At lake hood in Anchorage, Alaska, Grumman OA-12A Duck N8563F made its first flight in nearly 60 years during October, following a 20-year rebuild by Ketchum Air Service. The man who founded the floatplane operating company back in 1965, "Ketch" Ketchum, was at the controls of the amphibian, which he recovered from a beach at Chekatna Lake, Alaska, in 1976. The aircraft had been seriously damaged in an accident on the lake back in 1948 while being operated by the USAF's 10th Air Rescue Sqn from Elmendorf AFB. The machine was the first of five ex-US NavyJ2F-6 Ducks to go on to the USAF inventory in 1947. Over recent years Ketch's son Craig has been the driving force behind the project, with help coming during the finishing touches and rigging from Jack McCloy, who had worked on two Ducks for collector Kermit Weeks.
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