G-21G

Aircraft Information
Aircraft Make: Grumman
Aircraft Model: G-21G
Aircraft Nickname: Turbine Goose
Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Turboprop
Category: Airplane
Class: Multi Engine Sea
Engine Description: Twin Engine

First Flown Information
Sequence First Flown: 0
Date First Flown: 09/20/2005
Location First Flown: KHIO Hillsborough, Oregon
Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Larry (owner)

Aircraft Experience
As of: 05/09/2020
Number of Hours Flown: 4
Number of Times Flown: 1
Other Aircraft Models Associated:

Recollections:

–It was a “pinch me” moment. I had just transferred from the FAA flight test office in Wichita, Kansas to it’s sister organization in Seattle, Washington. My new boss Tom (who, though he was new as my boss, I’d known since I was a student at Test Pilot School) called me on the phone to say “I have a favor to ask you…a project I’d like to see if you’ll do for me.” Being “the new guy”, I braced for a “deal I can’t refuse”. Then Tom says “There’s a turbine goose that has a new cockpit and electrical system that we need to certify, it’s down in Oregon, can you do it?” I held the phone away from my face, gazed at the phone with a combination of amazement and confusion, and after what seemed like a long time (with Tom saying “Bob…can you hear me?”) I answered “YES!”.
–Flight Test always involves a lot of preparation–test plans and the like–but this time the prep was easy as I was totally excited to go fly.
–The cockpit was somewhat cramped but the airplane was easy to fly (no, I didn’t do any water landings…it just wasn’t required within the scope of my testing) and I was totally impressed by the care which the owner gave to this airplane. Thanks, Tom!!