Grumman J2F Duck


The Grumman J2F Duck is an American, single-engined, 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, which took delivery of their first example in 1937. After the war, J2F Ducks served independent civilian operators, as well as the armed forces of Colombia and Mexico.
The J2F was an improved version of the earlier JF Duck, the main differences being a longer float and a more-powerful engine.

Development

The J2F-1 Duck first flew on 2 April 1936, powered by a 750 hp Wright R-1820 Cyclone, and was delivered to the U.S. Navy on the same day. The J2F-2 had an uprated Wright Cyclone engine of 790 hp. Twenty J2F-3 variants were built in 1939 for use by the Navy as executive transports with plush interiors. Due to 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 U.S. Coast Guard. If standard Navy nomenclature practice had been followed, these would have been designated JL-1s, but it was not, and all Columbia-produced airframes were delivered as J2F-6s.
Several surplus Navy Ducks were converted for use by the United States Air Force in the air-sea rescue role as the OA-12 in 1948.

Design

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 was 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 that 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.

Operational history

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, antisubmarine patrol, air-sea rescue work, photographic surveys, reconnaissance, and target tug.
J2Fs of the utility squadron of US Patrol Wing 10 were destroyed at Mariveles Naval Section Base, the 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, Roland J. Barnick, becoming the last aircraft to depart Bataan before its surrender to the Japanese only hours later. Among its passengers was Carlos P. Romulo, who recounted the flight in his 1942 best-selling book I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence. J2F airplanes were later deployed to Guadalcanal for search & rescue of down airmen.

Variants

;J2F-1
;J2F-2
;J2F-2A
;J2F-3
;J2F-4
;J2F-5
;J2F-6
;OA-12

Operators

  • Argentine Naval Aviation received four new-build Grumman G-15s in 1939, to supplement the eight Grumman G-20s received in 1937. In 1946–1947, 32 ex-US Navy Ducks were acquired, with the last examples remaining in use until 1958.
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Cultural impact

A J2F Duck was used in the 1971 film Murphy's War, which includes a spectacular three-minute rough-water takeoff scene along with numerous flying and aerobatic sequences. The actual airplane used in this film is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio, although it has been restored and painted to represent a rescue OA-12.