BOOK the idea and story of the Grumman Goose book project INTRODUCTION | WHY A BOOK? | HOW WE GOT STARTED | GRUMMANGOOSE.COM | PROGRESS | HOW YOU CAN HELP Introduction The Grumman G-21A "Goose" is and has been many things to many people. Some will recall skimming above the dark waters of Alaska and Canada, just underneath the fog on their way back home. Others will recall the bright sun and crystal clear waters around the U.S. Virgin Islands. Still others will remember the short flight across the sparkling Pacific to that magic isle, Santa Catalina. Whatever your memory, it joins with thousands of others to form the background and history of one of the world's greatest aircraft. The Goose was originally designed as a rich man's pet, flying financier's and bankers from their homes on Long Island to Wall Street. As the shadows of war stretched across the sky, the Goose donned war paint and served with every branch of the U.S. military. It also flew under international colors with Britain's Royal Air Force, Canada's Royal Canadian Air Force and many others. After the war, the Goose entered the commercial arena, where it carried freight and passengers in many different parts of the world. Over the years, the Goose has been modified and retrofitted to keep it up to date with aviation technology. It has flown with snow skies and hydro skies. It has been outfitted with up to four piston engines. Turboprop engines have been used successfully and one Goose was even outfitted as a tilt-rotor test bed for the Navy. Several of the remaining Gooses have been updated with avionics packages which would rival the instrument panels of today's business jets. One or two Gooses always show up at the EAA's fly-in at Oshkosh. A handful are in museum's around the world from Colombia to Sweden. Why A Book? Unfortunately, in spite of it's role in aviation history, the Goose has been largely overlooked by author's and historians. Often the only material to be found is a short paragraph describing the first Goose and a general history of the aircraft, or in reference to its appearance in a photograph. In response to this lack of available material and in view of our interest in preserving the history of the Goose, my friend Chris and I are writing a book covering the histories of all 345 Gooses. How We Got Started In 1996 I was working with Chris and we got to talking about the Goose. I had been doing some aviation research on different aircraft, and he wondered aloud what had happened to all of the Gooses and where they were today. That Christmas, I gave Chris a small folder full of all the information I could glean from the Internet and from various books and periodicals. After Christmas, we decided to start compiling the information into a database . I gathered the information together and Chris entered it into the computer. From that humble start, we have spent the last seven years gathering information, collecting photos, and talking with the pilots and passengers who flew in the Goose. Our research has taken me to the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and to the USCG Headquarters , also in Washington, D.C., to large airports and private fields, to libraries and bookstores. The result of these past years is a large collection of Goose photos, both prints and digital, file folders full of newspaper and magazine clippings, shelves of books, and countless computer files of registration numbers, serials, charts and miscellaneous data. GRUMMANGOOSE.COM Several times over the last few years I have put up different web pages about the Goose, mostly for contacting people who could answer questions we had. The final form of that early work is this website, GRUMMANGOOSE.COM. There are two main reasons this website exists. One reason was to make a website about the Goose available to anyone with access to the Internet. The site would provide photos, data and merchandise. For people who flew or owned the Goose, it would provide a nostalgic step into yesteryear. For those who have never even heard of the Goose, it would present the legacy of the Goose and hopefully preserve the heritage of this amazing aircraft into the years ahead. The second reason for this site was to create a contact point between Chris and myself, and all of the people who have photos, stories, memories and information on the Goose. This information is being compiled into a book format, so that it can be made available to anyone with an interest in the Goose. Progress The book is slowly taking shape as we continue to make contact with new people and begin to fill in the gaps in our data. As mentioned previously, we have a large collection of photos, both in digital format and in film format, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, books, and other data contributed by various individuals. All of this information is carefully read, cross-referenced with existing data, and confirmed, before being entered into our database. Even with this careful screening, errors do get into the data. Sometimes we don't find them until months later when some new information comes to the surface. Currently we have some information on all of the Gooses and complete histories of quite a few of them. How You Can Help If you are interested in helping to complete the book, here are some things you can do. First, if you have any photos of the Goose and would be willing to have them copied, we would really like to do that. Any costs that are incurred will be paid by us. Secondly, if you have any books, magazine articles or newspaper clippings that mention the Goose, please let us know. We can easily check to see if we have that information or if it is new to us. If possible, we would like to get copies of any material not currently in our files. Thirdly, if you happen to see a Goose, either flying, parked, or in various stages of disrepair, we would be very interested in having photos taken of the aircraft. Again, any costs incurred will be paid by us. Fourthly, if you or a friend or relative have any Goose stories, send us an e-mail. We always enjoy finding out the personal side of Goose operations as well as the data and stats. Lastly, all proceeds from sales of merchandise go to the expenses involved in Goose research. These include purchasing back issues of magazines, copies of photos, new merchandise, etc. So, if you decide to purchase anything, know that the money is going right back into the creation of the book.