Thought some of you may like to see this video that was forwarded to me by a friend.

Great video . WW II history . Restored PBY takes to air again .


Really interesting plane!




http://vimeo.com/99919462


Hawk

Thanks for sharing, Hawk! My Granddad flew PBYs in the Pacific and one of my biggest regrets is not talking to him more about his experiences.

They just ripped up German U boats towards end of the war. One tactic after being equipped with radar, they would be at max altitude at night scanning for the subs surfaced charging the batteries. After target was identified they would cut the engines (non feathered) and glide to the target. Once over the target they would light up the engines and light up the search lights then raise heck with the 50 's., No chance for the U boats.

Tim

Thanks for sharing. I got my MES and Type on the same ride in the CAT. When she was sold I took her from Dallas to Hamburg at 90 Kts. My ears are still ringing

Here is some fascinating PBY history with exceptional photographs!

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... mares.aspx

There is a PBY that has been sitting at the airport in Puerto Ordaz for years....it's all there. Tail fabric is gone... Could never find the person who had the authority to sell it?
Mark M.

260driver,
My grandfather was a navigator in a PBY in the Pacific also. It was very hard to get him to talk about his experiences. One story I do remember.

For training the PBY's were to go out and find different remote or relatively unknown locations. This one time my grandfather's PBY went out to find a small island. When they got to the location of the island, there was nothing to be found. The rest of the crew got after my grandfather for not doing his job properly. They flew around the area thinking they had to be close, but never were able to find this small island. Eventually they gave up (or were low on fuel, I can't remember) and headed back to their base. When they got back they found out that the map they were using was incorrect. So they were probably exactly where they thought they were, just that no island actually existed there.

Navigators before computers completely amaze me. Navigating by a paper map, sextant, and flight computer(slide ruler) and were extremely accurate.

Kneel

Cplne wrote:Thanks for sharing. I got my MES and Type on the same ride in the CAT. When she was sold I took her from Dallas to Hamburg at 90 Kts. My ears are still ringing

!!!

The Catalina is on my bucket list for airplanes to fly. Did you own it, or were you flying it for someone else?

Oh, welcome to BCP, btw