fatal Chalks crash that was the final nail in that company's coffin. I had just returned to my office in Deerfield Beach when I heard about it on the news. Sad as the Chalks seaplanes had been a fixture in Miami since 1917. That being said, it was truly inexcusable maintenance shortcuts on the part of Chalks that led to the deaths of 20 people just days before Christmas.
It was wing root corrosion that caused the crash. I'm a Coast Guard Aviation Machinist Mate Veteran who was a flight mechanic on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes my first 2 years (76/77) in the Coast Guard. In 1984 I went to work for Dean Franklin Aviation who had bought the rights to all things Grumman seaplanes including parts, manuals, blueprints and rights to repair, refurbish, manufacturer, and certify Grumman seaplane parts. He hired me based on my Coast Guard experience to work on restoring a Grumman Goose. He was an extremely knowledgable man on seaplanes and was the second owner of Chalks. He sold it to finance buying the Grumman seaplane assets. He was actually one of the early members of seaplane history going back to the late 20's. Really nice guy ti work for.
@@pinwizz69 Chalk was well aware of the corrosion problem. They'd basically been putting band aids on it for months to keep the plane flying. Their whole fleet was found to have the same problems.
I grew up in Coconut Grove in the fifties and would watch these land in Dinner Key channel and Gun the engines to go up the ramp at the coast guard base. Later I rode these to the Bahamian out islands and around the BVI. Wonderful memories.
i used to work as a customs agent in nassau at the paradise iasland airport where this a/c used to dock. The landing gear was always a daily problem.Sometimes ramp agents had to to wade knee deep in the water to free it.None the less this plane always gave a sweet ride.
MY BROTHER WAS THE CAPT FOR MANY YEARS WITH THIS WONDERFUL COMPANY. IT IS A SHAME IT WENT BANKRUPT AFTER AN ACCIDENT. MY BROTHERS BEST FRIEND PERISHED IN THAT ACCIDENT. I HAVE GREAT MEMORIES ........
Nice landing, but they seemed to have some trouble getting the right main gear down, as you can see if you look while they taxi around, trying to get it down. As soon as that gear came down they went up the ramp and parked, but I'll bet that someone asked the mechanics to check that right gear mechanism.
The reason for this a/c going around in circles is that his RH gear could not extend to the down position, so they had to circle and fix the problem...:-) watch closely to the RH gear...
mprophet100 Thanks for explaining the reason for going around in circles. It didn’t make sense, but for your clarification! Glad they made it safely to the apron!
They were hot-rodding that thing a bit lol. I wonder how long wheel bearings last being immersed in salt water? Do they have to do maintenance prior to landing on a runway after extensive boat launch operations?
Didn't Chalk's go bankrupt after the crash of one of there seaplanes? Also the company was found to have poor and sloppy maintenance done on there fleet. I believe it was aired on aircraft investigation program. Anyways, great video of the Chalks seaplane.
I heard that a company called Frakes was planning on putting the mallard back into production I really hope so I feel strongly that there is still a market for flying boats.
Chalks had a fatal accident when one of the wings broke off in flight and all were lost.. they were out of business shortly after this was way back in the late 90s
I never had any problem with the gear for 3,000 hours...however, when we purchased the plane, we had to take both main gear apart and replace the bearings...
the aircraft were poorly maintained and the upgraded engines were not adequately supported with extra strengthening around their mounts. One of their aircraft lost a wing during flight. Horrifying.
There just isn't a big market demand for them. They are expensive to build, operate, maintain and insure. Dornier has a tandem engine amphibious aircraft that they probably want to produce but apparently cannot get enough orders to go ahead.
Bullshit...the fuel tanks where sealed for avgas...when switching to jet fuel with turbines, the sealant degraded and the tanks leaked...I know, I had a cascade of jet fuel on my electrical panel. So the wing tanks where resealed by daubing sealant over all the leaky spots, so it was hiding fatigue cracks. Blame not Chalk but the FAA for not requiring more X-ray inspections like they do on many other older airplanes. About this time, all FAA personnel in Miami was fired for covering up Fine Air
I was wondering about that too. I don't know much about planes, so that could be "normal." But it looks as though he was either "showing off" or "angry." But then again, that could be the normal way to fly a sea plane. I just couldn't help but wonder if the pilot was just mad and saying to himself "this piece of junk" and driving like a bat outta hell because his temper was flaring.
All it takes is that check ride and those add-on's and im @ 20K and no longer am i waiting for a summer season to arrive and take those air frame & mechanic courses..... careful up there
Rick Rodriguez Presently, the mallard cannot be flown commercially because of chalk crash...these guys are recertifying it:www.mallardaircraft.com/ and they are working on producing it again...god bless them because it was the best plane i ever flew...
hotspur666 I agree, I love the Mallard, I'm also a big fan of the CL-415. Great aircraft. I've flown on both and they're both great. The Mallard makes a great part 91 aircraft. But not 121 or 125.
Rick Rodriguez I know nothing of the 415 but flew 10 fire seasons on the 215...was already way overpowered, very agile...they put turbines on because avgas was scarse and hard to get.Limited the range. The mallard I flew was executive...one day I smelled something funny in the plane way up at the Cy fishing camp. I opened the electrical panel door on the left gear well and watched fuel dripping down all the electrical relays. So I started the engines with the window open, ready to jump off...did not blow up, so I flew home with all the electricals off, gennies and batteries off...turned out the tank sealants were designed for aviation fuel but the kerosene/jet fuel burned/melted out the sealant and made the tanks leak all over...Eventually, they changed both wing planks...I saw it flying in the Caribeans years later for a private operator...
1976/77 Iwas a flight mechanic on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes with Pratt and Whitney R1820 radial engines.
I then went to Sikorski HH52a Seaguard amphibious helo C school and became a Flight Mechanic/ Hoist Operator.
In 80 my enlistment was up.
In 84 I got a job at Dean Franklin Aviation restoring a Grumman Goose.
Dean was the second owner of Chalks.
He sold it to finance buying up the rights to all Grumman Corperations seaplane parts, manuals, blueprints and rights to repair, refurbish, manufacturer and certify all of the above for Grumman seaplanes. .
He also bought the assests of a seaplane airline similar to Chalks that serviced the Virgin Islands and others when the owner cheated on his engine service logs and he and a copilot plus several passengers were killed then the prop shaft failed and the prop spun into the cockpit cabin roof backwards decapacitating everyone.
The plane was in Deans storage area behind his shop.
He showed it to me and told me about how he aquired it.
The owners widow sold the airlines assets to dean as she had known hom since the late 1930's.
She was famous actress red head Maurine O'Hara who made many movies with John Wayne.
Dean hired me because of my Coast Guard experience wirking on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes.
Great guy to work for.
Paid good wages above the normal pay and took me to lunch with him and his best friend who was his test pilot.
Brings back memories. My Dad (RIP) and one of his flying buddies used to fly a Mallard up into Canada (from Detroit) to fish. His pal was corporate pilot for the old Briggs Corporation, and they owned a Mallard. I flew on it once when I was a little kid, but remember what a beautiful airplane it was. However, though those turbines are probably more efficient and cheaper to operate, it needs those big twin radials!
JJ😂🎉
Uuu😢júuu😢uuujjúujúuuu
the company i work for Paspaley Pearls has 3 of these, i have had hundreds of flights on them from the Coburg peninsula in the Northern Territory to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. they are a beautiful aircraft
A lucky person indeed, would love to fly on something like this, even better would be flying something like this, we can but dream !!.
Looked like they were having an issue with the right main gear going down. That wasn't the shortest route to the ramp!
It's a BIRD, it's a PLANE, it's a BOAT. It's ALL the above. Very nice. Great piloting.
From 1979 to 1982, I shipped out of Miami on a weekly service between the port and Venezuela on a British registered ship mv Imparca Miami on charter to the Imparca Shipping Company. During our stay in Miami, I would spend hours enjoying the take off and landings of these great Grumman aircraft. What I can remember is, in those days, they were radial engined - a great homely sound - those twin props sound anything but friendly, if you guys' know what I mean. Those turboprops sound like banshees by comparison - lean n' mean is what you Americans' would say. Ah, well! All in the past for me. But, great memories. Bye for now, Bill.
Right, old school radials have a lovely sound, but I realized while watching this that the PT6 turbines which have reversible props are probably a huge improvement when conducting water taxi operations. They're also more powerful, sleeker, and generally more reliable.
Nice turboprop conversion! I LOVE all the old Grumman flying boats. Would love to get behind the controls of one to try water ops! Im ex Air Force aircraft engineer, flying choppers at the end of my service, now doing my JAA licence. I would LOVE to find an old Goose to restore
The wing did not break at the engine mount but near the fuselage from a crack in the spar angle gusset hidden by putty used to seal fuel leaks.
I didn’t know about this one; Grumman knows how to name a plane!
This pilot really knows this plane.
great video I flew that exact plane about a year later! Man I miss that airline.
Great
This and Concorde are two things I will never get to go on and I am mad. Lol
We need an all new flying boat. Time to put technology & craftsmanship into this.
Dornier Seastar: “You called?”
I remember working for Resorts International in N Miami when they owned Chalks. It was when Chalks was doing the refit to turbine engines on these planes. Very cool video, thanks.
Pp
.
I was at the Port of Miami about an hour before the 2005 fatal Chalks crash that was the final nail in that company's coffin. I had just returned to my office in Deerfield Beach when I heard about it on the news. Sad as the Chalks seaplanes had been a fixture in Miami since 1917. That being said, it was truly inexcusable maintenance shortcuts on the part of Chalks that led to the deaths of 20 people just days before Christmas.
It was wing root corrosion that caused the crash.
I'm a Coast Guard Aviation Machinist Mate Veteran who was a flight mechanic on Grumman HU16e Albatross seaplanes my first 2 years (76/77) in the Coast Guard.
In 1984 I went to work for Dean Franklin Aviation who had bought the rights to all things Grumman seaplanes including parts, manuals, blueprints and rights to repair, refurbish, manufacturer, and certify Grumman seaplane parts.
He hired me based on my Coast Guard experience to work on restoring a Grumman Goose.
He was an extremely knowledgable man on seaplanes and was the second owner of Chalks.
He sold it to finance buying the Grumman seaplane assets.
He was actually one of the early members of seaplane history going back to the late 20's.
Really nice guy ti work for.
@@pinwizz69 Chalk was well aware of the corrosion problem. They'd basically been putting band aids on it for months to keep the plane flying. Their whole fleet was found to have the same problems.
Pax almost had to swim ashore. Last minute save.
Sweet landing. Textbook. And this can can step-taxi like a beast. Nice job.
I grew up in Coconut Grove in the fifties and would watch these land in Dinner Key channel and Gun the engines to go up the ramp at the coast guard base. Later I rode these to the Bahamian out islands and around the BVI. Wonderful memories.
i used to work as a customs agent in nassau at the paradise iasland airport where this a/c used to dock. The landing gear was always a daily problem.Sometimes ramp agents had to to wade knee deep in the water to free it.None the less this plane always gave a sweet ride.
Why port main gear down and not the other?
00:35 the pilot makes the turn after landing like he's driving a hydroplane race boat. Makes the baby turn.
Left main gear is extended , right is not , that's not good .
I believe this is a Mallard and not Goose because a Goose is a taildragger
Is that a retrofit with PT-6 engines ?
I miss Chalks..... Who owns their G-111 Albatrosses? Anyone know?
Incredible! It amazes me the way she taxis so fast, and the maneurverability turboprops can give to a plane, nice "stunts" !!
I loved the high speed landing, turning and taxing.
wonderful
wow that thing is really maneuverable for its size
Grumman Mallard Fans -> I just posted some videos of a flight I had yesterday. I know, I'm a lucky bastard. I love this video! One of my inspirations
MY BROTHER WAS THE CAPT FOR MANY YEARS WITH THIS WONDERFUL COMPANY. IT IS A SHAME IT WENT BANKRUPT AFTER AN ACCIDENT. MY BROTHERS BEST FRIEND PERISHED IN THAT ACCIDENT. I HAVE GREAT MEMORIES ........
Beautiful lines. Beautiful design.
Thanks for sharing.
Just beautiful
At least the wing didn't fall off.
He was almost airborne in his high speed turn. Cool.
@mprophet100
I agree 100%
I went once in the early '90's, great trip. I still hope it will come back one day...
they should have mass produced this plane it looks so awesome and modern even with a design from the 1950s
First purchase after I win the lottery! Lol
and a trip thru the caribean..no timetable..
@@thomastaylor558 now you got me day dreaming.
@@Paiadakine decades of jimmy buffet will do that..
It loves skimming. 0:35 + and handles really well at a fast "taxi" speed.
Nice landing, but they seemed to have some trouble getting the right main gear down, as you can see if you look while they taxi around, trying to get it down. As soon as that gear came down they went up the ramp and parked, but I'll bet that someone asked the mechanics to check that right gear mechanism.
I tried shaking my tablet to get it down, but it still stuck up for ages!!!
wd 40.
@@BrassLock,
Dang Tablets! lol.
Hi flymia69
Thanks for the kind words. Never got around
to fly with them...:-(
cheers from Holland...Mp
man, this plane is a fucking monster...wow!!!
The reason for this a/c going around in circles is that his RH gear could not extend to the down position, so they had to circle and fix the problem...:-)
watch closely to the RH gear...
mprophet100 Thanks for explaining the reason for going around in circles. It didn’t make sense, but for your clarification! Glad they made it safely to the apron!
I noticed the right gear would not extend while the left gear extended. A troubling situation when you need to taxi on shore to parking.
Yes that was the problem..and that's why the cicled the water a couple of times.
It happen to me a couple times we had to use an extension bar from inside and still I loved
Hi figdmoney.....this was taken at Miami Watson Island during September 1999
cheers Mp
Does he know where's he's going? Seems he's going in circles.....
One of the wheels couldn't come out.
They were hot-rodding that thing a bit lol. I wonder how long wheel bearings last being immersed in salt water? Do they have to do maintenance prior to landing on a runway after extensive boat launch operations?
Thats how vid should be .
No music or talkn.
Great watch.
Didn't Chalk's go bankrupt after the crash of one of there seaplanes? Also the company was found to have poor and sloppy maintenance done on there fleet. I believe it was aired on aircraft investigation program. Anyways, great video of the Chalks seaplane.
I heard that a company called Frakes was planning on putting the mallard back into production I really hope so I feel strongly that there is still a market for flying boats.
Antilles Seaplanes, in North Carolina. And never forget the lovely Irish mist... Maureen O'Hara.
Antilles is bankrupt ,
Chalks had a fatal accident when one of the wings broke off in flight and all were lost.. they were out of business shortly after this was way back in the late 90s
GRATE VIDEO,LANDING ON WATER
Hi MrAce737
Not sure..I think they had a technical problem with the rh gear...so after awhile the lowered it manually..
cheers Mp
Thats my dream car
Would this plane be able to land on snow or frozen zones? Or would it require an artificially warmed landing pool?
I never had any problem with the gear for 3,000 hours...however, when we purchased the plane, we had to take both main gear apart and replace the bearings...
Can any one tell me...where in USA can I get a flight training for such Sea planes?
beautiful
Why do I think these Mallards have a spar problem? Rumor? Bad dream?
Great video.
the aircraft were poorly maintained and the upgraded engines were not adequately supported with extra strengthening around their mounts. One of their aircraft lost a wing during flight. Horrifying.
The engine mounts were plenty strong, poor maintenance and lack of proper inspection is what caused the crash
How come there is 1 wheel down?
nice job pilot...
why didnt they dock somewhere
i love it!
Hi bradders05
THX for the update
Why does it have to float taxi in so many circles?
Just read a different post with criticism calling a landing 'hotdogging. I'd call this one professional 'hotdogging. I liked the power landing.
once i`ve seen a guy with a jetpack there during the miami boat show
Change the name of the video to "A 8:30 min taxing Mallard", not just landing.
incredible- never could figure out why so little amphibious development is carried out..
There just isn't a big market demand for them.
They are expensive to build, operate, maintain and insure.
Dornier has a tandem engine amphibious aircraft that they probably want to produce but apparently cannot get enough orders to go ahead.
As soon as I saw the guy at 0:34 I knew it was the 90's
1:35 Dang, that turn was pretty tight! Does the pilot put one prop in reverse for this?
what is the cost on a Grumman if you had to buy one from someone are looking at the Million Dollar Range?????
Bullshit...the fuel tanks where sealed for avgas...when switching to jet fuel with turbines, the sealant degraded and the tanks leaked...I know, I had a cascade of jet fuel on my electrical panel. So the wing tanks where resealed by daubing sealant over all the leaky spots, so it was hiding fatigue cracks. Blame not Chalk but the FAA for not requiring more X-ray inspections like they do on many other older airplanes. About this time, all FAA personnel in Miami was fired for covering up Fine Air
Chalk's knew the fuel leak was there for quite some time and kept ignoring it
Further investigation would have revealed the cracks before the wing separated
When did it crash and kill 20 people? What happened?
is a 100 knot landing or 50 knot taxi speed a bad thing? I don't know the first thing about planes, I'll admit.....
This guy must be in a rush!
Why does it have one landing gear down?
This pilot is related to Juda Ben Hur.
why was his tire out in the water like that?
Sad seeing the Chalks logo on there
why ? what does that mean ?
He sure knows how to use a lot of fuel.
Sad to see them go out of busines
They had the last 2 birds.
Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 December 19th 2005. Plane fell right out of the sky. Look it up.
gumdropsarenasty n
Real Chauk's but good concept
what year was this plane built?
Aldrick GMC 1940
It is a grumman GOOSE reworked with turbine ?I din't know the G-73?really love to test it?
G-73T
Yes the goose has been turbine
thank you reengined goose with turbine
rudy EUSTACHE As you have been told, this is a Mallard with turbine engines fitted. The Goose is much smaller.
Wrong.
nice
I think both a little rudder and engine control...!
The Russians seem to be pretty big on it. They've got some really
cool stuff!
I was wondering about that too. I don't know much about planes, so that could be "normal." But it looks as though he was either "showing off" or "angry." But then again, that could be the normal way to fly a sea plane. I just couldn't help but wonder if the pilot was just mad and saying to himself "this piece of junk" and driving like a bat outta hell because his temper was flaring.
Right gear wouldn't come out
All it takes is that check ride and those add-on's and im @ 20K and no longer am i waiting for a summer season to arrive and take those air frame & mechanic courses..... careful up there
thats getting up there 30,000 ft in the sky
JUST TOW THE GUY ....LOLZ
Did this plane crash in 2005 ?
nice airplane xd sound helices
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Tengo pista de sgua
I would prefer to keep my $800k investment of aluminum and engines out of the salt water.
Rick Rodriguez Presently, the mallard cannot be flown commercially because of chalk crash...these guys are recertifying it:www.mallardaircraft.com/
and they are working on producing it again...god bless them because it was the best plane i ever flew...
hotspur666 I agree, I love the Mallard, I'm also a big fan of the CL-415. Great aircraft. I've flown on both and they're both great. The Mallard makes a great part 91 aircraft. But not 121 or 125.
Rick Rodriguez I know nothing of the 415 but flew 10 fire seasons on the 215...was already way overpowered, very agile...they put turbines on because avgas was scarse and hard to get.Limited the range.
The mallard I flew was executive...one day I smelled something funny in the plane way up at the Cy fishing camp. I opened the electrical panel door on the left gear well and watched fuel dripping down all the electrical relays. So I started the engines with the window open, ready to jump off...did not blow up, so I flew home with all the electricals off, gennies and batteries off...turned out the tank sealants were designed for aviation fuel
but the kerosene/jet fuel burned/melted out the sealant and made the tanks leak all over...Eventually, they changed both wing planks...I saw it flying in the Caribeans years later for a private operator...
@@hotspur666 (
Chalks crash. Corrosion and poor maintenance.