I was lucky to grow up in the business. My dad was a Cessna and Piper dealer. My dad could fly anything... when he stopped flying in his 70s due to health reasons he had over 20k hours. He had every rating except Airline Transport. During the summer I flew back and forth from our North Idaho lake cabin in a Grumman Widgeon. Great aircraft. The only time I was scared was when we flew to the cabin in the winter to see how much snow was on the roof. We parked on the beach landing mats like always, checked the cabin and took off to fly home. The temperature was in the low teens. Our landing at Felts Field in Spokane Washington was going to be perfect until we touched down and the plane pitched forward.... of course my dad right hand was on the throttles and he firewalled it and took off... my dad's head mechanic was also a pilot and was sitting right seat. Both men were shocked... after much discussion the figured out that the wheels had froze up from parking on the beach and would not roll.... so my dad came in and kind of bounced the Widgeon a couple times and made a go around. We could see the wheels turning now....whew!! We Landed without incident and that was that. Lesson learned... no damage done...we had that plane for years until my dad got his Rotor Wing rating and then we flew a Jet Ranger to the cabin...He sold the Widgeon and it went to Alaska. Hope it's still flying😎
And if it wasn't for politicians and the Alexander Hamilton style of government that we find ourselves currently under, maybe everyone could have the funds for this sort of thing!
When i worked for Rocky mountain helicopters we had a Widgeon. Those crazy guys used to fly into lakes to fish from it. They even tried to water ski behind it. A careless FBO lineman tore the rear tie down hook out of it trying to move it. Fascinating watching our A and P mechanics rebuild the rear of the fuselage with sheets of aluminum, a brake, and rivets. It was still water tight when they were done.
When I was going through A&P school at RVC in KRFD this is the engine we learned on the GO480 then we bolted them into old Beech twin Bonanza's 1949's and 1952's for runups and we disassemble and reassembled the engines during the Powerplant portion of the AVM program. Best time I had, now I just got my IA endorsement which is real awesome and now
That was perfect world memories never forgotten pulled a heart string the togetherness was amazing I like the planes I'd live in one it would be cool thanks for sharing 👍 😀
I was a passenger aboard this plane flying to Great Barrier from Auckland I loved the excitement. I think they had planes there with static pitch and the more variable pitched planes So much fun !
Some people are having a rough day, hey?? While some are sweating their a** off behind a desk doing a job they don't quite understand the value of, others are embracing the Wild onboard a beautiful Widgeon on a sunny May afternoon... Enjoy!! And thanks for posting this beautiful video!
What a great video. I'm just a Flight Simulator guy and a version was just released for FS2020. Good enough for me with a VR headset. Hope you do more. Your aircraft is beautiful. Really like the way you encased the starters etc. I'll bet someone learned that would be a good idea ...the hard way. Like someone else said ...your son is blessed to have the life you are giving him. Enjoy!
You are blessed to have one of the best amphibious planes made as far as I'm concerned and this is a beautiful plane. Great kids too. Hope you have many years with this plane safe flying.
Beautiful. Always wondered if such seaplane operations would work in Langkawi. We're a cluster of 99 islands in the NorthWest of Malaysia. Maybe we can start with Seaplane RC :)
Inside that model widgeon there are little people with an even smaller widgeon looking for a lake to fly their model widgeon and so on into infinity.....
Check the elevator cable over the pulley in the rear end of the plane, mine was corroded & it broke on take off out at Ft Jefferson, NM, the plane sank in 8 ft of water, the 100 hr inspection missed it.
Wow, that must have been one wild wooly experience! Nice of you to pass on what you learned about the sad, hard way! What a shame your beautiful plane ended up like that! I never knew about these planes but I sure was impressed with the power this beauty had, it's a beautiful plane and looks like it has great versatility! I'm glad you survived!
Nothing beats a Flying Boat. I fly a LAKE LA-4-200 here in Beaufort SC and love it. I will have to see if I can get my Flite Test G-44 Widgeon into the back seat. Otherwise You have a Very Nice Aircraft. A1.
@@ysrman Good Sunday Afternoon Sir. I'm glad that you liked KARW. I keep N32DQ in Hanger 501 The next time you come here ask if they have seen Captain Morgan. Was my career for 26 years. retired from the Job 4 years ago. Even 32DQ has my emblem on the nacelle. Arrgh!. please feel free to check out my RU-vid and subscribe. RjMorganB2. I hope you and the family have a great 4th of July.
Intelligent family. Kids will grow up with substantive knowledge. Concrete learning experiences. Reminds me when I was that boys age, my Dad landed out in front of our cabin with a Piaggio Royal Gull. He flew for Standard Oil. The '50's and '60's were my wonderland. Couldn't have been more fantastic. So many adventures for a kid, and combined with books like Tom Swift and his Ultrasonic Cycloplane, the cerebral stimulation was nonstop.
