www.jpflyingser... John Proctor flys a Grumman HU-16 Albatross sea plane. Proctor flew this plane on a journey of 18 months, 42,500 miles and 52 water landings in nine oceans, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
My father used to fly the HU-16 for the 303 Air Rescue Squadron at March AFB. I was so proud of him and enjoyed watching him fly that plane. One time when I was with my Boy Scout troop on Catalina Island, my father arranged an air drop of box lunches for our troop and parachuted the lunches right over our camp. That was so thrilling for me.
I flew as radio operator on the SA16 albatross. 1955/56 Goose Bay, Labrador. 54th Air Rescue Squadron. What a fantastical air raft. Throughout Labrador and Greenland. We had to fly when nothing else could get off the ground . Hunting for a runway could be impossible. We went anyway. We had 5 of these operational. I am 86 now in nov18
I loved being on the plane and a part of the 'crew' from New Zealand to Figi for the Warbirds Over Wanika International airshow in 1996. It was why I got my pilot's license Uncle Mike and wanted so much to surprise you when I did. (My siblings and I called him Uncle Mike, he was my mother's younger brother). I use to tease him and call him 'Indiana Proctor'. His life has always been larger than life. Like the movies, 'Raider's of the Lost Arch' or 'Temple of Doom'...that was the norm. He even looks like Harrison Ford. He met at Oshkosk and didn't even know it until later on. His legacy and life style or what we knew as 'normal' in the family has inspired us to never give up, think outside the box and re-create yourself always. Larger than life. Love you Uncle Mike! :)
We had these at our Coast Gaurd base in Port Angeles You could hear the engines running up from miles away! What a wonderful bird! I miss the engine sounds as a kid
I love seeing an Old Goat get some loving care. I was a Coast Guard Flight Mechanic on them in the 70's. Loved the smell of AvGas and oil burnin' when those jugs began belching smoke.
Great fun to see the old bird still flying. I crewed on these from 1970 to 72 in the US Coast Guard at Port Angeles, WA. As AT's (Aviation Electronics Tech), we filled 2 positions on every flight. Radioman and Navigator / Radar Operator. The HU-16E's operated with the USCG from the 50's into the early 80's (I think). Had lots of fun and sometimes scary flights up and down the Northwest coast on search and rescue, fisheries patrol and training flights. Among CG crews, the HU-16E was affectionately known as The Goat, making us all "Goat Herders".
I love the old Grumman flying boats The Goose was my favourite - never heard of this one - what a beauty. I am doing my pilots training and am looking for a scrap PBY to find to rebuild if i can. Im also an aircraft engineer. What a superb adventure she sounds AWESOME!!! NICE TOUCH ROUTE 66 theme! I lived next to that for a while in MO! I have ALWAYS had a special place in my heart for Flying boats! Would love a flight in her!
thanks for reliving my dream,fell in love with aviation during wwii joined guard in 1957,when i got the chance to enter aviation i grabbed it,flew sar out corpus for over two years,the sound of those engines brings back memories of loud props and constant noise in my headset,must be the cause of my constant ringing in my ears,but worth every minute of it,leaving the coast guard in 1961 my love for aviation continues,entered the interesting field of aviation instruments,now have 63 years in aviation and still counting..
Love the Albatross! Flew in them out of Prestwick Scotland winter of 62 , 67th Air Rescue Sqdn, along with our SC-54 RescueMasters...DUCKBUTT missions between Prestwick and Iceland, and also over the North Sea.
Haven’t even started getting my pilots license yet (I’m still in the planning phase) but I can only imagine that something like this is a once in a lifetime experience.
@@docjeffry life happened… COVID shut down the place I was working and they went under, went from makin $25 to just shy of $18 an hour, went from saving up for it to not enough between bills to barely make it paycheck to paycheck… pilots license went from a plan to a dream
We had one of these as our base seaplane up in U.S. Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland Canada when I was there from 1967-69. I used to watch it take off and land in the bay often. She took a while to get up on plane and out of the water when it was choppy, which was most of the time. I never rode in it but those who did said it was pretty noisy when in the water.
When I was in tech school at Shepphard AFB,in 1976 there was an Albatross that was used as a training bird for reciprocating engines. That curriculum was considered obsolete so the plane was retired and someone from California bought it as surplus. They had a private crew come out and make the aircraft airworthy and they got a one time ferry permit to fly her to be restored. I’ve always loved the Albatross. Beautiful aircraft.
these birds are some majestic. I wish i could fly in one of these again. I used to when I was a child through out the virgin islands but I barely remember them. And I want to get that feeling back.
I lived in Truk in the mid 1960's. We had air service with two airplanes, a DC-4 and an SA-16. The SA-16 was needed because Ponape did not have an airport and required a water landing. I liked the SA-16 but would have to say that the cabin was loud. I mean **loud**.
While in the Coast Guard I was a crewman on a HU-16E flight from Shemya, Alaska to Midway. 1,748 miles. This was in 1963 so we had to use a sextant to fix our position and CW for communications. Some may interested to know there was a tiny VERY PISTOL hatch above the navigation table the periscopic sextant would lock into.
I can see that this model is the A version of the Albatross with shorter wings and less powerful engines. I read somewhere that all A models were converted to B models but apparently that is not true. Beautiful aircraft, fantastic video.
I live in Alaska and a friend of mine has a Mallard and one of my greatest joys has been getting to fly the left seat it's one of the most beautiful birds I've been blessed to get to fly besides my DeHavalin Beaver
What a beautiful plane! I always loved the Albatross, specially the HU-16B anti submarine version with the big dog nose in service with the Chilean Air Force (FACH) until the late 70's. Just a few of them were built. I think Norway and Spain also operated this special version.
I had a memorable flight in an HU-16 from Manila to Talampalan loran station with my DoD film crew in 1969. That was a noisy bird to fly in, but what a thrill.
I was in the RCAF assigned to the 444 rescue squadron out of Western Air Movements unit Vancouver B.C. , I spent many hours searching for downed aircraft, any time the plane went out even when the pilot needed to keep his hours up the rescue squadron had to go. we enjoyed great fishing in remote lakes . Our plane was prone to leaking so when the engineer said we had to go ,we had to get airborne to empty the hold. Cheers Chris
I was a flight engineer on the hu16b usaf air rescue 1965_67 was station in the Philippines and flew tdy in Vietnam made a open sea rescue of a navy pilot North Vietnam
@10:27 he takes control even though she says she's got it. My old man did exactly the same thing trying to teach me. Told me "maintain 2000 feet." If I lost or gained even 5 feet he'd jerk the wheel before I even had a chance. Finally went hands off and told him"you got it." I was 13. Never did take anymore instruction from him.
Nice video and beautiful plane. I love Albatrosses... An anecdote, when I was viewing this video, from 6:41 I though I got a calling... That song (Route 66) is my cellphone ringtone ha ha ha... congratulations.
Cool video. My father flew SA-16s out of KLGB with the USAF SAR squadron in the 50s/60s. Some strange callouts...I've never used MPH for airspeed, always knots.
Crew coordination seemed a bit all over the place, she’s in left seat, he keeps fiddling with throttles, power settings and flaps and she keeps saying “ I got it” and he doesn’t acknowledge.
I can not help but notice that either the pilot or copilot has a hand on what appears to the throttles almost constantly. Are there no throttle locks? Is it necessary to constantly make adjustments to the throttles? I have never flown anything that old. Thanks.
Of course you're going to be constantly adjusting the throttle on landing. Tiny adjustments during landing to keep the approach speed perfect while also preparing to abort incase of a stray boat is a must. They also mentioned the throttle friction in the checklist, interestingly. Not quite sure what you'd be flying if you didn't have to touch the throttle on landing.
@@Oldgoat912 I'd imagine it's at least in a spot you can quickly put your hand onto? Even in with single engine land we are trained to always keep a hand on throttle incase anything causes a need to abort, or say a gust of wind tosses you off the glide slope.
Why is she on the left seat.?? She's not proficient enough to be in the right seat.!! She's not a good copilot enough to work the check-list with the real pilot... And that hand allways in the throttle levers... That's not a correct way to fly a plane... Oh, I know, she must own the plane.!!!
