You probably thought it would never happen….. But after nearly 2 decades of effort the Gweduck has finally taken to the air! Ben Ellison’s project, started in the early 1990’s with the intent of developing a composite twin engine amphibian seaplane, has successfully flown and realized expectations as a superb water handling aircraft.
Buzz Nelson and Ross Mahon were the test pilots and took the airplane up for its first and second flights the first weekend in May 2009, departing from the water. The first flight on Saturday was short, one trip around Lake Washington, climbing to 1500 altitude. The weather was not great with gray skies, drizzle, and nearly glassy water conditions, and it was the opening day of boating season, but the airplane behaved itself and flew more or less as anticipated.
On Sunday the airplane flew again, this time with sunny weather, blue skies and the confidence of knowing that the airplane worked. More flight testing was completed including flap position changes, retracting the wing tip floats, and generally exploring the flight envelope. Water take off and landing behavior was excellent. Cameras were on hand with both still and video shots soon to be posted on the website.
As with any new design a few areas for improvement exist but overall the airplane flew well and gave us a great sense of satisfaction that attention to engineering detail and manufacturing technique can result in a great outcome. I’ll post updates to the website as we progress through our test program. Thanks again for your interest and support on this project over the years!
The
Gweduck is an experimental, twin
engine flying-boat style
amphibian of composite
construction and is reminiscent
of the Grumman style aircraft.
Aircraft development started in
the early 1990's and has focused
on a broad range of issues
including aircraft performance
and handling as well as
manufacturing technologies.
The Gweduck design project was
started as an attempt to build a
composite Widgeon - To eliminate
the extensive corrosion and
maintenance problems so common
to the 40+ year old design. Over
time the project developed into
a ground-up redesign of a
completely new aircraft that
combines the knowledge and
experience of 1940's & 50's
flying boat designs with modern
composite construction, and the
latest in aerodynamic and
hydrodynamic technologies.
Many people have expressed an
interest in the project and this
website hopefully will answer
your questions about the
aircraft and its development
progress. The website will be
updated periodically, however
our primary focus is on
completing the aircraft and
flying it. We have included an
email address in our contact
section if you need to
communicate with us, however it
may be several days before we
respond. In any case we look
forward to meeting with you at
future air shows when the
aircraft is flying!
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