The versatile Albatross amphibian was designed to meet a Navy requirement for a utility aircraft which could operate from land or water and, with skis, from snow and ice. The prototype first flew on October 24, 1947 and soon after the USAF ordered a quantity for air-sea rescue duties as SA-16As. (In 1962, the USAF changed the designation to HU-16.) Grumman delivered 297 SA-16As to the Air Force; most were assigned to the Air Rescue Service.

In 1955, Grumman developed an improved version with a 16.5 foot increase in wing span and larger aileron and tail surfaces. ž Beginning in 1957, many SA-16As were converted to the SA-16B configuration with these improvements. The Albatross is best known as a rescue aircraft. ž During the Korean Conflict, Albatrosses rescued almost 1,000 United Nations personnel from coastal waters and rivers, often behind enemy lines.ž They also made numerous dramatic and hazardous rescues in Southeast Asia, on occasion taxiing many miles over rough, open water when unable to takeoff.

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center assumed worldwide logistics management responsibility for the HU-16 in 1965 due to the phase-out of the Mobile Air Materiel Area at Brookley AFB, Alabama.ž The HU-16 on display last served with the 301st Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (AFRES), Homestead AFB, Florida, and was retired in 1973.ž Ten years later, in 1983, it was trucked to the Museum of Aviation for restoration by museum staff and Grumman Aircraft of Milledgeville, Georgia.