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A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The Albatross combines a flying-boat hull with retractable landing gear for operations from water and runways. Its two radial engines sit high on the wing, clear of much of the spray. Military versions served under several designations before the HU-16 name was standardised.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗A childhood memory becomes a flight over Lake Mead
Lee had watched Albatrosses around San Diego as a child. Decades later, an early alarm signalled the chance to enter one himself, turning a distant memory into a day at Boulder City. The old cockpit and the people preparing the aircraft made the outing feel special before it reached the water landscapes he had come to see.
Plane & Pilot · December 2013. G-111 outing with owner Joe Duke and pilot Paul LeVeque from Boulder City; Lee later handled the aircraft from the right seat.
Plane & Pilot · Read more ↗The MSFS 2024 hydraulic model separates two systems
The guide describes an engine-pump-powered main system for gear and flaps, plus an accumulator-equipped brake subsystem. Falling main pressure can slow or stop gear and flap movement.
Albatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Sporty's Pilot Shop · 1 min ·
HU-16 Albatross Cockpit Takeoff | Tri-State Warbird Museum
A cockpit takeoff in the Tri-State Warbird Museum's HU-16 Albatross.
Real aircraft · Grumman Albatross HU-16 / G-111
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Grumman Albatross HU-16 / G-111
The Albatross combines a flying-boat hull with retractable landing gear for operations from water and runways. Its two radial engines sit high on the wing, clear of much of the spray. Military versions served under several designations before the HU-16 name was standardised.
The G-111 is a civilian development with its own cabin arrangement and equipment. The simulator package includes both military and civilian aircraft, with water operation and wheeled ground handling among its features.
Grumman Albatross HU-16 / G-111
Grumman → · Explore the family →
Grumman Albatross HU-16
Wikipedia contributors · Grumman HU-16 Albatross ↗G-111
Wikipedia contributors · Grumman HU-16 Albatross ↗Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
Former airline aircraft find a new workshop and home
Stagnito describes the seven G-111s as former Chalk’s aircraft stored in Arizona. Barron’s recovery programme used component work in Missouri and repeated transport between sites, giving retired passenger amphibians another stage of life.
AOPA · A field of Albatrosses ↗Restoration project reported in March 2025
Development milestones
First flight: 24 October 1947
Developed from: Grumman Mallard
Wikipedia contributors · Grumman HU-16 Albatross ↗Grumman HU-16 Albatross · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1370970348
Pilot accounts
A childhood memory becomes a flight over Lake Mead
Lee had watched Albatrosses around San Diego as a child. Decades later, an early alarm signalled the chance to enter one himself, turning a distant memory into a day at Boulder City. The old cockpit and the people preparing the aircraft made the outing feel special before it reached the water landscapes he had come to see.
When he took the right seat and handled the aircraft, the controls felt heavy but balanced, and its movements seemed deliberately unhurried. Paul LeVeque performed the water landing, with Joe Duke helping bring it ashore. Lee and photographer Jessica Ambats then watched from the bank.
Plane & Pilot · December 2013. G-111 outing with owner Joe Duke and pilot Paul LeVeque from Boulder City; Lee later handled the aircraft from the right seat.
Read the full account · Plane & Pilot ↗A first Coast Guard posting leaves a short but vivid chapter
Burns arrived at his first Coast Guard air station as a new fixed-wing pilot and soon found himself learning the Albatross. Many of the pilots available to fly it were also helicopter qualified, making for a crew setting he remembered distinctly. The aircraft accumulated about seventy-five hours of his flying before its retirement from Elizabeth City that October.
His recollection emphasises the change from a loud radial-engine takeoff to a much calmer cruise, and the aircraft’s stability during an instrument check. The station had already stopped water operations, so his experience concerned land-based patrol and search flying. That brief posting remained memorable enough for him to describe it in a letter four decades later.
AOPA reader letter · February 2014. Burns arrived at Elizabeth City on 4 August 1974 and began HU-16E checkout two days later; tail number 7243 is recalled.
Read the full account · AOPA ↗A surprising early call leads to a family restoration programme
Barron was tired enough after a late flight that an early telephone call about seven Albatrosses initially seemed like a dream. Checking his call history convinced him it had happened. The aircraft fitted an ambition to travel and dive in search of wartime wrecks, but first they needed extensive work after years in the desert.
The resulting programme involved rebuilding components in Missouri and transporting them to Arizona, then moving engines and propellers between airframes. His son Dillon handled the main ferry flying, with Mike managing engineering and making the final landings at their grass airfield.
Interview reported by Kollin Stagnito · March 2025. Seven former Chalk’s G-111s moved from Arizona towards Barron’s Missouri airfield; son Dillon flew the main ferry legs and Mike made the final grass-strip landings.
Read the full account · AOPA ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
MSFS 2024Albatross G111/HU16
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Albatross G111/HU16
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 62 ft 10 in (19.15 m) |
| Wingspan | 96 ft 8 in (29.46 m) |
| Height | 25 ft 10 in (7.87 m) |
| Wing area | 1,035 sq ft (96.2 m² ) |
| Empty weight | 22,883 lb (10,380 kg) |
| Gross weight | 30,353 lb (13,768 kg) |
| Max takeoff weight | 37,500 lb (17,010 kg) |
| Powerplant | 2 × Wright R-1820-76A Cyclone 9 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) each for take-off |
| Propellers | 3-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed fully-feathering reversible-pitch propellers |
| Maximum speed | 236 mph (380 km/h, 205 kn) |
| Cruise speed | 124 mph (200 km/h, 108 kn) |
| Stall speed | 74 mph (119 km/h, 64 kn) |
| Range | 2,850 mi (4,590 km, 2,480 nmi) |
| Service ceiling | 21,500 ft (6,600 m) |
| Rate of climb | 1,450 ft/min (7.4 m/s) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
The MSFS 2024 hydraulic model separates two systemsAlbatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The guide describes an engine-pump-powered main system for gear and flaps, plus an accumulator-equipped brake subsystem. Falling main pressure can slow or stop gear and flap movement.
Albatross guide v2.3.6, PDF pages 34–35; MSFS 2024-specific behaviour
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Runway equipment and water equipment in one aircraftAlbatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The Albatross guide covers hydraulic and landing-gear instruments, nosewheel steering choices, chocks and a sea anchor. It also identifies trim and autopilot controls. HU-16E and G-111 options differ, so the military and civilian configurations retain separate context even within the same package.
Albatross manual v2.3.6.1 · PDF pp.6,8-9,23
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Fuel gauges show the main tanks onlyAlbatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
The main-panel gauges display the left and right main tanks. Float and optional drop-tank fuel has no separate quantity indication there; overhead pumps transfer it into the corresponding main tank.
Albatross guide v2.3.6, PDF pages 28–29
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Propeller switches set governor limitsAlbatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Momentary overhead switches adjust the governors’ RPM limits, rather than blade pitch directly. The manual allows clicking between the switches to operate both together.
Albatross guide v2.3.6, PDF page 30
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗The clipboard offers its own pushback functionAlbatross G111/HU16 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
A bespoke pushback option works on land and water. The manual says it replaces native tug connection and does not respond to radio requests for a tug.
Albatross guide v2.3.6, PDF page 27
Microsoft / aircraft developers · Read the source ↗Pilot account
A childhood memory becomes a flight over Lake MeadPlane & Pilot · December 2013. G-111 outing with owner Joe Duke and pilot Paul LeVeque from Boulder City; Lee later handled the aircraft from the right seat.
Lee had watched Albatrosses around San Diego as a child. Decades later, an early alarm signalled the chance to enter one himself, turning a distant memory into a day at Boulder City. The old cockpit and the people preparing the aircraft made the outing feel special before it reached the water landscapes he had come to see. When he took the right seat and handled the aircraft, the controls felt heavy but balanced, and its movements seemed deliberately unhurried.
Marc C. Lee
Plane & Pilot · Read the source ↗A first Coast Guard posting leaves a short but vivid chapterAOPA reader letter · February 2014. Burns arrived at Elizabeth City on 4 August 1974 and began HU-16E checkout two days later; tail number 7243 is recalled.
Burns arrived at his first Coast Guard air station as a new fixed-wing pilot and soon found himself learning the Albatross. Many of the pilots available to fly it were also helicopter qualified, making for a crew setting he remembered distinctly. The aircraft accumulated about seventy-five hours of his flying before its retirement from Elizabeth City that October.
Chris Burns
AOPA · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developers [MSFS 2024] v2.3.6, [MSFS (2020)] v1.3.5 ManualMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Grumman HU-16 AlbatrossWikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 1370970348 · retrieved 2026-09-12Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftType designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 2 profile choices
Grumman Albatross G-111
Free and Pro · Revision 3 · Partial review
MSFS 2024
Grumman Albatross G-111: The mechanical-control starting response accompanies the selected amphibious model; radial engines and hull geometry do not calibrate yoke resistance.
Grumman Albatross HU-16
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
MSFS 2024
Grumman Albatross HU-16: The mechanical-control starting response accompanies the selected amphibious model; radial engines and hull geometry do not calibrate yoke resistance.
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