Barataria Industries

(a proud member of the of the Trans-Global Enterprises family)

Because the performance of the float-equipped Beta Volantis was less than hoped for, the Barataria Aeronautical Corporation began development of a more seaworthy aircraft in 1937--a flying boat instead of a float plane.

Earlier the Wotanberger Overseas Airways Company [WOAC] had permitted the Barataria design team an opportunity to study its newly acquired pre-production Grumman Goose--which later was to become known as "Cutter's Goose".* Inspired perhaps by the Goose (and certainly motivated by the possibility of future sales of a similar aircraft to WOAC), Barataria's design team came up with the plans for the Barataria Branta in late 1937.** 

Although critics have claimed that the Branta was merely a copy of the more famous Goose, the contemporary line drawing above of the Branta shows two of the many obvious differences between the two aircraft. First, the Branta's rear door is on the starboard side of the aircraft and not the port side like the Goose. Second, there is no retractable landing gear on the Branta. Although this required use of a specially designed detachable undercarriage to bring the Branta onto land, it would not detract significantly from the utility of the aircraft in the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg's  two colonies, the Seiber Islands and the Mustela Islands.

A photograph taken at the factory in 1938 confirms these differences between the well-known Goose and the Branta: 

A total of  six Brantas was sold to WOAC from 1938 to 1940 for use in the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg's  two colonies. Here is a photograph of one of these Brantas with its WOAC crew before it was repainted in standard WOAC "livery":

 

With the special consent of the U.S. government, two Brantas were sold to the Ichiban Shipping Company in late 1940.*** Here is a photograph of one of these aircraft upon its arrival at St. Hubert in the Seiber Islands. 

In early 1941, at the request of the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg, a special version of the Branta was designed and built to assist the crews of the High Speed Fishing Boats [HSFB] which were being built by Barataria for service in the Seiber Islands.

One of the most important features of the Branta 2 was the two plexiglass "bubbles" which enhanced surveillance of possible fishing areas to facilitate the efficient deployment of the HSFB.  Other features included the ability to carry and deploy pyrotechnics to assist in the identification of targets for the crews of those boats.

A pair of these special Brantas was sold to the Grand Duchy along with the HSFB. Fortuitously, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, these Brantas were easily converted into effective naval aircraft, and were credited with the destruction of at least 10 Japanese vessels. Unfortunately, neither of these Brantas survived the war.

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* On an early test flight of the prototype, the Italian test pilot invited his wife--Erica Giovani--along, in hopes of curing her fear of flying. Seated in the observation deck with its two bubble windows, Erica sat twitching in fear until coaxed by husband to look out the windows at the beautiful San Francisco panorama. Opening her eyes for the first time during the flight, Erica looked at the partially constructed Golden Gate Bridge and exclaimed in her native

* WOAC had purchased the Goose to assess its suitability for service in the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg's  two colonies--the Seiber Islands and the Mustela Islands. Although WOAC appreciated that the Goose was amphibious, this was not seen as an important feature and, by eliminating its landing gear, the range and/or cargo capacity could be increased.  In addition, the Goose's portside rear door did not conform with WOAC's starboard side standard.
 
** (1) The Corporation denies that the Branta was merely a cheap copy of the more famous Grumman Goose. Although the Branta was named after a species of geese, the Corporation notes that there were other significant differences between the Branta and the Goose.  The Corporation also states that it is merely coincidental that its development of the Branta began shortly after the reported disappearance of a complete set of plans for the Goose.
(2) The Corporation also denies that the Brantas were part of a covert U.S. government operation to secretly transfer real Geese to various fronts for American and friendly foreign intelligence agencies. It specifically denies that it merely acted as a conduit for these transfers, making only some minor, mostly cosmetic, modifications to Grumman Geese prior to "selling" them as Brantas.

*** These two Ichiban Brantas figured prominently not only in the defense of the Seiber Islands during World War Two but also in the economic recovery of both the Seiber Islands and the Marivellas after the war.  After their "retirement" in 1950, they were donated to  the Cutter Air Museum and are now on display at the Museum's St Hubert and Boragora facilities.