Lucky Duck!

It's a fitting end to a tough competition. The Grumman J2-4F Duck won the People's Choice award at AirVenture 2007.

The Duck, an amphibious biplane, survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. In civilian hands after the war, it sank in Lake Killarney, Bahamas, in 1955. There it laid in 30 feet of water until 1991, when workers recovered it.

The aircraft flew again in 2005. It is one of only three flying, and of nine total in existence.

The owners, Charles and Beverly Greenhill of Libertyville, IL accepted the trophy from three pioneers of flight: aerobatic champion Patty Wagstaff, former astronaut Joe Engle, and adventurer Steve Fossett.

As ANN reported, the contest got off to a rough start when one of the contestants, a Spartan Executive, received heavy damage in a landing accident; another contestant, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, "Glacier Girl," bowed out of competition when she arrived after voting began at AirVenture 2007.

The Duck's other competitors were a 1927 Waco Model 10-T, a 1939 KR-21 Challenger, a 1943 Piper L-4H and a 1948 North American AT-6G Texan.

Visitors examined the airplanes up close and personal during the week of the fly-in, meet the owners and vote for their favorite from the five.

The participating aircraft qualified for the contest by winning previous National Aviation Hall of Fame trophies including: The Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy, The Hall of Fame's People's Choice Award Trophy, and/or trophies from one of the three other NAHI competition categories -- warbird, antique or classic.

FMI: www.nationalaviation.org, www.airventure.org