Chuck Greenhill's Grumman J2F-4 Duck

Chuck Greenhill is the owner and operator of this extremely rare and authentic 1939 Grumman J2F-4 Duck (S/N 1649), which is only available for film or specially arranged events. This award winning warbird is the only airworthy aircraft from the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Grumman Aircraft Engineering company was founded by a group of Loening employees in 1921. The Duck evolved from the original Loening retractable landing gear hull and float design and grew through the demand for deployment as utility flights aboard aircraft carriers, at shore bases, and attached to aviation utility ships.

The first flight of the XJF-1 was made in 1933. It was a compact single bay biplane which had a crew of two, seated in tandem under a fully enclosed canopy. The main landing gear retracted into the float. The non-retractable tail wheel, which was mounted in the rear of the float, doubled as a water rudder. By late 1939, as war loomed, new military outposts were established. More Ducks were needed to support the extended patrol areas. The Grumman Duck was ideal for operations in undeveloped areas, which were usually shallow inlet facilities or single ramp docking facilities. The Ducks distinguished themselves in the Pacific theater in WWII.

The J2F was an equal-span single-bay biplane with a large monocoque central float which also housed the retractable main landing gear. It 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. Like the F4F Wildcat, its narrow-tracked landing gear was hand-cranked

The J2F-1 Duck first flew on 2 April 1936 powered by a 750 hp (559 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone, and was delivered to the US Navy on the same day. The J2F-2 had a Wright Cyclone engine but boosted to 790 hp (589 kW). 20 J2F-3 variants were built in 1939 for use as executive transports for the Navy with plush interiors. Pressure of work following the United States entry into the war in 1941 production of the J2F Duck was transferred to the Columbia Aircraft Corp of New York. They produced 330 aircraft for the Navy and US Coast Guard.

In the late summer of 1939, the J2F-4 appeared. It was basically a J2F-2 except for minor modifications. The Navy simply needed more patrol type aircraft.

A number of Ducks were produced for South American countries. They bore the model numbers of G-15 through G-20. All were identical to JF/J2F models.

A total of 632 JF/J2F Ducks were built in all. By 1945 they were scattered all over the world, performing duties nothing short of amazing. Ducks could be seen airborne as late as the mid 1950s.

Chuck's Grumman Duck was restored by Wichita Air Services exactly as it was on December 7, 1941 and is one of only 3 Ducks still flying today, the only Grumman built example. Probably the most famous Duck of all was J2F-6 Serial Number 33587 which starred in the movie "Murphy’s War" in the mid 1970s.

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