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Ze Plane Boss!!

Thu Mar 05, 2015 11:56 pm

Any Fantasy Island fans have $369,000 laying around??

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Grumman-Wi ... t#viTabs_0

Image

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 4:28 am

Wasn't it more white in the show? geek NOT that I remember, :wink: ! Or anything like that! :lol: ..of course there was the old " Bring 'em Back Alive " series from the 1980s , wasn't there a plane in that one also? I watched it for the Caddyshack actress Cindy Morgan, myself! :wink:

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 4:55 am

I must admit I've never seen a Widgeon with radials. Just goes to show what I know! Or, if I did see one, I probably thought it was a Goose.

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 9:35 am

PropsRule wrote:I must admit I've never seen a Widgeon with radials. Just goes to show what I know! Or, if I did see one, I probably thought it was a Goose.



Yes, many were converted to Lycoming radials ..many more to "flat" Lycomings....and yes, when it was on TV (not that I watched it, luckily I had better stuff to do on Saturday nights) I thought it was a Goose because of the engines.

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:41 pm

It was white with yellow trim, IIRC. I was at the age where my parents would go out, and I was allowed to stay up with my older sister, who was our babysitter. We used to watch Love Boat and Fantasy Island each Saturday night.

I always liked the episodes with Roddy McDowell. It was a thinly veiled "heaven versus hell" analogy. I remember one where McDowell meets Ricardo Montalban at "6 AM on June 6th", which Montalban points out is "6-6-6".

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:22 pm

Here's the opening sequence of Fantasy Island with the aircraft in question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xG7Qwv23sg

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:23 pm

TBM Tony wrote:..of course there was the old " Bring 'em Back Alive " series from the 1980s , wasn't there a plane in that one also? I watched it for the Caddyshack actress Cindy Morgan, myself! :wink:

You're probably thinking of the red and white Grumman (known as "Cutter's Goose") that featured in Tales of the Gold Monkey, an Indiana Jones inspired show that aired in the early '80s following the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But, you're absolutely right that Cindy Morgan, the lovely Lacey Underall herself, starred opposite Bruce Boxleitner in the short lived Bring 'Em Back Alive.

It seems you remembered the girl better than the plane :D

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 4:55 pm

Thanks SaxMan & Maxum 96, I THOUGHT I was seeing too much RED! :twisted: :lol:
& Thanks TBDude, I knew there was another adventure type show around then with a Sea Plane in it, Yes, "Tales of The Gold Monkey", one of the places "Black Sheep" actors (?) migrated to.
Cindy M. Short Circuited my memory, :shock: Now I've done it ! I'm off to "The Fall Guy" & " Buck Rogers in The 25th Century" actress's Zone ! geek pop2

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Fri Mar 06, 2015 6:12 pm

There hasn't been any bidders. $369K maybe a little too steep. Even with the Fantasy Island fame, is it worth it?

Edit: Got this in the inbox a bit ago from someone who I sent the EBay link to.

N4453 has Assigned/Multiple Records

Aircraft Description

Serial Number 31

Manufacturer Name GRUMMAN

Model SCAN TYPE 30

Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-EngineType Engine Reciprocating

Pending Number ChangeNone Dealer Yes

Date Change AuthorizedNone Mode S Code (base 8 / oct) 51257761

MFR Year 1967 Mode S Code (base 16 / hex) A55FF1

Type Registration Corporation Fractional Owner NO


It's French built. Machine is a SCAN 30, or more commonly known as a F-r-o-g Widgeon. Wrong engines, wrong props, wrong windshield, and priced way tooooooooooooo high.

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:46 pm

Wow..all these years I had assumed "da plane" was a Goose, due to the radials. I never noticed it was a Widgeon..but then I haven't seen the show in probably 30 years.

SN

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Sat Mar 07, 2015 8:25 pm

TBM Tony wrote: Yes, "Tales of The Gold Monkey", one of the places "Black Sheep" actors (?) migrated to.


That would be the late Jeff MacKay.
After Black Sheep Squadron where he played a Corsair pilot, he was a co-star in Tales of the Gold Monkey and later a recurring role in Magnum, p.i.

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:44 am

Steve Nelson wrote:Wow..all these years I had assumed "da plane" was a Goose, due to the radials. I never noticed it was a Widgeon..but then I haven't seen the show in probably 30 years.

SN


Jeff McKay was pretty much a "go to" guy for Donald Bellasario's productions. The last recurring role I recall him in was being Patrick Labyroteaux's father (Lt. Bud Roberts) on the TV show "JAG".

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:33 pm

Does that mean Tom Hanks disembarked from "Ze Plane" a couple of times? :wink:

Re: Ze Plane Boss!!

Wed Mar 11, 2015 12:02 pm

CoastieJohn wrote:There hasn't been any bidders. $369K maybe a little too steep. Even with the Fantasy Island fame, is it worth it?

Edit: Got this in the inbox a bit ago from someone who I sent the EBay link to.
N4453 has Assigned/Multiple Records
Aircraft Description
Serial Number: 31
Manufacturer Name: GRUMMAN
Model: SCAN TYPE 30
Type Aircraft: Fixed Wing Multi-Engine
Type Engine: Reciprocating
Pending Number Change: None
Dealer: Yes
Date Change Authorized: None
Mode S Code (base 8 / oct) 51257761
MFR Year: 1967
Mode S Code (base 16 / hex): A55FF1
Type Registration: Corporation
Fractional Owner: NO

It's French built. Machine is a SCAN 30, or more commonly known as a F-r-o-g Widgeon. Wrong engines, wrong props, wrong windshield, and priced way tooooooooooooo high.

In typical FAA style - it's OK for them to frack up the details on official documents such as registrations, but not any of us...

Of course the "manufacturer" was not "Grumman" which was the original designer & type certificate holder; the actual manufacturer - defined as who actually "built" the airplane in question (as CJ kinda noted) was "SCAN" - aka S.C.A.N. - i.e. Societe' Construction Aero-Navales - translated loosely as "Society for the Construction of Sea Planes"

Also, "1967" was not its date of mfg. but probably really only its date of original airworthiness certification in the US - not the same thing by a longshot but a common mistake in the "amateur" aviation community; all of the SCAN (mfg.) Type 30 (model) Widgeons were originally manufactured before 1955 - it's just that most of them were disassembled, crated, and stored because they were unable to find any buyers. 10-15 years later, many of them ended up being sold in the US and finally were re-assembled (too often with substitute engines such as these Lycoming R-680 radials) and certified under the Grumman Widgeon TC (A-734) which per Note 5 requires that they be identified as follows:

"Each aircraft shall have a fireproof nameplate installed. The nameplate should include the following data:
Manufactured by Societe' Construction Airo-Navales,
under license to Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation;
Model : SCAN Type 30;
Serial Number; as applicable;
Date of manufacture; as applicable;
Type Certificate No. 734."

To date, I have yet to see or even hear about even one French-built SCAN Type 30 Widgeon being properly identified with such a data tag per the requirement of TCDS A-734 Note 5.

General rule of thumb with Widgeons, although many have been wrecked or otherwise rebuilt using parts from various other models to confuse their identity, officially speaking, if the serial number is...

from 1200 to 1400, it is a Grumman model G-44 (or former USCG model J4F-1 or USN model J4F-2) made during the war (WWII that is);

from 1401 to 1476, it is a Grumman model G-44A built after the war, and

from 1 to 41, it is a French-built SCAN Type 30 actually manufactured sometime between 1949 and 1952.
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