the plane!! the plane!! welcome to fantasy island!!

[tom d. friedman]

i know what happened to tattoo, he took his own life. mr rourke?? last i heard he was in corthinian leather!! what i don't know is what happened to the grumman widgeon or goose after the tv show "fantasy island" went off the air. any knowledge of it's working history prior to that crap show??

[airknocker]

Here is a project Widgeon up in Maine which might shed some light on the Fantasy Island craft. Read first page of photos:
http://www.ohtm.org/gallery/album987
http://www.ohtm.org/
P.S.
More intrigue from Wkipedia:
Ze plane! Ze plane! is a Grumman Widgeon (N4453) seen in the opening scenes of the television series Fantasy Island delivering guests to the island. Though it has a checkered past including drug smuggling and a provenance that includes Richard Bach, it survives in the collection of an antique dealer in Hollister, Missouri and is hangared at M. Graham Clark Field, Taney County Airport.

[Rajay]

So many people still seem to confuse the date of issuance on a certificate of airworthiness with a date of actual manufacture. In this case, there is no such thing as a "1964" Widgeon - and a French-built SCAN Type 30 is NOT actually a "Grumman" at all - just a license-built copy of one!

Grumman built 200 model G-44 (and military J4F-1 and J4F-2) Widgeons (serial nos. 1201 through 1400) during the war and another 76 model G-44A Widgeons after the war - the last of which was apparently delivered in January 1949.

In France, the Societe de Construction Aero-Navale (i.e. SCAN) built 41* metric copies of the model G-44A, the last of which was completed in 1952 - and all of which are properly identified as "SCAN Type 30" Widgeons (i.e. "manufacturer" = "SCAN" not "Grumman" and "model" = "Type 30" not "SCAN Type 30" as they are more commonly, but mistakenly, registered here in the US.

(*serial nos. 1 through 41)

So, s/n 21 referenced here was definitely NOT built or "manufactured" in 1964 but probably only just issued a US CoA in 1964.

And boy, does it look rough! The top of the fuselage appears to be crushed inward with a crease down the middle of what should be a flat roof.

UPDATE: I contacted a friend who is a Widgeon expert and he thinks there's something fishy about this "project" for sale. He says that he doesn't believe that the fuselage shown in the photos can actually be SCAN Type 30 serial no. 21 as advertised - because the Widgeon shown has a factory 1-pc main cabin door, but SCAN Type 30 s/n 21 had a Mansdorf converted 2-pc main cabin door. (Apparently there was more to the conversion than just swapping door parts.) He also thought that the last Widgeon built, including the French SCAN Type 30's, was as early as 1952.

Last edited by Rajay on Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:33 pm, edited 3 times in total.

[The Inspector]

And it was also a GANNET conversion with R-680's (which is why casual observers figured it was a G-21 on TV), there was a white and red Gannet that lived partially assembled in a hanger @ KPAE for a llloooonnnnnnggggggg time before not being there one visit about 10-12 years ago.

[Rajay]

Boy Bill,
You sniff out the Grumman waterbird stuff almost as fast as I do!

Red & white, huh? Kinda like the main cabin door shown in the photos in question?

[Mr Widgeon]

And it was also a GANNET conversion with R-680's (which is why casual observers figured it was a G-21 on TV), there was a white and red Gannet that lived partially assembled in a hanger @ KPAE for a llloooonnnnnnggggggg time before not being there one visit about 10-12 years ago.

I think you're thinking of the one Landry had eons ago, it was finished and sold to Kermit Weeks not long afterwards and lives in sunny FL. now.



As for the Fantasy Island airplane .......
Then - White with Yellow & Light Orange trim ...



And now - RED with Maroon trim ...

[The Inspector]

Dat beez da wun! Donkey shines. This is starting to get really creepy since I mentioned Landry and the C-60 with skydivers incident elsewhere.

[C170BDan]

Based in Branson, Mo these days. Here is a blog post with photos of the Widgeon from Fantasy Island.

http://flytoanothertime.blogspot.com/20 ... ntasy.html

[Rajay]

Per my previous post, the actual "Fantasy Island" Widgeon (N4453, s/n 31) is also not really a "Grumman" at all (contrary to its current registration) but rather only a license-built copy of one. The "design" is a Grumman and the TC belonged to Grumman, but this plane in particular was not built by Grumman, so it is not a Grumman; it was built by SCAN, so that officially makes it a "SCAN" Widgeon.

It is really a "SCAN" (mfg.) Type 30 (model) Widgeon and once again too it is not and in fact cannot be a "1967" model as indicated on its registration; that again probably represents only the date of its original US certificate of airworthiness.

According to the always-right/never-wrong Wikipedia, the last Widgeon ever built was in 1955 but according to MrWidgeon's own records (and who should know better, right?) the last Grumman-built G-44A was delivered in 1949 and the last SCAN Type 30 was built in 1952 or so.

[The Inspector]

Just like a French built "cessna" 150 is actually a 'REIMS AIRCRAFT 150' and carries a data plate stating 'built by REIMS AVIATION'. Technically a new built DYNACORN 1969 CAMARO body kit can't be registered as a Chevrolet CAMARO (for big time liability issues), cause it ain't! so you get a brand new VIN from your state when you register it, just like you would if you built a 'from scratch' T Bucket or homebuilt airplane.

[JohnB]

Technically a new built DYNACORN 1969 CAMARO body kit can't be registered as a Chevrolet CAMARO (for big time liability issues), cause it ain't! so you get a brand new VIN from your state when you register it, just like you would if you built a 'from scratch' T Bucket or homebuilt airplane.

You can't use the VIN from your frame...and just consider the body as a (collection of) replacement part?
Sorry for the mini thread-hijack...

[The Inspector]

Technically a new built DYNACORN 1969 CAMARO body kit can't be registered as a Chevrolet CAMARO (for big time liability issues), cause it ain't! so you get a brand new VIN from your state when you register it, just like you would if you built a 'from scratch' T Bucket or homebuilt airplane.

You can't use the VIN from your frame...and just consider the body as a (collection of) replacement part?
Sorry for the mini thread-hijack...

Vehicles are strange items, you can walk into a hanger, toss a data plate on the floor and say 'start here'. The states have real issues with issuing a title for a new/old vehicle (which is why Coddington gave up on building BOYDSTERS), I have a motorcycle trailer I'd love to unload, but the original title (lost) has my ex's name and signature on it, I haven't (and don't ever want to) seen her in 13 years but the Washington State DOL says I need her signature on the application for lost title
Swing by the local State Patrol Office and ask about what's needed to put a classic pickup truck body on a 2007 chassis, it's easier to get a spy out of a foreign prison using a boxful of S&H Green Stamps.
If you buy a yard trailer kit @ Homely Despot, you need to take the trailer ON A TRAILER!! to the Inspection station and let the flat hatters look it all over including examining the edges of the supplied manufacturing documents, then they will issue you a State VIN# same with a DYNACORN, you'll get a specific non 14 digit VIN# it's a trapezoidal conundrum.

[shrike]

Technically a new built DYNACORN 1969 CAMARO body kit can't be registered as a Chevrolet CAMARO (for big time liability issues), cause it ain't! so you get a brand new VIN from your state when you register it, just like you would if you built a 'from scratch' T Bucket or homebuilt airplane.

You can't use the VIN from your frame...and just consider the body as a (collection of) replacement part?
Sorry for the mini thread-hijack...

On some cars, MG's and Jaguars spring to mind, the body shell was listed in the parts book and available separately as a "part" so it can be legally done.
On at least on other I can think of, the VIN was stamped on one of the most rust prone, yet structurally important, areas, and indeed the stamping precipitated the rust, so repairing that area.....

[old iron]

There is actually a current news story on this plane, and its use in smuggling cocaine into Oklahoma!

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/51805673/#51805673

[tom d. friedman]

talk about skeletons in the closet!!! mr rourke is turning over in his Corinthian leather!!