Grumman G-73 Mallard

File:Air Zoo December 2019 138 (Grumman G-73 Mallard).jpg]]

Building on the success of the Goose and Widgeon, Grumman Aircraft developed larger G-73 Mallard for commercial use. Retaining many of the features of the smaller aircraft, such as twin radial engines, high wings with underwing floats, retractable landing gear and a large straight tail, the company built 59 Mallards between 1946 and 1951. Unlike the smaller aircraft, the Mallard featured tricycle gear, stressed skin, a two-step hull and wingtip fuel tanks.

File:Grumman G-73 Ward Wells collection AMHA US-Gov.jpg)]]

The Mallard prototype first flew on 30 April 1946, with the first production aircraft entering service in September of that year. While the Mallard was designed for regional airline operations with two pilots and ten passengers, especially aimed at harbor-based, city-to-city hops on the eastern seaboard, postwar surplus aircraft sales and the availability of smaller airports limited market potential. A number of smaller air carriers did use the Mallard in its intended role, notably Tahiti-Hawaii Airlines and Pacific Western Airlines (Canada). However, most of the 59 Mallards delivered were for corporate use. A prominent user in the United States was Roy Fruehauf and the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation. Fruehauf owned and operated a fishing camp, Killarney Lodge at Georgian Bay, Canada, and ferried customers there from Detroit. Another Detroiter, William Packer of General Motors, also owned a Mallard, which he often flew to Killarney.[http://singingwheels.com The Fruehauf Trailer Historical Society] another Mallard was purchased in the early 1950s by the Aga Khan.

The Toronto Globe & Mail newspaper owned one for use as a "flying newsroom".{{Cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/video-looking-back-at-the-globes-flying-newsrooms/|title = Video:Looking back at the Globe's flying newsrooms|website = The Globe and Mail|date = 15 October 2020}}

The Royal Egyptian Air Force used a Mallard as part of their Royal Flight; it was reportedly King Farouk's favourite aircraft.Lees, Norman Birds of Passage. Pictorial memories of visitors to Malta 1948/1950 Air Enthusiast No.74 March/April 1998 p.6 with photograph

The Mallard received a new lease of life in the 1970s when a number of airframes were refitted by Frakes Aviation with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turbines and upgraded for 17 passengers, to become "Turbo Mallards". Today, through attrition, only 32 Mallards remain registered in the United States. Many of the rest are in use around the globe.

A similar program has been undertaken by Paspaley Pearling in combination with Aeronautical Engineers Australia to fit new engines and modernize its Mallard fleet, which is used to support its pearling operations in Northern Australia. The fleet has been extensively rebuilt and also refitted with PT6A turbines, and is currently undergoing a life extension program.

{{Main|Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101}}

File:Chalks Turbo Mallard at Bimini.jpg, Bahamas, in November 1989 after arriving from Miami Harbor. This aircraft crashed as Flight 101 in 2005.]]

Chalk's Ocean Airways purchased Mallard N1208 from the Fruehauf Corporation and later acquired several other examples of the aircraft. The type received much attention after a Turbo Mallard, operating as Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101, crashed after takeoff from Miami Harbor on December 19, 2005, bound for Bimini, Bahamas. Eighteen passengers and two crew perished when the right wing separated from the fuselage of the 58-year-old aircraft.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfEqjxX4wTI|title = - YouTube|website = YouTube}} The cause of the accident was determined by the subsequent investigation to be undetected cracks and/or corrosion in the wing spar.

Prior to 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways had an exemplary safety record operating Mallards for many years between Florida and the Bahamas, having never had a passenger fatality since the company began operations in 1917.

An original radial-engine Mallard, registration VH-CQA, crashed into the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, on 26 January, 2017, during Australia Day celebrations, killing both the pilot, Peter Lynch, and his passenger.{{Cite web|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20170126-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Grumman G-73 Mallard VH-CQA Swan River, Perth, WA|last=Ranter|first=Harro|website=aviation-safety.net|access-date=2017-01-26}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-27/perth-australia-day-plane-crash-pilot-peter-lynch-remembered/8216560|title=Australia Day Perth plane crash: Victims remembered as authorities search for answers|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=27 January 2017|access-date=27 January 2017}} The cause of the accident was listed as pilot error and poor procedures on the part of the CASA and the City of Perth.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-19/australia-day-swan-river-fatal-plane-crash-atsb-final-report/11718076|title=Australia Day Swan River plane crash blamed on pilot error as ATSB calls for air show changes|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=18 November 2019|access-date=14 October 2021}}

;{{AUS}}

• Air Whitsunday (operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants){{harvnb|Goodall|1984|pp=547–548}}
• Pearl Aviation (Paspaley Pearling Co.)
• Trans Australia Airlines{{Cite web|date=|title=SOUTH EAST ASIA 1960s-1970s - INDONESIA & DUTCH NEW GUINEA|url=http://www.goodall.com.au/photographs/indonesia-dutch-ng-60-70/seasiaindonesiadutchng.html|access-date=10 February 2021|website=goodall.com.au}}

;{{flag|Canada|1921}}

• Nordair (Turbo Mallard)
• Pacific Western Airlines

;{{flagdeco|Netherlands}} Netherlands New Guinea

• Nederlandsche Nieuw Guinee Petroleum Maatschappij

;{{USA}}

• Antilles Air Boats
• Chalk's Ocean Airways (operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants)
• Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle (operated both the piston engine and turboprop engine variants)

;{{flag|Egypt|1922}}

• Royal Egyptian Air Force

File:Grumman G-73 Mallard 3-view line drawing.png

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1948{{harvnb|Bridgman|1948|pp=267c–268c}}

|prime units?=kts

|crew=two

|capacity= 10 passengers

|length ft=48

|length in=4

|span ft=66

|span in=8

|height ft=18

|height in=9

|height note=(on landing gear)

|wing area sqft=444

|empty weight lb=9350

|gross weight lb=12750

|max takeoff weight lb=

|fuel capacity={{convert|380|USgal|impgal L|abbr=on}}

|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney R-1340-53H1

|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine

|eng1 hp=600

|eng1 note=(takeoff power)

|max speed mph=215

|max speed note=at {{convert|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|cruise speed mph=180

|cruise speed note=at {{convert|8000|ft|m|abbr=on}} (55% power)

|stall speed mph=71

|range mi=1380

|range note=with {{convert|810|lb|kg|abbr=on}} payload

|ceiling ft=23000

|climb rate ftmin=1290

|power/mass=

}}

{{aircontent|

|related=

• Grumman G-21 Goose
• HU-16 Albatross

|similar aircraft=

• PBY Catalina
• Short Sealand

|lists=

• List of flying boats

|see also=

}}

;Notes

{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Bridgman |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Bridgman |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1948 |year=1948 |location=London |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.}}
• {{cite magazine |last=Goodall |first=Geoff |title=Barrier Reef Mallards |magazine=Aircraft Illustrated |date=December 1984 |volume=17 |issue=12 |pages=546–549 |issn=0002-2675}}
• Hotson, Fred W. and Matthew E. Rodina. Grumman Mallard: The Enduring Classic. Scarborough, Ontario: Robin Brass Studio, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-896941-44-8}}.
• Thruelsen, Richard. The Grumman Story. New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976. {{ISBN|0-275-54260-2}}.
• Winchester, Jim, ed. "Grumman Goose/Mallard." Biplanes, Triplanes and Seaplanes (The Aviation Factfile). Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books plc, 2004. {{ISBN|1-84013-641-3}}.

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=_CADAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1946+motor+gun+boat&pg=PA121 "Grumman Hatches A Mallard", November 1946, Popular Science]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/national/20plane.html New York Times article about Chalk's accident]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070223160054/http://www.amtonline.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=2493 Aircraft Maintenance Technology article about Chalk's accident]
• [https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20060106X00018&key=1 NTSB preliminary report on Chalk's accident DCA06MA010 of 19 December 2005]
• [http://pwareunion.com/images/index/lindner/IMG_0662.jpg Picture of CF-HPU Pacific Western Airlines operated Mallard in Tahsis, BC in late 1950s]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/12/19/national/19cnd-plane2ready.html Picture of a Chalk's Mallard in Miami in 1996]
• [http://www.answers.com/topic/flying-boat-inc-chalk-s-ocean-airways History of Chalk's Ocean Airways at answers.com]
• [http://travelthenet.com/columns/clips/mallard.htm Left at the Evening Star - selling a beloved Mallard]
• [http://www.singingwheels.com/grumman-mallard.html Grumman Mallard's and the Fruehauf Trailer Company]

{{Grumman aircraft}}

{{Authority control}}

Mallard

Category:1940s United States civil utility aircraft

Category:Flying boats

Category:Amphibious aircraft

Category:High-wing aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1946

Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear