Built in 1944 for the US Navy as 37745. Diverted to the Royal Navy as J4F-2 Gosling Mk1 FP467, but returned in 1945. Civilianised as NC74630 in 1946 / N74630 in 1949. Crashed in Cuba in 1958. Re-built by 1960. Became N1035L in 1966 with upgraded engines. Moved to Alaska in 1974. Re-registered as N101KB in 1982 to owner Kenneth H. Bunch. While operating as N139F with Freshwater Adventures Inc, crashed in a mountain pass near Dillingham, AK in 1998. Rebuilt again by 2009. Crashed and sank landing on a lake near Dillingham, AK in 2012. Registration cancelled in 2013.

C6-EAU, a very appropriate registration for a beauty of hydroplane Former US Navy 32957, taken on charge on 25 April 1943, this Widgeon received two Lycoming GO-480B1B engines in April 1956 after being sold on the civilian market as N9591H and CF-HEN. It spent some time in Central America, returned to the US and was sold to the Bahamas in 2014. A Bahamian flag can be seen on the right, attached to the wing. Apparently, the aircraft was for sale during Air Venture 2016, when this picture was taken...

Damaged beyond economic repair due to forced landing at Blackbushe (EGLK) on March 27th 1992.

First J4F for the US Navy. Struck off charge in 1946 and sold as N58832. Still current in 2023 as N23456. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Used to test flying boat hull designs, which would be fitted like slip-on shoes. Undercarriage modified to retract under the wing instead of into fuselage. The test hull in the photo is a scale version of the P5M Marlin. Auxiliary fins added to compensate for longer hull. At least four different hull designs tested between 1948 and 1953. 32976 is preserved at Pima Air Museum with a different hull to the one in the photo and without the auxiliary fins. Photo from: National Archives at College Park, Maryland

ex US Navy 37729

Grenold Collins was a pilot for a construction firm during WWII. After war's end he formed the Gren Collins Charter Airplane Service and Big Game Guide Service. In May 1948 he bought this Widgeon, BuNo 30151, from the Washington Fish & Oyster Co. for $12,000. It later became N79905 and N23456, still current as of 2020. Photo by: Grenold Collins / University of Alaska Anchorage

Widgeon built in 1945 for US Navy as J4F-2 BuAer No. 37721.