Bob Gardner wrote:
Google "SA-16" and you will read some interesting stories. Also read AIM
6-3-3. The Coast Guard put them down in rescue situations, which for those
involved is just like wartime...the word in the old Coast Guard was "You
have to go out, you don't have to come back." I had a buddy who got a medal
for fitting a JATO bottle to a UF (CG version of the SA-16) in heavy seas.


My father flew SA-16s out of Otis AFB on Cape Cod for the 46th Air Rescue
Squadronin the late 50s. In fact, one of my earliest memories as a kid was of
my dad putting a headset on me so I could converse with Mickey Mouse in the
cockpit of my dad's Albatross. It wasn't until much later that I found out that
it was a cooperative crew member at another duty station. But I digress.

If you have any specific questions about the SA-16 I'd be glad to ask him what
he remembers about it. He was flying a lot in those days as he was under some
time constraints to earn his command pilot wings or give up his flying status.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com