My father was a Marine in the Pacific in WW2. He survived and, as he promised, made his way back to NZ to marry my mother. He made the trip was made by being smuggled aboard a PBY. When I was in Napier, NZ some years ago, at a flying show there was a PBY on exhibit giving rides. My daughter and I took an amazing flight in a plane that was rock solid though it was almost 70 years old. We slowly and gracefully circled Te Mata Peak at low altitude while looking out the observation blisters. The flight was in honor of my father and was quite emotional. An amazing airplane that is still flying wonderfully.
On this Memorial Day 2020 I remember my dad who started out as Aircraft Inspector (PBY) at the Consolidated factory in San Diego for Naval Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) 1940-42. He then went on to Naval Air Station (NAS) San Diego (now North Island) as Aeronautical Engineer continuing his work on multi-engine patrol bombers from 1942-43. Then onto the warfront from 1943-45 as Aeronautical Engineer for PBYs at NAS Kaneohe Bay, O’ahu, T.H. and met my mom there!:) He spent almost his entire war years working with the Mighty Catalina!
On this Veterans Day 2021 I remember my late father - a graduate Aeronautical Engineer, Navy Aviation (NavAv), Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer). He was an Inspector of Aircraft Engineering Materials at the PBY Consolidated Aircraft factory in San Diego 1940-43. He then transferred to Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay where he oversaw maintenance, repair & overhaul for PBY squadrons passing thru there from 1943-1945. Though technically a civilian employed by the Navy, he nevertheless served his country when she needed him. “Keep’em flying Dad!”
My granddad served in World War II aboard a PBY Catalina. He was a chief petty officer, mechanic and waist gunner. He was stationed on the Windward side of the island of Oahu, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 and his squadron was hit...and many sailors died.
Making America great again requires going back to producing quality products at this level, and in the USA. One robot and one computer replaced a third of those workers and table and ruler engineers. I was involved in the latter part of a 5A model restoration and you could see how they could be restored to near new condition because it was built and put together mostly by hand. One heck of an airplane that rescued and saved many sailors. Awesome video.
Very in-depth. This was an earlier model. Once production got into wartime swing, the 5A and others had the landing gear a permanent part of the aircraft. I'd bet you could still produce this aircraft today and people would buy it.
You all probably dont give a shit but does anybody know a trick to get back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly forgot my account password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Morgan Kaysen Thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
The PBY known in Britsh service as the Catalina, served before the US entry to WW2. An American officer flying as second pilot in a RAF Catalina ,was pivitol in the hunt for and subsequent sinking of the German Pocket Battelship Bismark. As usual ,he got no public recognition,as the US was Neuteral , so of course they didn't have men flying Combat Missions. Still beautiful things to see fly over you.
What's amazing is those still flying are still seaworthy, a tribute to the construction technics. I love the 5A it's the Warbirds to own today with a small galley and cots you can technically live onboard.
My Grandfather "William Scott" was headhunted out of Kansas and came to work at Consolidated in 39' and continued with Convair and General Dynamics for over 40 years before retiring!
Qantas used the Catalina for flights between Australia and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) during World War II. Two years after the war ended, Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) (today Air New Zealand) leased a Catalina from the RNZAF for flight training purposes, then leased another example as a survey aircraft to establish the Auckland-Suva, Suva-Satupuala(Western Samoa), Samoa-Aitutaki(Cook Islands), Cooks-Tahiti sector, which became known as the "Coral Route." Alaska Airlines also used it for services to destinations in Alaska that had no airports. Catalinas were also built in Canada by Canadian Vickers (later Canadair) for both the Canadian and U.S. air forces.
Wow, sewing the fabric by hand, what a tedious job! People these days have no idea. Also loved the room full of engineers working on drawings…with pencils! Excellent video, very informative. This flying boat has become an obsession of mine, so beautiful and awesome! A bit confused though, I thought they couldn’t take off with 1 engine down. Also, I heard they couldn’t handle rough waters long without eventual damage.
It might take off on one engine in choppy seas but a WW II PBY crewman told me that in a glassy sea they had to fire the bow chasers to break up the surface tension that held them on the water.
Впечатляюще! Это один из примеров того, почему Америка стала великой. Этот великолепный самолёт поставлялся России в рамках лендлиза. Пользуясь случаем, от всей души благодарю американский народ за неоценимую помощь, оказанную нашей стране в годы второй мировой войны.
My Dad was a PBY pilot in Brazil '43-'44, trained the Brazilian air force on PBY's (one of 8 pilots to do so) and I have his Brazilian wings hanging in a picture frame on my wall. VP-94- his Brazilian squadron- sank U662
Fantastically well-designed and built plane. Yet, even though the film says the Navy it can now "monitor 6 millions square miles", it failed to detect the Japanese "surprise" attack, a whole 2 years after the start of WWII.
Where's the twenty first century equivalent of this incredible amphibious aircraft ??? Or has the baby abandoned this tech for helicopter's ???? NEVER SEEN A HELICOPTER OF THAT SIZE LAND ON WATER !!! WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE???
