Grumman G-65 Tadpole

The Grumman G-65 Tadpole was an American prototype light amphibian designed and built by Grumman as part of a project to find products for the end of the Second World War. A team led by Hank Kurt designed it as a two or three-seat shoulder-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear and a 125 horsepower Continental engine driving a pusher propeller above the rear fuselage. Kurt first flew it on 7 December 1944. Only one was built, and it did not enter production, for reasons that included an over-anticipated private aviation market, cheaper surplus military aircraft and difficulty competing in the amphibian market. One of the design team, David Thurston, later developed it into the Colonial Skimmer and Lake Buccaneer family.