Gweduck Flies!

[Ron Wanttaja]

Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
two ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU

(BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
"Gooey Duck.")

http://www.gweduc.com/

Ron Wanttaja

[William Hung[_2_]]

On Feb 20, 2:14*am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> two ago:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> (BTW, for those who are wondering: *It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> "Gooey Duck.")
>
> http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> Ron Wanttaja

O'sheenana,

That plane looks niiiiice. Clean lines even the engine nacelle looks
very clean. It even looks right at home on land with the tail gragger
gear.

The Gweduck huh? If and when one of these ever crashes, god forbid,
the term, "Gweduck" will take on its original Native American meaning,
"dig deep".

Wil

[Anthony W]

Where did they do the test flight? It reminds me of Young's Bay.

Tony

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> two ago:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> "Gooey Duck.")
>
> http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> Ron Wanttaja

[John Ammeter]

My guess is at Renton Field, south end of Lake Washington near Seattle.

John

Anthony W wrote:
> Where did they do the test flight? It reminds me of Young's Bay.
>
> Tony
>
> Ron Wanttaja wrote:
>> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment"
>> a week or
>> two ago:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>>
>> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam,
>> pronounced
>> "Gooey Duck.")
>>
>> http://www.gweduc.com/
>>
>> Ron Wanttaja

[Anthony W]

I've been there a couple time so it's no wonder the area looked familiar.

Tony

John Ammeter wrote:
> My guess is at Renton Field, south end of Lake Washington near Seattle.
>
> John
>
> Anthony W wrote:
>> Where did they do the test flight? It reminds me of Young's Bay.
>>
>> Tony
>>
>> Ron Wanttaja wrote:
>>> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment"
>>> a week or
>>> two ago:
>>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>>>
>>> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam,
>>> pronounced
>>> "Gooey Duck.")
>>>
>>> http://www.gweduc.com/
>>>
>>> Ron Wanttaja

[Dan[_2_]]

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> two ago:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> "Gooey Duck.")
>
> http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> Ron Wanttaja

It looks nice, but seems to sit rather low in the water. I wonder how
it would perform in choppy water with a full load.

Any idea what the cut out / indentation in the hull forward of the
main wheel well is for?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

[Morgans[_2_]]

"Dan" > wrote
>
> Any idea what the cut out / indentation in the hull forward of the main
> wheel well is for?

I would lay money on it being something to do with the pattern of the spray,
perhaps to take the water pressure off the main gear location.
--
Jim in NC

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, Ron Wanttaja > said:
>(BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
>"Gooey Duck.")

Isn't the clam usually spelt "geoduck"?


--
Paul Tomblin > http://blog.xcski.com/
Did you know that "Gullible" is not in the dictionary?

[William Hung[_2_]]

On Feb 20, 8:53*pm, Dan > wrote:
> Ron Wanttaja wrote:
> > Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> > two ago:
>
> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> > (BTW, for those who are wondering: *It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> > "Gooey Duck.")
>
> >http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> > Ron Wanttaja
>
> * *It looks nice, but seems to sit rather low in the water. I wonder how
> it would perform in choppy water with a full load.
>
> * *Any idea what the cut out / indentation in the hull forward of the
> main wheel well is for?
>
> Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

That caught my eyes as well and I came up with the same conclusion as
Jim Morgans.

Wil

[Ron Wanttaja]

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:57:14 -0800, John Ammeter >
wrote:
> Anthony W wrote:
>
> >> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment"
> >> a week or two ago:
>
> > Where did they do the test flight? It reminds me of Young's Bay.
>
> My guess is at Renton Field, south end of Lake Washington near Seattle.
>
> John

Yup, John's right: The plane was built in the Ellison hangar on Renton Airport,
on Lake Washington. The seaplane ramp in the video is the same place Wiley Post
and Will Rogers left from, and where the Douglas World Cruisers got themselves
switched to float gear for the trip to Alaska.

Ron Wanttaja

[Morgans[_2_]]

"Paul Tomblin" > wrote in message
...
> In a previous article, Ron Wanttaja > said:
>>(BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam,
>>pronounced
>>"Gooey Duck.")
>
> Isn't the clam usually spelt "geoduck"?

Yep. You can call a flying clam anything you want to, especially one that
nice! <g>
--
Jim in NC

[C J Campbell[_1_]]

On 2008-02-19 23:14:21 -0800, Ron Wanttaja > said:

> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> two ago:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> "Gooey Duck.")
>
> http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> Ron Wanttaja

Great video, Ron. Lovely plane. Was that at Renton?

Why the unusual spelling for geoduck?

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

[Dan[_2_]]

Morgans wrote:
> "Paul Tomblin" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In a previous article, Ron Wanttaja > said:
>>> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam,
>>> pronounced
>>> "Gooey Duck.")
>> Isn't the clam usually spelt "geoduck"?
>
> Yep. You can call a flying clam anything you want to, especially one that
> nice! <g>

Flying clam gives an entirely new meaning to "clam up." Yes, I know
someone with mention the engines are recips and thus bivalves.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

[Ted[_2_]]

Ron,
How exciting to hear that about the history of that ramp you wrote
about. As many times as my wife would go out to Renton Field to watch all
the awesome stuff going on I never new that. Pretty cool!! THANKS!! Ted


"Ron Wanttaja" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:57:14 -0800, John Ammeter
> >
> wrote:
>> Anthony W wrote:
>>
>> >> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment"
>> >> a week or two ago:
>>
>> > Where did they do the test flight? It reminds me of Young's Bay.
>>
>> My guess is at Renton Field, south end of Lake Washington near Seattle.
>>
>> John
>
> Yup, John's right: The plane was built in the Ellison hangar on Renton
> Airport,
> on Lake Washington. The seaplane ramp in the video is the same place
> Wiley Post
> and Will Rogers left from, and where the Douglas World Cruisers got
> themselves
> switched to float gear for the trip to Alaska.
>
> Ron Wanttaja

[Ron Wanttaja]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:02:41 -0800, C J Campbell
> wrote:


> Why the unusual spelling for geoduck?

I suspect it's a play on words... the Grumman amphibians are all named after
waterfowl, and Ellison started out building essentially a composite Widgeon. A
"Geoduck" sounds like it *could* be a waterfowl, keeping with the Grumman
tradition, yet it would more likely be pronounced "Geo Duck." So they used the
alternate spelling ("Gweduc") and added a "K" to turn it amphibious again.

The test pilot (also one of the builders) is a longtime member of our EAA
Chapter (in fact, he's the guy who checked me out in Fly Babies back in the
'80s) and while he was President, we had our chapter officer's meeting in the
hangar where the Gweduck was coming together. One heck of an interesting bird.

Their goal is to get it to Oshkosh this summer.

Ron Wanttaja

[C J Campbell[_1_]]

On 2008-02-21 19:13:19 -0800, Ron Wanttaja > said:

> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:02:41 -0800, C J Campbell
> > wrote:
>
>
>> Why the unusual spelling for geoduck?
>
> I suspect it's a play on words... the Grumman amphibians are all named after
> waterfowl, and Ellison started out building essentially a composite Widgeon. A
> "Geoduck" sounds like it *could* be a waterfowl, keeping with the Grumman
> tradition, yet it would more likely be pronounced "Geo Duck." So they used the
> alternate spelling ("Gweduc") and added a "K" to turn it amphibious again.
>
> The test pilot (also one of the builders) is a longtime member of our EAA
> Chapter (in fact, he's the guy who checked me out in Fly Babies back in the
> '80s) and while he was President, we had our chapter officer's meeting in the
> hangar where the Gweduck was coming together. One heck of an interesting bird.
>
> Their goal is to get it to Oshkosh this summer.
>
> Ron Wanttaja

I knew there was an interesting story behind that.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

[Robert Bonomi]

In article >,
Morgans > wrote:
>
>"Paul Tomblin" > wrote in message
...
>> In a previous article, Ron Wanttaja > said:
>>>(BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam,
>>>pronounced
>>>"Gooey Duck.")
>>
>> Isn't the clam usually spelt "geoduck"?
>
>Yep. You can call a flying clam anything you want to, especially one that
>nice! <g>

This just goes to show he can't tell his mollusks apart.
(anybody remember the old "adventure" computer game? :)

Flying is his _oyster_!!

[William Hung[_2_]]

On Feb 20, 2:14*am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
> two ago:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>
> (BTW, for those who are wondering: *It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
> "Gooey Duck.")
>
> http://www.gweduc.com/
>
> Ron Wanttaja

I was looking at this video of the Gweduck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NWhIx0PlM&feature=related

and was surprised when at 1:59 the engine took a big gulp of spray and
spat it back out. What's behind that scoop, the radiator, the
exhaust? Would tha effect the engine?

Wil

[dave]

What engines are on it?
Lycomings?
They spin different directions like some of the old piper twins.

dave

William Hung wrote:
> On Feb 20, 2:14 am, Ron Wanttaja > wrote:
>> Homebuilt twin-engine composite amphibian had a "Spruce Goose moment" a week or
>> two ago:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHc5U7VPnmU
>>
>> (BTW, for those who are wondering: It's a Pacific Northwest clam, pronounced
>> "Gooey Duck.")
>>
>> http://www.gweduc.com/
>>
>> Ron Wanttaja
>
> I was looking at this video of the Gweduck
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NWhIx0PlM&feature=related
>
> and was surprised when at 1:59 the engine took a big gulp of spray and
> spat it back out. What's behind that scoop, the radiator, the
> exhaust? Would tha effect the engine?
>
> Wil