what is it?
The Grumman J2F Duck (company designation G-15) is an American, single-engined, amphibious biplane. It was used by each major branch of the U.S. Armed Forces from the mid-1930s until just after World War II, primarily for utility and air-sea rescue duties. It was also used by the Argentine Navy, which took delivery of their first example in 1937.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.9 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 93 years ago, in 1933.
- Top speed is 2.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1933-04-24
- introduced
- 1936
- number built
- 632
- role
- utility amphibian
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Grumman
- engines
- 1× Wright R-1820-54 Cyclone
- crew
- 2
- length
- 10.4 m
- wingspan
- 11.9 m
- height
- 4.2 m
- max take-off weight
- 3,493 kg
- top speed
- 306 km/h
- cruise speed
- 249 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 6,096 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1550402, Wikipedia: Grumman J2F Duck (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.