The Grumman G-73 Mallard is a medium, twin-engined
amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...
. Many have been modified by replacing the original
Pratt & Whitney Wasp H radial engines with modern
turboprop engines. Manufactured from 1946 to 1951, production ended when Grumman's larger
SA-16 Albatross was introduced.
Design and development
![Air Zoo December 2019 138 (Grumman G-73 Mallard)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Air_Zoo_December_2019_138_%28Grumman_G-73_Mallard%29.jpg)
Building on the success of the
Goose
A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...
and
Widgeon
The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species.
Biology
There are t ...
, Grumman Aircraft developed larger G-73 Mallard for commercial use. Retaining many of the features of the smaller aircraft, such as twin radial engines, high wings with underwing floats, retractable landing gear and a large straight tail, the company built 59 Mallards between 1946 and 1951. Unlike the smaller aircraft, the Mallard featured
tricycle gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
, stressed skin, a two-step hull and wingtip fuel tanks.
Operational history
![Grumman G-73 Ward Wells collection AMHA US-Gov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Grumman_G-73_Ward_Wells_collection_AMHA_US-Gov.jpg)
The Mallard prototype first flew on 30 April 1946, with the first production aircraft entering service in September of that year. While the Mallard was designed for regional airline operations with two pilots and ten passengers, especially aimed at harbor-based, city-to-city hops on the eastern seaboard, postwar surplus aircraft sales and the availability of smaller airports limited market potential. A number of smaller air carriers did use the Mallard in its intended role, notably Tahiti-Hawaii Airlines and
Pacific Western Airlines
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.
It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...
(Canada). However, most of the 59 Mallards delivered were for corporate use. A prominent user in the United States was Roy Fruehauf and the
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, previously Fruehauf Trailer Company (1918–1963) and Fruehauf Corporation (1963–1989), was an American company engaged in the manufacture and sale of truck trailers, and other machinery and equipment, with headquar ...
. Fruehauf owned and operated a fishing camp, Killarney Lodge at Georgian Bay, Canada, and ferried customers there from Detroit. Another Detroiter, William Packer of General Motors, also owned a Mallard, which he often flew to Killarney. another Mallard was purchased in the early 1950s by the
Aga Khan
Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...
.
The Toronto Globe & Mail newspaper owned one for use as a "flying newsroom".
The Royal Egyptian Air Force used a Mallard as part of their Royal Flight; it was reportedly
King Farouk
Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1 ...
's favourite aircraft.
The Mallard received a new lease on life in the 1970s when a number of airframes were refitted by
Frakes Aviation __NOTOC__
Frakes Aviation was founded by J. Fred Frakes in the late 1960s, and is located in Cleburne, Texas, United States. When founded, the company's main activity was converting radial engine powered airplanes to gas turbine engines. The compa ...
with
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously upda ...
turbines and upgraded for 17 passengers, to become "Turbo Mallards." Today, through attrition, only 32 Mallards remain registered in the United States. Many of the rest are in use around the globe.
A similar program has been undertaken by
Paspaley Pearling in combination with
Aeronautical Engineers Australia
Aeronautical Engineers Australia (AEA) is an Australian aeronautical engineering consultancy and aircraft technical service provider. It is the largest civil aircraft design organisation in the Asia Pacific region and is now headquartered in Ade ...
to fit new engines and modernize its Mallard fleet, which is used to support its pearling operations in Northern Australia. The fleet has been extensively rebuilt and also refitted with PT6A turbines, and is currently undergoing a life extension program.
Incidents
Chalk's flight 101 in 2005
Chalk's Ocean Airways purchased Mallard N1208 from the
Fruehauf Corporation
Fruehauf Trailer Corporation, previously Fruehauf Trailer Company (1918–1963) and Fruehauf Corporation (1963–1989), was an American company engaged in the manufacture and sale of truck trailers, and other machinery and equipment, with headquar ...
and later acquired several other examples of the aircraft. The type received much attention after a Turbo Mallard, operating as Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101, crashed after takeoff from
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
Harbor on December 19, 2005, bound for
Bimini, Bahamas. Eighteen
passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
s and two
crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...
perished when the right wing separated from the
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
of the 58-year-old aircraft. The cause of the accident was determined by the subsequent
investigation to be undetected cracks and/or
corrosion
Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...
in the
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
.
Prior to 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways had an exemplary safety record operating Mallards for many years between
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, having never had a passenger
fatality since the
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
began operations in 1917.
Australia Day 2017 at Perth
An original radial-engine Mallard,
registration
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
VH-CQA, crashed into the
Swan River in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, on 26 January, 2017, during
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...
celebrations, killing both the
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
,
Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more th ...
, and his passenger. The cause of the accident was listed as pilot error and poor procedures on the part of the CASA and the City of Perth.
Operators
Civil operators
;
*
Air Whitsunday (''operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants'')
*
Pearl Aviation (Paspaley Pearling Co.)
*
Trans Australia Airlines
Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Brand ...
;
*
Nordair
Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation.
History
The airline operated from the 1940s to the 1980s. Initially, most of its business was international and transatla ...
(Turbo Mallard)
*
Pacific Western Airlines
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.
It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...
;
Netherlands New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...
*
''Nederlandsche Nieuw Guinee Petroleum Maatschappij''
;
* Antilles Air Boats
*
Chalk's Ocean Airways (''operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants'')
* Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle (''operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants'')
Military operators
;
*
Royal Egyptian Air Force
The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all milit ...
Specifications (G-73)
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
*
* Hotson, Fred W. and Matthew E. Rodina. ''Grumman Mallard: The Enduring Classic''. Scarborough, Ontario: Robin Brass Studio, 2006. .
* Thruelsen, Richard. ''The Grumman Story''. New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976. .
* Winchester, Jim, ed. "Grumman Goose/Mallard." ''Biplanes, Triplanes and Seaplanes (The Aviation Factfile)''. Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books plc, 2004. .
External links
"Grumman Hatches A Mallard", November 1946, Popular Science
''Aircraft Maintenance Technology'' article about Chalk's accidentNTSB preliminary report on Chalk's accident DCA06MA010 of 19 December 2005Picture of CF-HPU Pacific Western Airlines operated Mallard in Tahsis, BC in late 1950sHistory of Chalk's Ocean Airways at answers.com
{{Authority control
Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
1940s United States civil utility aircraft
Flying boats
Amphibious aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1946
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft