A Goose With a History

Sam Valadez, based at Lake Norman Airpark (14A) in Mooresville, North Carolina, has a passion for Grumman amphibian aircraft. He owned an eye-catching Widgeon for several years before he acquired his G-21A Goose, N42GL, in 2022. I would have been interested anyway, but when Sam sent me a history of it, a number of things caught my attention, including the fact that, as it turns out, I flew in this exact Goose some 40 years ago!

The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat “commuter” aircraft for businesspeople in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman’s first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engine aircraft, and its first aircraft to enter commercial airline service. During WW-II, the Goose became an effective transport for the U.S. military (including the United States Coast Guard), as well as serving with many other air forces. During hostilities, the Goose took on an increasing number of combat and training roles.

In 1936, a group of wealthy residents of Long Island, including E. Roland Harriman, approached Grumman and commissioned an aircraft that they could use to fly to New York City. In response, the Grumman Model G-21 was designed as a light amphibious transport. Grumman produced a high-wing monoplane of almost all-metal construction—the trailing half of the main wing and all of the flight control surfaces, except for the flaps, were fabric-covered. It was powered by two 450-hp (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines mounted on the leading edges of the wings. The deep fuselage also served as a hull and was equipped with hand-cranked retractable landing gear. The first flight of the prototype took place on May 29, 1937.

The fuselage also proved versatile, providing generous interior space that allowed fitting for either a transport or luxury airliner role. Having an amphibious configuration also allowed the G-21 to go just about anywhere, and plans were made to market it as an amphibian airliner.

Envisioned as corporate or private flying yachts for Manhattan millionaires, initial production models normally carried two to three passengers and had a bar and small toilet installed. In addition to being marketed to small air carriers, the G-21 was also promoted as a military transport. In 1938, the U.S. Army Air Corps purchased the type as the OA-9 (later, in the war years, examples impressed from civilian ownership were designated the OA-13A). The most numerous of the military versions were the United States Navy variants, designated the JRF. The amphibious aircraft was also adopted by the Coast Guard and, during WW-II, also served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the transport, reconnaissance, rescue, and training roles. The G-21 was used for air-sea rescue duties by the Fleet Air Arm, which assigned the name Goose. A single aircraft was used briefly by Number 1 Air Ambulance Unit, Royal Australian Air Force in the Mediterranean. After the war, the Goose found continued commercial use in locations from Alaska to Catalina and the Caribbean.

A total of 345 were built, with about 30 known to still be airworthy today (although around 60 are still on various civil registries, many of them are known to have crashed or been otherwise destroyed), most being in private ownership, some of them operating in modified forms.

Sam’s Goose was built for the U.S. Navy as Number 37799 JRF5 serial number B-52, and delivered on April 10, 1944. By August 1944, it was serving with All Forces, Aruba, Curaçao. It was transferred to Naval Air Station (NAS) San Julian in the province of Pinar del Río in Cuba in December 1945, with Unit FASRON-102. In August 1946, it entered Naval Air Facility (NAF) Norfolk, Virginia, for overhaul. In August 1947, it was based at NAF Annapolis, where it was damaged after hitting a mooring buoy on takeoff. It remained at NAF Annapolis until September 1950, when it then went to NAS Quonset Point, California, for overhaul, which didn’t start until October 1951. Once the overhaul was completed, the Goose was transferred to Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (NARTU) Lakehurst, New Jersey, on March 1952, then on to NARTU Anacostia, D.C., in December of ’52.

Sam Valadez notes, “Here’s where it really gets interesting! The Goose was sent to Lichfield Park, Arizona, for disposal in January 1954, but it wasn’t officially disposed of. Instead, it was loaned under Contract NOaS55-211m from the U.S. Navy to Marine Airways & Alaska Air Transport, dba Alaska Coastal Airlines of Ketchikan, Alaska, on March 10, 1955; the Goose received its first civilian registration, N4773C. At that time, the Goose was converted to a G-21A, increasing its gross weight to 8,000 pounds. A water rudder was installed per Ellis drawings, and it was fitted with McKinnon retractable wingtip floats by Long Beach Airmotive, Long Beach, California, in April 1955. The Goose was officially retired by the Navy on Aug. 2, 1955.”

In June 1966, the new owner, Alaska Coastal Airlines, began the conversion to PT6A-20 engines under a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). ACA merged with Alaska Airlines on Feb. 3, 1968. On Aug. 30, 1970, the Goose had a forced water landing near Juneau, Alaska, due to a thrown propeller blade on the left engine. The left wing was seriously damaged, and N4773C was removed from service, disassembled, and used for parts.

In July 1974, the hulk was sold to Viking Air of Sidney, B.C., and reregistered as C-GIGK. In June 1976, the PT-6s were replaced with the 985s. Viking rebuilt the Goose and used it for several years before being sold to Channel Flying Inc., of Juneau, Alaska, in September 1983, and was registered as N37487. In September 1985, I flew on this aircraft from Juneau to Kake, Tyee, and the channel in front of the home of one of the passengers! Talk about door-to-door service!

On June 1, 1986, N37487 crashed after a wheels-down landing in Hobart Bay, Alaska. The pilot and all four passengers were safely rescued, but the Goose sank in 300 feet of water. The crash ripped the entire nose off the Goose and damaged other structures. The floats imploded from the pressure as it sank. The Goose was later salvaged and sold to Carl Eurick, who sold it to Bill DaSilva. DaSilva rebuilt the airplane under the watchful eye of Brian Van Wagnen in Van Wagnen’s shop in Jackson, Michigan. Van Wagnen is highly regarded in the seaplane community as a craftsman A&P-AI and top-notch land and sea certificated flight instructor-instrument (CFII).

Valadez continues, “Following a five-year rebuild by DaSilva, N37487 won ‘Best Amphibian’ Award at AirVenture in 1993. The next year, Chuck Greenhill, my father-in-law, bought it and reregistered N42GL and painted it as you see it today. I met my wife, Tammy Greenhill, in 2007 and started flying the airplane shortly after meeting Chuck that year. He and I had many adventures in the airplane. We would fly to Florida every winter from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Chuck owned a home in Palm Beach, Florida, and spent most of the winters there.”

Chuck passed away in April 2022, and Sam and Tammy took possession of the airplane in August of that year. He currently has about 155 hours logged in it with hundreds of water landings. He adds, “I love working on it and keeping it flying. I also love sharing Chuck’s favorite airplane with anyone who’s interested. His passion was to share aviation and WW-II airplanes with everyone, and I’m honored to be carrying on that tradition. It’s a dream to fly and we’re very thankful to be its current caretaker.”

Sam’s fascination with things that fly began when he was in grade school in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He fondly remembers, “We went on a field trip to the EAA Museum at AirVenture. My mom had given me money for lunch. Before lunch we were able to tour the gift shop, and I saw a U-control biplane that I just had to have. I spent my entire lunch money on it and didn’t eat lunch that day. If you know me, you know I will never skip lunch!”

That started a lifelong love of aviation. Sam continues, “I flew the wings off that thing, literally, because it clipped our boat that was parked in our driveway and ripped half the wings off it. Fast-forward to my 20s, my wife was pregnant with my son and wanted me home more. I owned my own business and worked crazy hours. So, I bought a model airplane and stick-built it on the dining room table. In 1990 I took it to a local flying field where I knew there was an instructor and, unfortunately, I couldn’t keep it running long enough for him to teach me how to fly. I was working on it when a gentleman named Leslie Howell walked by and asked, ‘Hey kid do you need some help?’ I eagerly accepted that and we became the best of friends. We spent many years together building and flying model airplanes. He was like a father to me.”

As Sam’s business grew, his model planes became bigger and more plentiful. He continues, “I had so much money wrapped up in my planes that I thought I should learn to fly. I started taking flying lessons in 1998. Life has a way of getting in the way of things, and I didn’t get my private pilot license until 2011. Meanwhile, in 2000, I bought a Van’s RV-9A kit and started building it. It took me 15 years, three months, and 20 days to finish the kit, not that anyone was counting! I first flew the plane on July 7, 2015. In 2007 I met Tammy Greenhill, who became my wife. She introduced me to her father, Chuck Greenhill. Chuck restored WW-II airplanes and had an incredibly beautiful 1944 Grumman Goose. He taught me how to fly it first on water and then on land. We would take off from Kenosha and land in Fox Lake. He would then switch seats and let me fly from the left seat. He would coach me through the takeoff and landing sequences until I mastered how to handle it on the water. In 2011 Chuck bought a Decathlon, and I received my tailwheel rating in March 2011. In 2015 Chuck traded in the Decathlon for an M-7-260 Maule. In 2016 he sold me the Maule. However, before I could take possession, he traded it for a Grumman Widgeon. He called me and said, ‘I did you a favor and traded the Maule for a Widgeon,’ and I became a seaplane owner. Shortly after that I got my multi-engine land (MEL) rating and then in 2017 I got my multi-engine sea (MELS). I flew the Widgeon regularly until 2022 when we acquired the Goose. In 2018 I received my IFR rating in my RV-9A. In 2018 we bought a Cirrus SR-22T; I flew that until 2022. I currently own an RV-14A and am building an RV-10. I have about 30 hours in a CJ3 & 4.”

Sam Valadez sums it up, “I’m very blessed to have an opportunity to fly many different airplanes and to be the caretaker of this beautiful Goose.”