Grumman J2F Duck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_J2F_Duck

The Grumman J2F Duck (company designation G-15) was an American single-engine
amphibious biplane. It was used by each major branch of the U.S. armed forces
from the mid-1930s until just after World War II, primarily for utility and
air-sea rescue duties. It was also used by the Argentine Navy, who took delivery
of their first Duck in 1937. After the war, J2F Ducks saw service with
independent civilian operators, as well as the armed forces of Colombia and
Mexico.

The J2F was an improved version of the earlier JF Duck, with its main difference
being a longer float.

The J2F was an equal-span single-bay biplane with a large monocoque central
float which also housed the retractable main landing gear, a similar design to
the Leroy Grumman-designed landing gear first used for Grover Loening's early
amphibious biplane designs, and later adopted for the Grumman FF fighter
biplane. The aircraft had strut-mounted stabilizer floats beneath each lower
wing. A crew of two or three were carried in tandem cockpits, forward for the
pilot and rear for an observer with room for a radio operator if required. It
had a cabin in the fuselage for two passengers or a stretcher.

The Duck's main pontoon was blended into the fuselage, making it almost a flying
boat despite its similarity to a conventional landplane which has been
float-equipped. This configuration was shared with the earlier Loening OL,
Grumman having acquired the rights to Loening's hull, float and undercarriage
designs. Like the F4F Wildcat, its narrow-tracked landing gear was hand-cranked.


Role
Utility amphibian

National origin
United States

Manufacturer
Grumman
Columbia Aircraft Corp

First flight
1936

Introduction
1936

Primary users
United States Navy
United States Army Air Forces
United States Coast Guard
United States Marine Corps

Number built
584

Developed from
Grumman JF Duck

The J2F was used by the U.S. Navy, Marines, Army Air Forces and Coast Guard.
Apart from general utility and light transport duties, its missions included
mapping, scouting/observation, anti-submarine patrol, air-sea rescue work,
photographic surveys and reconnaissance, and target tug.

J2Fs of the utility squadron of US Patrol Wing 10 were destroyed at Mariveles
Bay, Philippines, by a Japanese air raid on 5 January 1942. The only Duck to
survive the attack had a dead engine but had been concealed at Cabcaben airfield
during the Battle of Bataan, to be repaired afterwards with a cylinder removed
from a destroyed J2F-4 submerged in Manila Bay. Following repairs the J2F-4
departed after midnight on 9 April 1942, overloaded with five passengers and the
pilot, becoming the last aircraft to depart Bataan before the surrender of the
Bataan to the Japanese only hours later. Among its passengers was Carlos P.
Romulo (diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author), who recounted the
flight in his 1942 best-selling book I Saw the Fall of the Philippines
(Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York 1943, pp. 288–303), for
which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence.

Specifications (J2F-6)

General characteristics
Crew: two (pilot and observer)
Capacity: two rescued airmen
Length: 34 ft 0 in (10.37 m)
Wingspan: 39 ft 0 in (11.9 m)
Height: 13 ft 11 in (4.25 m)
Wing area: 409 ft² (38 m²)
Empty weight: 5,480 lb (2,485 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,700 lb (3,496 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-1820-54 nine-cylinder radial engine, 900 hp (670 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 190 mph (304 km/h)
Cruise speed: 155 mph (248 km/h)
Stall speed: 70 mph (112 km/h)
Range: 780 mi (1,255 km)
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Rate of climb: ft/min (m/s)

Armament

1 × Browning .30 cal machine gun (7.62 mm) on flexible mount in rear cockpit
650 lb (295 kg) of bombs or depth charges



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