The February ’09 issue of Air International magazine discusses a North Carolina company’s plans to resurrect the Grumman Goose seaplane (pictured right), and according to the article they say that Jimmy Buffett is interested:

“V.L. Manual [owner of the company] now has strong interest from buyers in 20 different countries worldwide, including the possibility of a new “retro” Goose for country music legend Jimmy Buffett, which may have original Pratt & Whitney (P&W) radials instead of the turboprops. A highly-specialized military version of the Goose is also being developed by Antilles for potential use by US Special Forces.”

Antilles Seaplanes LLC expects to have the first new-production plane completed in June of this year. The Super Goose will have modern engines, modern electronics, and a number of other upgrades over the original Goose. Airframes will be of new manufacturer, rather then rebuilt.

The Goose is a bit smaller than Jimmy’s Albatross but also a bit larger than the Widgeon that he crashed in 1994. Originally designed in the 1930′s the Goose ended production in 1945 with 345 examples being built originally. Roughly 60 are airworthy today. Antilles sees a potential market for 200 new-built Gooses (not “Geese!”).

(hat tip to Pirate John for passing this along)

See photos of Jimmy’s airplanes here.

The second part of Jimmy’s diary about his recent trip to the Outer Banks is now up at Margaritaville.com, including more photos.

In it, Jimmy discusses a wrecked surfboard, a morning sightseeing flight over the coast, and much more. Read it now. And stay tuned for the final part in the series.

Jimmy Buffett recently treked down the east coast for his annual pilgramige from New York to Florida and wrote about it in his online diary that you can read at Margaritaville.com. He flew his Cessna Caravan from New York’s East River down to First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina… site of the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Jimmy describes what it’s like to be a pilot and visit the spot where the Wright Brothers first flew:

I am a creature of habit, and to me, the birthplace of aviation, is a place worth visiting more than once. In fact, I would say it is more than a photo op, a gift shop visit or buzzing the Wright Brothers Monument in your plane. It is a spiritual place to me, as powerful as Diamond Head or Machu Pichu in that regard. It is a sandy piece of land, where one can stand at the exact spot where man left the planet for the first time, and reflect in these troubled times, on what it means to soar above the earth and go traveling amongst the stars. Those kinds of thoughts are the things that separate pilots from passengers.

Buffett also writes about a great local seafood place, the throwback cottage that he stayed in, and the stand-up surfboard that he tried out on the trip.

Read the entire Outer Banks diary here. There are also several photos from Buffett’s trip on Margaritaville.com.

Jimmy says at the end of the diary entry that there will be a part II, and possibly a new song or two from this trip, so stay tuned!

Congratulations to John Andrews for winning this week’s caption contest!

Here was the photo:

Here was John’s winning caption:

“Yes , I said 5 Margaritas, I have it on auto pilot.”

It was another close contest, with John narrowly beating out Bluedog, who submitted the caption “Raise your hand if you want to buzz the nude beach again!”

388 votes were cast and John won 34% with 133 votes. Bluedog received 32% with 125 votes.

Here are the full results:

• “Yes , I said 5 Margaritas, I have it on auto pilot.” – John Andrews (133 votes, 34%)
• “Raise your hand if you want to buzz the nude beach again!” – Bluedog (125 votes, 32%)
• “No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.” – Mahlen Sayre (51 votes, 13%)
• “Everbody duck!!! There’s some asshole firing at us!! They must think this is a ganja plane” – Wayne-O (40 votes, 10%)
• “How many flying lessons have I had? This many!!!! What’s your point?” – Parrotdad (39 votes, 10%)

View all of the captions that were submitted here.

Congratulations to John Andrews and thanks to everyone who entered and to everyone that voted. We’ll have another caption contest soon.

Put your creative hat on ’cause it’s time for another Buffett Caption Contest!

Make up your own caption for the image below and post it in the Comments Section. We’ll choose a few of the best and put them in a poll in a few days for everyone to vote on their favorite.

The Palm Beach Post has an article on Jimmy Buffett’s former pilot Randy Leslie, who was let go by Buffett a year and a half ago and died in December: “Did Buffett Botch Jamaica Pilot’s Exit?”

“Randy said to me about a year and a half ago: ‘They’re retiring me!’ He didn’t seem to know why,” said contract pilot Jon Norkus, who also worked for Buffett. “He was disappointed that Jimmy didn’t talk to him about it. It was handled by an underling.

Palm Beacher Jimmy Buffett is accused by several friends of his longtime pilot and party accomplice, Randy Leslie, of turning a blind eye to Leslie’s ouster after 15 years.

Leslie entered Margaritaville lore when the Buffett seaplane he was piloting was fired on by Jamaican police who mistook Leslie and his boss for drug runners. The incident inspired the tune Jamaica Mistaica.

“Randy loved his job, but employers love younger pilots. They work longer hours than we do.”

Leslie had recently started flying again when, on Dec. 6, he died during emergency brain surgery.

Yet, says another friend of Leslie’s, Buffett eventually came through.

“He visited Randy’s widow the morning of the celebration (at DuBois Park in Jupiter) and told her he’d start a trust fund for the education of their son,” said Kelly Bergel.

“Jimmy intentionally didn’t attend anything that was public because he didn’t want the focus on him. He didn’t want to draw any attention away from Randy.

“When he left Jimmy’s employ, Randy was taken care of. He got a nice pension and got paid for six months. I never heard Randy talk ill of Jimmy. He was a fan as much as his employee, and we played Jimmy’s music during the celebration.

“Believe me, working for a celebrity isn’t all it’s made out to be. You miss a lot of birthdays.”

Someone in Leslie’s entourage who declined to be named said Buffett told the widow, Terri, he now wishes he had handled the firing differently.

Read the entire article here.

Also, learn more about Buffett’s seaplane here and about the Jamaica Mistaica incident here.

A seaplane flight with Jimmy was auctioned off on Wednesday night for charity, according to the Wall Street Journal article “New York Glitz — to Help Schools.”

It’s known as the Hedge Fund Prom. Beyonce sang, Jay-Z rapped, and Jon Stewart cracked jokes.

Read the entire article here.

From KKTV:

This week in 1996, Jamaican authorities opened fire on Jimmy Buffett’s seaplane, the Hemisphere Dancer, mistaking it for a drug trafficker’s plane. U-2 singer Bono was with Buffett, but neither one was hurt.

Buffett wrote a song about the incident, entitled “Jamaica Mistaica,” that can be found on the album Banana Wind.