For those who saw “The Expendables” and are awaiting for the
release of the sequel you no doubt also fell in love with their plane, the Grumman
Goose.
In 1936, a group of wealthy gentleman from Long Island
commissioned the Grumman Corporation to build them a commuter plane to get from
Long Island to New York. Grumman
designed the light amphibian model G-21 Goose, which was their first mono-wing aircraft,
their first twin engine aircraft, and its first aircraft to enter commercial
airline service. Because of its
amphibian characteristics it was a natural for surveillance and military sea
rescue service as it could literally go about anywhere.
Max Speed 201 mph, Cruise Speed 191 mph, Range 640 mi / 557 nmi
Ceiling 21,300ft, Rate of Climb 1,100ft/min.
Through the years there were many modifications and types of
these planes built for various countries and service around the world. They were very popular and handy, even up to
recently it being picked up by Antilles Seaplanes of Gibsonville, North
Carolina in 2007 to reproduce production of the twin turbine-powered McKinnon
G-21 G Turbo Goose variant, now identified as the Antilles G-21G Super
Goose. The new Super Goose will have
state of the art aviation electronics, radios, and navigational systems.
I mention this not just because the previews show the crew of “The Expendables
2” crash their Goose but because in my third book, “Leviathan Deterrent” – The sequel
to “Whisper” my first novel, which will be coming out soon, features a Grumman
Goose. If and when I ever get around to
it, I plan on the third Wiley Randolph Novel going back to where Wiley and
Damon Bolch meet each other while Wiley is testing the Dark Horse. In the "Leviathan Deterrent", Bolch's plane is called the Wild Goose.
For those who are plane enthusiasts and follow the exploits
of their favorite planes the Goose fans of the world should enjoy the resurgence
of this grand and stylish aircraft which was originally designed as a rich man’s
air-water taxi service.
Besides the Expendables this plane has been featured in the
1943 submarine movie “Crash Dive” and the 1967 movie “Tobruk.” One of these fine planes plays a major role
in the 1985 movie “Commando” with the Pan Air’s retractable wing tip
modification. In the PS3 video game “Unchartered
Victor Sullivan”, his plane the Wild Hog
is a Grumman Goose.
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5 comments:
The plane in Expendables is actually a Grumman Albatross.
Hi there,
And the plane they crash in Expendables 2 is a Bombardier CL-215.
"Cutter's Goose" from "Tales of the Gold Monkey" was a Goose as well...
So the goose (black n orange) is part of Alaska history. My dad used to fly in that in the (maybe 50s) 60s when it was Fish and wildlife aircraft. He later worked for ADFG.
The precursor to "Indiana Jones" why did they cancel it?
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