Draft Posts
The articles, photos and stories posted below are drafts and are not fully published and are not available for public viewing until finalized and approved.
May 2026 draft posts
(desktop view formatted / mobile view maybe scrambled until published)
J-3
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Through the efforts of those aviation historians of the past, we know the various owners and the years they operated J-2.
This page will go a little further into the individuals that recognized the Grumman Mallard as their aircraft of choice.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
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I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
J-2
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Through the efforts of those aviation historians of the past, we know the various owners and the years they operated J-2.
This page will go a little further into the individuals that recognized the Grumman Mallard as their aircraft of choice.
The Mallard in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
N653SS / J-53 arrived at VISS in April 1985
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Australia's connection with Antilles Air Boats has always been close. It may have started with airplanes, but its real connection was the people. Recently Gregg and Dania Billman (Florida) embarked on new adventure with a cruise around the Pacific on the Coral Princess. A recent stop was Australia. When they pulled into Sydney, Gregg wanted to visit Rose Bay, the location of the iconic flying boats of days gone by. ​
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The Aussie Connection
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In 1974, Noel Holle joined AAB as an aircraft engineer specializing in the Shorts Sandringham, accompanied by his wife Margaret, (who also possessed expertise with the iconic flying boats) and their young sons Matthew and Steven. Once the Shorts flying boats departed from the Caribbean the Holle family returned to Australia by 1980.
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March 2026, upon reaching Sydney, Gregg reached out to Matthew and Margaret Holle. Although a meeting was not possible during this port-of-call, plans were made to meet Steven Holle in Fremantle / Perth when the Coral Princess arrived several days later. On March 11th, Gregg and Steve had the opportunity to spend a little time and catch up on the many years since they were in St. Croix at Antilles Air Boats.
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Read more about the Holle and Billman families, as well as the enduring relationships originating from the era of seaplanes, on this page and the links provided.
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Steven resides in the greater Perth area. He is a Public and Corporate Affairs specialist with a keen interest and experience in tourism, transport, information and leisure industries throughout Australia.​​
Recently working with the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) on strategy implementation for WA Battery and Critical Mineral Strategy 2024-30
Matthew resides in the greater Sydney area and has over 20 years of experience as a manager of modern and heritage environment including maintenance of building services at the Museum of Sydney, the Mint, Hyde Park Barracks, St, Mary's Cathedral, and the Anzac Memorial. Matt also curated 2 major exhibitions at the Museum of Sydney: Flying Boats - Australia's Golden Age of Aviation and the Wild Ones - Sydney Stadium 1908 - 1970. ​​
Matthew
Steven
Margaret Holle
Gregg and Dania Billman with Steven Holle in Fremantle / Perth
Rose Bay today
Perth
Sydney
​​​As the years passed, so have many of the aviators that worked at Antilles Air Boats. Many of the offspring of those aviator's have continued in their father's footsteps and in some way to keep the history alive. Gregg's father, ​
Matthew Holle -
Property Manager
Charles "Chuck" Billman, an U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, joined AAB in the mid 1970's. While in high school in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Gregg worked part-time on the Shorts Sandringham "Southern Cross". After his schooling, Gregg went on to become a fighter pilot and had a long career with the U.S. Air Force.​
The Antilles Air Boats Goose operated with one pilot, Unlike most airlines, the pilot arrived with extensive experience, thousands of hours of flight time. This was to be their last flying job, a semi-retirement gig that would supplement in most cases their military retirement. With the addition of the Grumman Mallard which required 2 pilots, a captain and co-captain. The co-captain's flight experience was far less than the captain. While the person in the left seat was ending their career, the right seat occupant was just starting theirs.
A little bit about
A Seaplane and a pilot
The Antilles Air Boats Mallard N51151 (J-42) was originally delivered to C.F .Kettering as N2975 in early 1949.. The aircraft had numerous owners over the years and was owned by Chalk's International Airlines and loaned to AAB for a little less than 3 years. In 1982, Chalk's had the aircraft sent to Frakes Aviation in Cleburne, Texas for conversion to PT-6A-34 turbine engines.
"Pappy" Chalk started Chalk's Flying Service in 1919 and over the years there was variant names as well as various owners. In December of 1999, the airline was relaunched as Chalk's Ocean Airways.
Scott Adams was fortunate to arrive at Chalk's to have experienced flying the Mallard , now registered as N142PA. Scott began his flying career.....
Scott Adams was fortunate to arrive at Chalk's to have experienced flying the Mallard , now registered as N142PA. Scott began his flying career.....
Scott Adams was fortunate to arrive at Chalk's to have experienced flying the Mallard , now registered as N142PA. Scott began his flying career.....
Scott Adams was fortunate to arrive at Chalk's to have experienced flying the Mallard , now registered as N142PA. Scott began his flying career.....
Holding posts for coming months
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