{"id":2967,"date":"2026-06-17T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jaermuseet.no\/flyhistorisk\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2026-06-19T12:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:42:49","slug":"grumman-g-44-widgeon-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jaermuseet.no\/flyhistorisk\/en\/grumman-g-44-widgeon-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Grumman G-44 Widgeon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s hard not to smile while looking at this aircraft.\u00a0It could almost have been pulled out of a comic strip.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amphibious aircraft from the late 1930s can almost be\u00a0read like books about how aeronautical engineers thought\u00a0at the time. The aircraft were intended to be as versatile as\u00a0possible, capable of landing both on land and on water.\u00a0The Widgeon floats on its fuselage, while the\u00a0wing-mounted floats provide stability if the aircraft\u00a0heels to one side.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aircraft was developed for civil aviation,\u00a0but during the Second World War it was\u00a0taken into service by the American and\u00a0British armed forces. In these roles it flew\u00a0as a patrol, observation, and transport\u00a0aircraft. The aircraft was also produced\u00a0under license in France.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aircraft could withstand heavy seas and\u00a0operate in fairly rough weather, which made\u00a0it well suited for air ambulance duties.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aircraft was in production from 1941\u00a0to 1949. Post-war American aircraft were\u00a0designated G-44A. The hull was redesigned,\u00a0and with this improvement the aircraft\u00a0became easier to manoeuvre on water.\u00a0It also received an additional seat,\u00a0increasing capacity to six persons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the period before the Second World\u00a0War and well into the 1950s, aircraft capable\u00a0of\u00a0landing on water played an important role\u00a0in Norwegian aviation. As the network of\u00a0airports was expanded, however, it became\u00a0easier to operate land-based aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum\u2019<\/em><\/strong>s aircraft<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The museum\u2019s aircraft was built at\u00a0Grumman\u2019s factory in Bethpage on Long\u00a0Island, New York, in 1943. During the war it\u00a0was operated by the US Navy and the British\u00a0Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Later, a newspaper\u00a0in Stockholm used the aircraft as a\u00a0news-gathering aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1959 it was taken into service by the\u00a0Norwegian company\u00a0M\u00f8refly\u00a0A\/S and\u00a0received the Norwegian registration LN-HAL.\u00a0M\u00f8refly\u00a0used it for air taxi and air ambulance\u00a0operations, as well as for herring and tuna\u00a0spotting for the fishing industry. The aircraft\u00a0was also used for news flights on behalf of\u00a0the newspaper Aftenposten. It was\u00a0expensive to operate and was grounded\u00a0after a landing accident in 1969.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the aircraft was retired from active\u00a0service, it was donated to the Norwegian\u00a0Museum of Science and Technology in\u00a0Oslo and later transferred to Flyhistorisk\u00a0Museum Sola.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spesifications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Type<\/strong><\/td>Amphibious aircraft<\/td><\/tr>
First flight<\/strong><\/td>1940<\/td><\/tr>
Length<\/strong><\/td>9,5 m<\/td><\/tr>
Wingspan<\/strong><\/td>12,2 m<\/td><\/tr>
Height<\/strong><\/td>3,5 m<\/td><\/tr>
Weight, empty and maximum<\/strong><\/td>1470 \/ 2055 kg<\/td><\/tr>
Engines<\/strong><\/td>2x\u00a0Ranger L-440-5<\/td><\/tr>
Engine power<\/strong><\/td>2x\u00a0200 hp<\/td><\/tr>
Maximum speed<\/strong><\/td>245 km\/h<\/td><\/tr>
Range<\/strong><\/td>1480 km<\/td><\/tr>
Crew<\/strong><\/td>Pilot<\/td><\/tr>
Passenger capacity<\/strong><\/td>4<\/td><\/tr>
Country of origin<\/strong><\/td>USA<\/td><\/tr>
Museum number<\/strong><\/td>J\u00c6G2025.020.01<\/td><\/tr>
Project manager<\/strong><\/td>Mathias\u00a0Bolgen<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard not to smile while looking at this aircraft.\u00a0It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","featured-image-size-large"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGrumman G-44 Widgeon - Flyhistorisk Museum Sola<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jaermuseet.no\/flyhistorisk\/en\/grumman-g-44-widgeon-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nn_NO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grumman G-44 Widgeon - 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