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Duck Soup by Stan Stokes.
The Grumman J2F Duck evolved from the early 1920s design of the Loening COA-1 amphibian. The Duck was one of many very successful aircraft designed by Leroy Grummans aircraft company based on Long Island, New York. Grumman, who was born in 1885 and was 18-years old at the time of the Wright Brothers first flight, had worked for the Loening Aircraft Engineering Company in New York. Loening was eventually acquired by Curtiss-Wright, but Grumman decided to leave the company in 1929 and form his own company. Initially, the new company focused on repair and subcontract work, including the development of a vastly improved retractable landing gear for Navy floatplanes. The first Grumman Duck was test flown by Paul Hovgard in 1933 utilizing a 700-HP radial. The Navy was impressed with Grummans design, and placed an initial order for 27 JF-1 aircraft. This aircraft evolved into the JF-2 and JF-3 variants, but by 1936 Grumman had improved the aircraft (now designated J2F) by extending the length of the float and shortening the engine cowling. The final variant of the Grumman-built Ducks was the J2F-5 which utilized a 950-HP Cyclone engine, and incoporated stronger bomb racks capable of supporting 325-pound bombs. A substantial number of Ducks (including the J2F-6) were also built by the Columbia Aircraft Corp. under license from Grumman. The aircraft had a 39-foot wingspan and was 34-feet in length. With the 1050-HP Wright R-1820-54 radial engine, the J2F-6 Duck would top out at a maximum speed just north of 180-MPH. It had an effective range of 850 miles, and with its slow cruising speeds could remain airborne for several hours longer than most fighter aircraft.While the Navy thought the Duck might be a useful torpedo plane or fighter, the slow speed of the aircraft in relation to more modern monoplane fighters resulted in the Duck serving primarily as a utility, reconnaisance, and rescue aircraft. The Ducks cockpit could accommodate two pilots, and there was sufficient room in the hull to carry 3-4 additional persons. In Stans painting, entitled Duck Soup, a USN J2F risks a landing in bad weather and rough seas to rescue a downed Navy fighter pilot. Serving with the Navy until the early 1950s, the Grumman Duck was the last biplane aircraft to be utilized in the Navys inventory. It was the beginning of a long legacy of Grumman-built aircraft utilized by the US Navy, including the family of Cat fighters which commenced with the F4F Wildcat and lives on today with the F-14 Tomcat. While arguably quite ungainly in appearance, the Grumman Duck had a starring role in the movie Murphys War. Only a few of these aircraft remain in flyable condition today. |
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