Grumman HU-16 Albatross American Clipper

[CoastieJohn]

I thought my source was done but he went to the weeds. Alot of horse-trading going on here.

Hope this makes sense........................

First off, a bit of both numbering and type history = twixt CG 1284 & 1322:

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1284 - P5M-1G
1285 - P5M-1G Taken from Martin USN assembly line and assigned
1286 - P5M-1G to USCG w/o BUNOs. Later to USN w/new BUNOs.
1287 - P5M-1G
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1288 - UF-1G
1289 - UF-1G Ordered by USCG but traded to the USN in swap for P5M-1G
1290 - UF-1G airframes mentioned above plus 5 future -2G models. Navy
1291 - UF-1G required additional UF-1s for local NAS rescue duties.
1292 - UF-1G
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1293 thru 1310 - HO4S-3G (HH-19G)
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1311 - UF-1G Purpose built for USCG
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1312 - P5M-2G Purpose built for USCG
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1313 - UF-1G
1314 - UF-1G Ordered by USN w/BUNOs but transfered to USCG to
1315 - UF-1G replace those lost/traded to the Navy. Re. 1288 - 1292
1316 - UF-1G above.
1317 - UF-1G
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1318 - P5M-2G
1319 - P5M-2G Purpose built for USCG. To USN w/new BUNOs.
1320 - P5M-2G
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1321 - P5M-2G CNX - not built
1322 - P5M-2G CNX - not built
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For reference, CG 1288 thru 1292 were assigned BUNOs 142358 thru 142362 on their transfer to Navy custody. Still do not have all of the dates firm but I can attest that the types, CGNR & BUNOs are absolutely correct.

Hope this helps.

[ZRX61]

Looks like it has been well cared for, but I gotta say that to me an Albatross looks funny without the nose radome. At least one if not more have had the nose radome replaced with a clear bubble window of the same shape, but while the view must be really cool, it still looks funny to me.

Like this

[CoastieJohn]

Dug up this older thread to put up vids of the same plane. Don't know if these have been posted up before....sorry if already posted. You get to see the history and ride along for some water landings. Great stuff.....

https://vimeo.com/52950835

https://vimeo.com/54202396

https://vimeo.com/55200055