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G-44 ✪ Widgeon
Multipurpose Flying Boat
Grumman
 The Grumman G-44 Widgeon (Wild duck) is a small twin-engine amphibious aircraft for five people. In the Navy (NAVY) and the Coast Guard (US Coast Guard) the aircraft was designated J4F, OA-14 - in the US Army Air Corps (Army Air Corps) and the Air Force (Army Air Forces) of the United States.
The Widgeon was originally developed for the civilian market and was produced from 1941 to 1955. During World War II, he served as a small patrol and service aircraft in the US Navy, US Coast Guard, Civil Aviation Patrol, US Air Force, and in the British Royal Navy, where he received the service name Gosling.
The first production prototype took off in 1940 and was sent to the US Navy as an anti-submarine aircraft. A total of 276 aircraft were built, including 176 in the military version, inclusive.
At first, military aircraft differed from the civilian G-44 only in a more powerful power plant (with two Ranger L-440-5 engines with a capacity of 200 hp) and the presence of a hatch in the upper part of the fuselage behind the wing - to speed up loading and unloading stretcher with the wounded. After the US entered World War II and the appearance of German submarines off the coast of America, flying boats were equipped with holders for hanging one 91-kg depth charge or a rescue boat with the necessary equipment.
In the period 1944-1949, an improved modification of the G-44A was produced, featuring a redesigned hull with a higher keel and improved hydrodynamic characteristics. A total of 76 such flying boats were built, in addition, in 1948-1949, 41 such flying boats were built under license in France under the designation SCAN 30.
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Aircraft