The Hemisphere Dancer

Recently I had the chance to visit Jimmy Buffett's personal seaplane, a 1954 Grumman HU-16 Albatross called the Hemisphere Dancer. This beautiful (and legendary) aircraft was located right outside of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Restaurant in Orlando, Florida.

Jimmy Buffett is an American musician and businessman best known for his island-style tunes. Together with his band called 'The Coral Reefers', they have created countless hit songs and even ranked on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century" with the classic song "Margaritaville" written in 1978.

Listen to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville:

Back to the plane...

This aircraft was piloted by Jimmy himself during his trips to the Caribbean. Originally it was an anti-submarine military plane until it was purchased by Buffett in the early 1990's. It later became the inspiration to his song 'Jamaica Mistaka' which describes a CRAZY incident where the plane was shot at by Jamaican Authorities while taxiing through the harbor in 1996. You can listen here:

The Jamaican Authorities thought that the Hemisphere Dancer was a drug-running aircraft and unloaded hundreds of bullets on the plane. U2's lead singer 'Bono' was on-board Jimmy's plane at the time. Remarkably no one was injured.

You can see some patchwork repair on the aircraft in this picture:

Here is a link to The Belfast Telegraph which featured Bono's account of the the day the Hemisphere Dancer was shot at by Jamaican authorities:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/bono-recalls-terrifying-day-police-shot-at-him-28493741.html

The Hemisphere Dancer now sits out of commission providing a shady cover to those enjoying a cocktail at the outdoor Margaritaville bar. Being the Parrot Head (Jimmy Buffet Fan) that I am, I had to stop to have a LandShark while admiring the legendary aircraft.

I was absolutely thrilled to see this beauty of a seaplane in real life. It was very cool to think about all of the amazing places it has been.

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