As the rest of the world grapples with hydrogen-powered aircraft and flying taxis, an aviation legend is being revived in Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory. The Grumman Albatross is being reborn and put back into production as the G-111T by an Australian company, Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI).
What is the Albatross project all about?
Aviation enthusiasts know the Albatross flying boats well, with the type first flying in 1947 as an improved version of the Grumman Mallard. The G-111T, built in Australia, will bring the aircraft back to life with digital avionics and state-of-the-art turboprop engines from Pratt & Whitney.
AAI acquired the FAA Type Certificate for the HU-16 and G-111 Albatross some years ago, and the man behind this very ambitious project is AAI Chairman Khoa Hoang. At the December 2021 launch, he said the global market for the Albatross G-111T is enormous and that "it holds a monopoly in its class," adding,
"It doesn't compete with larger passenger aircraft, instead it complements them which is why it's the perfect platform to build in Australia and rekindle our sovereign aircraft manufacturing capability."
A future zero-emission contender
While the immediate focus is on using the Pratt & Whitney conventional engines, Hoang is looking well ahead to the future of zero-emission aviation, even on the humble 75-year-old Albatross. He said at the launch,
"Today's announcement is just the beginning as we are already working on next-generation technologies to produce new variants such as the Zero Emissions Hybrid powered Albatross and even a stretched 44-seat variant."
AAI sees global opportunities for the Albatross on missions such as registered passenger transport, search and rescue, aeromedical, freight, drug and law enforcement, humanitarian assistance and coastal surveillance. With a vast coastal area to protect, Australia is a prime market for the revamped G-111T, and with the support of the Northern Territory Government, the project has solid backing behind it.
The Albatross will be reborn
Things became a little more real this week with the arrival in Darwin of an original Albatross G-111. The Albatross did not glide in gracefully over the blue waters of Darwin Harbour but on the back of a very large truck and trailer. It will become an engineering prototype of the all-new G-111T, which is planned to roll off the production line within five years.
AAI has established a research and development center at Darwin Airport where its key staff, including CEO Dan Webster, are ready to begin work on the Albatross that arrived this week, the first of two original aircraft it will receive.
A new industry is born
Partnering with AAI is a group of leading technology companies with the aim of making Darwin a destination for amphibian aircraft manufacture. Among those are Pratt & Whitney, Dassault and ShinMaywa, makers of the US-2 STOL amphibian used by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force. The US-2 can land on rough seas with a wave height of three meters (9.8 feet) and takeoff in just 280 meters (919 feet).
Webster said that having these international aerospace leaders involved is a "huge vote of confidence in what we are doing and the feasibility of our program."
"With the support of the Northern Territory Government, AAI is creating a whole new industry which will require a highly skilled workforce and specialised supply chain which will yield enormous economic benefits for the Northern Territory and for Australia."
Aircraft are fantastic pieces of technology, with very mature aircraft like the Albatross being put back into production because they are the best fit for the mission. How exciting would it be to see an aircraft designed around 75 years ago and now built in the far north of Australia become one of the world's first hydrogen-powered zero-emission planes?
It would be great to get some comments from the fans of the Albatross and flying boats. Please share your comments with our readers.