This link for a county auction of a 1954 HU-16 Albatross, N226GR - Miss Splash - showed on our local Facebook Page: https://www.fauquiercounty.gov/governme ... rplanesale ...and, yeah, the adjacent counties have a bit of fun with the name...
I will post pictures from the auction (so they will hopefully be preserved) and post video of the story of how how Mr. Don and Mrs. Diane Rhynalds became owners/curators of this aircraft "Miss Splash." Don Rhynalds passed away in October 2018 and Diane still lives here in Northern Virginia. At some point, around August 2022, the aircraft was sold to Michael De Geus.
Attachment:
HU-16-1.jpg
Username Protected wrote:
NOTICE PUBLIC AUCTION OF DERELICT AIRPLANE
Public auction on Friday, January 30, 2026 at 11 a.m. at the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport located at 5075 Airport Road in Midland, Virginia. Airplane to be auctioned: 1954 Grumman HU 16E aircraft (Serial Number 2132; N-Number 226GR). The last registered owner is Michael A. De Geus.
For more information, visit: Warrenton-Fauquier Airport Airplane Sale. The derelict airplane is offered for sale by the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors pursuant to VA Code § 5.1-2.25, et seq. so it can be removed from the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport and the Board can recover its fees and costs of removal, delinquent tie-down rent, and delinquent airport maintenance fees.
Terms of sale: No reserve. No minimum bid. No preregistration required. High bidder must pay the purchase price entirely in cash. Checks, wires, and credit cards will not be accepted. Entirety of purchase price due immediately at the close of the auction. No time will be allotted for high bidder to leave the auction to obtain cash. Airplane is offered for sale as-is, where-is with all faults and without any warranties, expressed or implied, and will be conveyed by an aircraft bill of sale similar to FAA AC Form 8050-2, OMB Control No. 2120-0042. Seller makes no representations or guarantees regarding the airplane’s condition. The purchaser takes the airplane free of the rights of the persons holding any equitable or legal interest in the airplane, whether or not recorded. Once the auction concludes, the high bid may not be withdrawn or rescinded. No refunds. Purchaser must remove the airplane from the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport by no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2026. To guarantee such timely removal, purchaser will be required to post a $2,000.00 cash bond with Fauquier County which shall be refunded to purchaser upon airplane’s timely removal. Failure to remove the airplane timely shall result in purchaser’s forfeiture of the bond and the commencement of legal proceedings to remove the airplane. The airplane is available for inspection at bidders’ risk and expense; said inspection costs are nonrefundable. Purchaser bears all costs of title searches and costs associated with transfer of ownership, including all transfer taxes. Purchaser is solely responsible for notifying the appropriate Federal Aviation Administration office of change in the registered owner of the airplane. For more information, contact: Mary Catherine Anderson, Esq. VSB# 68654; 10 Courthouse Square, First Floor, Warrenton, VA 20186; (540) 422-8193; mc.anderson.tr@fauquiercounty.gov.........
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Last edited on 15 Dec 2025, 01:37, edited 5 times in total.
YouTube video of "Captain Don" - Don Rhynalds, his best half Diane (Dianne) Rhynalds and their story about "Miss Splash" and some other aviation stories from Don. Note - The Rhynalds family and Estate no longer owns Miss Splash.
These are current pictures of the aircraft on the ramp. They are from the Fauquier County website or Facebook Page and are understood to be in the public domain.
Attachment:
N226GR-Ramp-1.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-Ramp-2.jpg
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These are flight deck pictures of Miss Splash. They are from the Fauquier County website or Facebook Page and are understood to be in the public domain.
Attachment:
N226GR-FlightDeck-1.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-FlightDeck-2.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-FlightDeck-3.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-FlightDeck-4.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-FlightDeck-5.jpg
Attachment:
N226GR-Placard-1.jpg
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The FAA has 6 HU-16 aircraft on the registry and N226GR (S/N 2132/G-359) is the only HU-16E registered. This is a link to picture departing from Oshkosh 2008 (linked from PlaneSpotters) - https://www.planespotters.net/photo/274 ... -albatross
I don't see that it has flown in recent times, maybe years.
The amount of money it will take to bring this to decent flyable condition is large, possibly 7 figures.
They want it gone in 28 days. I suspect this means it will have to be dismantled. Not clear that is enough time to even get it to basic ferriable condition. Who knows if the engines even run?
I don't see that it has flown in recent times, maybe years.
The amount of money it will take to bring this to decent flyable condition is large, possibly 7 figures.
They want it gone in 28 days. I suspect this means it will have to be dismantled. Not clear that is enough time to even get it to basic ferriable condition. Who knows if the engines even run?
Mike C.
Mike - You always have the nail on the head and I could only imagine it would be $2.5+ Millon to get the aircraft back to airworthy condition with overhauled engines. Few shops are doing these big radials now. It would have been nice to have had it go to the Smithsonian years ago. I can only imagine the hundreds of thousands needed to safely dismantle it and ship it. ...and doing this in the freezing weather is not good for the aircraft or the historian mechnics/A&Ps.
I don't know when the last time Captain Don flew the aircraft. The last flight, allegedly, shows 29JAN2021 in Alaska but I would find that hard to believe given the rough winters and no trace of getting it back down here to VA. I moved to the area (2003) and only saw pictures of it on Facebook from time to time before I gave up on FB.
Post subject: Re: 1954 HU-16 Albatross Miss Splash - County Auction 30JAN2
Posted: 15 Dec 2025, 08:31
Joined: 07/06/14 Posts: 4151 Post Likes: +2861 Location: MA
Aircraft: C340A; TBM850
I can only imagine what Jimmy Webb (the guy who turned Elvis's jet into an RV) could do with this. Forget getting it to fly, just put it in the water to use as a boat!
Post subject: Re: 1954 HU-16 Albatross Miss Splash - County Auction 30JAN2
Posted: 15 Dec 2025, 08:37
Joined: 11/03/08 Posts: 16976 Post Likes: +28877 Location: Peachtree City GA / Stoke-On-Trent UK
Aircraft: A33
Username Protected wrote:
You could invest $2.5M to have a plane worth, maybe $2M? $3M?
in other words, a scaled-up version of every airplane project I've done
I have to say this is the nicest-looking derelict-airplane sale I've ever seen. It has even has air in the tires. When I hear "derelict" I think of that t-bone at kansas city that used to sit next to Brad's shade hangar.
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