Grumman Goose Airplane

Whiteclouds masterfully recreated a scaled-down replica of the Grumman G-21A Goose airplane for the Yacht Haven Grande, in St. Thomas, USVI, in homage to the Antilles Air Boats seaplane airline that operated in the Caribbean from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Grumman Goose was said to have completed around 40,000 flights in the time that it flew as a commuter plane in the Caribbean.

Knowing that the replica had to withstand tropical outdoor conditions and hurricane-force winds, Whiteclouds’ considered strength and longevity as a primary feature of the build. We made the determination to build the airplane as a composite structure that combined an internal steel frame, layered with wood, expanded polystyrene foam, and fiberglass. Once the design work and proofing phase were finalized, which laid out the client’s requirements and expectations, the fabrication commenced.

The heavy steel frame was welded and rust-treated. With a robust framework to build off of, the CNC’d slices of expanded polystyrene foam were placed and hand-refined for accuracy. Next was the fiberglass application, for outdoor weather resistance, along with a final sanding that smoothed the plane for paint finishes.

Application of Whiteclouds’ impeccable quality automotive finish, along with vinyl decals representative of the Antilles Air Boats logo and the US Virgin Islands flag, brought to life the scaled-down amphibious plane replica.

To learn more about the fabrication of this ½ scale replica, please visit our Grumman Goose Seaplane story page here. WhiteClouds creates many large custom 3D product replicas, take a look at our large product replicas page to see more!