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.
Draft Posts
February 2026 draft posts
(desktop view formatted / mobile view scrambled until published)
Phil: "I was in the Virgin Islands once, I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank pina coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otter. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over again?"
Groundhog Day
February 2, 2026
Flies Atlantic "Just for Fun"
Boris Sergievsky landed his Grumman Mallard amphibian (J-4 / N2940) (AAB's N83781 / VISS's N604SS) in London, August 10,1947 , after a 25-hour flight from New York.
He said he had no business in Europe and flew just for fun and to see what the plane could do. With him were his wife, a radio operator and Marina Svetlova, a ballerina at the Metropolitan.
photo credit Acme News - NY Bureau 3/11/47
photo from Tom Anusewicz Collection
I took Fritz Henle's iconic photo of Charles F. Blair with his first AAB Goose and gave it a little life
with the help of AI.
William F. Buckley Jr.
was a friend of Charles Blair Jr. and William's son Christopher shared a story about Charlies visit to his home back in the early 1970's. Christopher was an accomplished author and the story came from his book "Losing Mom and Pup".
Read the page below.
Original photo from Tom Anusewicz Collection
I agree there are many inaccuracies with the above but it was fun to generate.
​
Kinjockety
photo credit Ruben Green
photo credit Ruben Green
​ Gar Wood was the first operator of J-14 and he put many flight hours in his favorite amphibian. Above are 2 photos of NC2954 named "Kinjockety XI" at his Canadian island. Many of Wood's aircraft were named Kinjockety with its subsequent roman numeral identifier. The Kinjockety Hunting Club was also the name of his private island in McGregor Bay, Ontario .
Read more about Gar Wood and J-14
Update...
It is always a pleasure to receive input from visitors on previous postings. I recently obtained new info and photos on Grumman G-73 Mallard J-14
​ The bays and inlets of Lake Ontario were exceptional for amphibians to gain access to majestic Canada. A number of AAB Mallards visited before they flew the skies of the warmer Caribbean.
Gar Wood's
Many of the aircraft that operated at Antilles Air Boats had
a rich history before, during and after flying the Caribbean skies.
I am glad that many of those aircraft were recognized as worthy to preserve that history and place them in museums. There are various pages on the AAB website that tells
the story of these aircraft but the MUSEUM page will focus on specific displays.
This website and subsequent Facebook page is categorized as a History Museum. This designation is compatible with the premise of museum definition of displaying objects of historical importance for public education, enjoyment and research.​​
Click on Museums to see more about history preserved.
Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas
Veterans Drive Waterfront
photos by Charlie Freehling
Late 1960's
pending posts for March / April
Claude "Bonny" Austin
Tri-Air Corp.
Alexander Hamilton Airport, Christiansted, St. Croix
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
photos credit Charlie Freehling
Left to right / standing; Claude Austin, Lou Ellen, Jerry Boyce, Art Machel
front, Jasper Henry, ______, and ______.​​​​
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
N40R
STT
photo from the Bill Bailey Collection
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.....
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