LAST -- Columbia XJL-1 in Existence - Pima Air & Space Museum - Tucson, AZ - Last of its Kind on Waymarking.com

Located in the main hangar of the Pima Air & Space Museum is a Columbia XJL-1 Navy plane, one of only three ever made and the last one in existence. There's an interpretive display in front of the plane that reads:

COLUMBIA XJL-1

The Columbia XJL-1 was intended as a replacement for the Grumman J2F Duck amphibous bi-plane for the US Navy. Originally designed by Grumman, it was turned over to the Columbia Aircraft Corporation for development and construction. The plane bears a strong resemblance to the Duck, but it is a completely new design. Three XJL-1s were built. This aircraft is the last of the three, completed in 1946 and accepted by the Navy on October 29, 1947. The XJL did not live up to expectations, with repeated structural failures. Testing was abandoned on September 21, 1948 and the aircraft were stricken from the Navy's inventory in February 1949

Both flight test aircraft were sold to Martin Aircraft engineer Herbert Scudder for $420. He worked at restoring them until his death in 1955. In 1957, this XJL-1 was sold to Len Redman of Chicago by Scudder's widow on the condition that the plane had to fly at least once. In October of that year, the XJL was flown to Chicago. The aircraft would have three more owners before being loaned to the Pima Air & Space Museum in 1987, and eventually donated in December of 2000. The plane has less than 200 flight hours.

This plane resides close to the entrance to the Museum.

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