Columbia XJL

Columbia XJL			Photo Gallery
The Columbia XJL was an amphibious aircraft designed by Grumman Aircraft, but built by the Columbia Aircraft Corp. The XJL-1 development began in June 1939, as a proposed follow-on to the J2F "Duck", but was overtaken by Wartime Priority needs. Two flyable prototypes and one static test article were ordered in mid-1943, but with no hope for a production contract. At the end of the War, the static test article had been completed and tested by Grumman, but the two flyable examples were still uncompleted. They were eventually completed and tested post war, but by then there was no future need for new such military equipment. First flight 1946. Number built 3.