This looks as if loads have not been stowed properly and the c. of g. is at the maximum forward that's allowed. The doccie I mentioned in my earlier post shows absolutely none of what you noticed here - and it's the same aircraft!
Beautiful!!! The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Hamilton, ON, CA, still has one that flies over my home on a regular basis during the summer months. Your video has now convinced me to pony up, spend the money and go for a flight, which they usually tour over Niagara Falls! I better take my camera with me, lol! Thanks for posting!!!!!
When I was a kid, our family made a day trip to Catalina island. Took the "Great White Steamship" in the morning, and I remember watching the PB-Y taxi down the ramp into San Pedro harbor on its morning run to the island. I thought that was pretty cool. Evidently, we fooled around too long on the island and missed the return trip aboard the ship. "That's too bad, I guess we'll have to take the seaplane home..." , my Dad said. What a fantastic way to end the day. I was probably 8 or so. I remember going to the back of the plane. The window next to my seat was under water! A wonderful memory, even 60 years later. Thanks for reminding me!
Awesome memory. Wish I had the opportunity that you had. I’m 65, and as a 13-14 year old I built a model of the Catalina, and as a WWII buff, especially the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, this plane and the F4U Corsair were my favorite aircraft.
This is a great story. Looking out through a window that goes underwater during takeoff would be an incredible experience. I wonder if the flight crew told the passengers that this would happen so they would not get alarmed. I also wonder how long the window stayed underwater during takeoff. This would certainly be an experience I would like to have. Maybe if I had one choice of a World War II plane to fly in it might be a Catalina.
1980 arriving by Boeing 737 at Val de Cães airport in Belém/PA Brazil, I was startled by a PBY Catalina coming out of the water onto land, it went up the ramp and taxied nearby, leaving several passengers, they were the salvation of the people of the Amazon, they landed anywhere river or lake! 😳🤪😵💫
@@joaoleaolyrio9217That would have been a PBY 5A, the amphibious model, able to land on water or on runways. The wheels retracted into the hull, and the pontoons on the wings stayed up when landing on a runway. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
Alaska Coastal Airlines used to fly PBYs out of Juneau AK daily . As well as the Grumman Goose! One of my favorite childhood memories! Great airplane and a lot of history.
I’m in Sitka, that’s where I would see both of these wonderous planes fly. As kids we’d get close to the turnaround or the ramps on Japonski island and we’d cover our ears and laugh so hard when they powered out of the water then rolled up the ramps. Thanks to historical machines for sparking that time up in our memories.
My Uncle was a pilot in the RAF during WWII but was sent to Pensecola, Florida, USA to train on Catalina Flying Boats. On his return he was eligible to wear both RAF and USAF wings. He was mainly on search and rescue missions for downed pilots along with searching for U-boats. I have a lovely embossed photo album that he was given by the USAF in Pensecola.
My dad in the 1930s flew across the channel to Catalina on perhaps the same type of plane. It was his first flight as a child of 7 or 8 years old. Marvelous to see historical aircraft still in use today.
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was useful for reconnaissance but most famous for rescue missions. The greatest rescue mission was after the USS Indianapolis sank. The Catalina landed in heavy seas and picked up 56 survivors. They put as many as possible inside the plane and tied the rest to the wings, protecting them from exposure and shark attack and stayed afloat in the rough seas until a surface ship arrived and picked up the survivors. 56 Dumbos. The greatest mission of a Catalina during the war.
There was a Catalina on an airshow in Augsburg, Bavaria (Augsburg is not too far from Munich), I think they were from Britain, and showed "her" abilities as an amphibium, with landing gear. I thought I'd do them a favour and bought a coffee mug from them - and it turned out it was leaking!. I wrote them "Lucky that it is the mug and not the plane that is leaking, that would be a bigger issue".
My father was a radio operator on a USN PPY operating in the South Pacific during WWII. I have many photo's of his squardon but this is the first time I saw one taking off.
A friend of mine flew PBYs in the Aleutians during WWII in the US Navy. He said when operating on the ocean, you go thru the first swell taking off. The props would surge from all the water they went though. After that, you get up on the step and ride over the rest. No wonder so few remain after all the salt water they operated in.
There was a facility here in Australia in country Victoria, called Lake Boga. A number of planes were fixed, maintained & the like here, from 1942 to1947. Lake Boga is just 160km from where I live. They have a museum called “Home of the Catalina” dedicated to this time.👍🏼🇦🇺🇳🇿
Though considered an old design even in WWII, it is impressive how many valuable roles they played. Interesting how the wing floats can retract into the wingtips to reduce drag.
The Consolidated Catalina PBY which is not a flying boat but an amphibian still holds the world record set in 1943 for the longest duration commercially scheduled flight by any aircraft. QUANTAS flew one from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to Australia taking 32 hours and 9 minutes to cover 3,500 nautical miles, a record for non-stop time in the air that that has never been beaten. And the distance covered was also a world record at the time.
@@HistAvFilmUnitLeaving aside the fact that the fact that the Catalina in the video is an amphibian, I was unaware that a flying boat version existed so thank you for that information. I now wonder if the QUANTAS Cats were flying boat versions too as not having to carry the wheels and the gear to raise and lower them would have made the aircraft a good deal lighter and a little more aerodynamic thus giving them a longer range.
Great video! I am still fascinated by the takeoff procedure of Catalinas (and I believe all seaplanes and amphibians): that is to have the stick right back until it is planing. Seems to be counter-intuitive to me. Is it something to do with the high thrust line?
Does anyone know what happened to Jimmy Buffett's PBY after he passed away? I remember he flew it to Portland, Oregon in the 80's and landed in the Willamette River before his concert here. A classy way to arrive, for sure!
Talked to a gentleman at Albany Airport a he told me he was a blister gunner on a pby. He said patrolling in the gulf of mexico they ran on to a Japanese sub on the surface and he fired upon it.
I watched a show on tv a few years ago on how they made these. They wanted to find out if they were "water tight" but they didn't want to build a big enough tank to hold the plane .So somebody said Hey let's just put a water hose inside the plane cause if the water won't leak out it also won't leak in.
I was competing in the taupo Ironman back around 2010, as I was finishing lap 1 of the cycle leg, downhill Into the cbd area, I hear a roar, look up and the Catalina flies low over the top of me I assume heading to land? In the lake. Later on the run leg, it was moored to a jetty outside the hotel I was staying at. By the time I finished, though, it was gone.
Watching that takeoff - which looked a huge effort to overcome the drag of the water -set me wondering..... Which has least drag, Sea or freshwater? I'm thinking Sea will be easier to lift off from because the plane will be more bouyant in Sea water. But maybe sea water is more viscous or something?
I believe these were manufactured during the war at a factory on the upper end of Sea Island, Richmond, BC. (Vancouver). I've been in the old factory about 25 years ago. Not sure if its still there, but recall dips in the floor which made working on the wings more accessible. A lot of women worked in that factory.
What a beautifully elegant aeroplane - with the neat wingtip floats too! But those long, low-slung lines look as if they’re only marginally practical even on the flat waters of a lake. What it would be like in the open sea is another matter. And I don’t suppose this plane was weighted down with anything like the maximum fuel-load of 1500 gallons (or more) they could carry. Or any weaponry either…
WWII-era large a/c like this one, the Albatross, and all the bombers were desperately underpowered by today's standards. Lovely, stately, graceful, and impressive - but _oh, my, word_ so sluggish. The response of a 747 without the climb rate.
No pressurization, no missions that required high altitude, and no need for a high climb rate. She also has absurdly low wing loading, so the glide ratio is excellent
Can anyone tell me if and how the radial engines on a Catalina, Albatross, or any other type of high wing aircraft were turned over by hand prior to starting to eliminate hydraulic lock caused by oil?
Does it have the bowchaser turret? Also, does it have more power than the WW II versions? A former Catalina air crewman told me that in flat seas the bowchaser had to be used to break the surface tension.
Because this aircraft (delivered to RCAF in March '44) is NOT the original XX-T which made the Dumbos in Feb '44, but is simply painted in the colours of that original flying boat.
My late father-in-law flew in them for the RAAF during the war, working as a radio engineer and radio operator. I met someone recently whose father was also in one of the Australian squadrons and his job was to drive a boat ahead of the plane as it taxied for take off, creating water turbulence so that aircraft became "unstuck" more easily. This was the first time that I had heard of this happening but looking at this footage, it is easy to see why it would be desireable.
@@jonmarsden1366I am not sure where in Australia you are located, but if you get the opportunity, take a trip to the Flying Boat Museum at Lake Boga near Swan Hill in Victoria. It's a beautiful Museum with a Frankenstein PBY Catalina cobbled together from Cats scrapped at Lake Boga after the war. The reason for the Museum being at Lake Boga is that it was the Top Secret Flying Boat Repair and Servicing Base in Australia and was far enough inland to be safe from air attack from Japanese carrier aircraft. We had learnt the hard way when flying boats evacuating from Java were attacked and many destroyed during an attack on Broome. You can also check out the Museum online. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
Well,what a great fluke to land on this clip! I had the priveledge to fly in this great amphibian,twice! At Wanaka ,Easter 2002 and then 2006,when it did a touch and go,on lake Wanaka. What a thrill!! The noise of the hull through the water and the radials powering up again to lift off, was just deafening! Bloody amazing! Have flown in a CAC Mustang before this,but this is right up there!
I remember the first time I saw a drawing of one of these aircraft in a War Picture Library comic in 1958, and thinking how absolutely beautiful she was! When I was stationed in Labrador in the early 1980s I had the chance of a flight in a Newfoundland Fire Service Canso. I’m not a pilot, but the skipper let me have the controls for ten minutes, after which he said “I can see why you’re not a pilot!” I was in the right hand seat while alighting on a lake and on the subsequent takeoff. A day I’ll not forget!
Thanks for a fantastic video. Reading the history of the a/c, I realised that I must have seen this Cat when we were in Luxor in 1991. We were sat by the river when police launches cleared the traffic. A couple of minutes later a Catalina appeared and after a flyover, came in and touched down. After refuelling and taking some passengers took off again. Fantastic sight with the afternoon sun making rainbows out of the spray.
I've always thought it would be amazing to convert one of these into an "RV" and fly to different lakes and harbors around the world. No hotels, no boat trailers, no connecting flights, just the air and the sea.
Pilots loved this boat, whether they were drunk or not, no one could tell as they drifted and paddled about. Fun fact: It had more speed in the water than in the air. ☆
Always loved to see the Catalinas & also the associated yellow painted rescue boats from Rathmines on Lake Macquarie in Newcastle Australia. One of my strongest childhood memories.
My husband and I flew in this Catalina in the nineties when we lived in Hamilton. We flew from Hamilton shadowing the Waikato river to Lake Taupo, where we landed, once stopped on the water we could open our hatch by our seat and dip our hands in the lake. We got a bit swamped by boaties and took off for Lochinvar Station, a Cesna shadowed us, filming, after a night at Lochinvar we once again did some touch and goes on the lake and then to Taupo airport for tourist flights, whilst we went to town for lunch. The weekend was a fabulously run event, the Catalina the main attraction, but also the guided tour around Lochinvar station was most interesting. A bucket list outing for us.
I've always wanted one since I was a kid. I built the model. I envisioned myself in the Bahamas diving for lobsters while my girlfriends sunbathed. Oh well.
It’s amazing enough watching a flying boat take off in the 21st century when flying is old news. Imagine the wonder people had for these back in the day when a plane was still a relatively new invention. When these were built many people would easily be able to recall the days before flight.
Thanks for using a proper camera which makes the props look real. And thanks for the lack of 'music'.
amen
No worries -- that's what we do! ;-)
It's not the camera, it's the shutter speed. If it's in sync with the propeller speed it makes them look like they're not moving.
Oh but the "music" was there, thoroughly enjoyed it!
@@davidfrost801 haha me too
Wonderful to see that 'The Last African Flying Boat' has such a good home.
I never knew the Cat's sank that low in the water before takeoff.
Me neither. Looks so cool
They usually don't. Must have been packing some extra weight.
Poor camera angle for a video.
A great plane, the best of WW2
This looks as if loads have not been stowed properly and the c. of g. is at the maximum forward that's allowed. The doccie I mentioned in my earlier post shows absolutely none of what you noticed here - and it's the same aircraft!
Fresh water lake so less buoyancy than in salt water.👍
@@williampratt1066That makes sense. Thanks!
This is the second type of aeroplane I flew in. I was 6 weeks old. It was from Lae to Rabaul in 1946.
Miss seeing this aircraft around, thanks for sharing this clip
Glad you enjoyed it
Beautiful!!!
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, Hamilton, ON, CA, still has one that flies over my home on a regular basis during the summer months.
Your video has now convinced me to pony up, spend the money and go for a flight, which they usually tour over Niagara Falls!
I better take my camera with me, lol!
Thanks for posting!!!!!
Absolutely. A flight in a Cat is always great.
When I was a kid, our family made a day trip to Catalina island. Took the "Great White Steamship" in the morning, and I remember watching the PB-Y taxi down the ramp into San Pedro harbor on its morning run to the island. I thought that was pretty cool. Evidently, we fooled around too long on the island and missed the return trip aboard the ship. "That's too bad, I guess we'll have to take the seaplane home..." , my Dad said. What a fantastic way to end the day. I was probably 8 or so. I remember going to the back of the plane. The window next to my seat was under water! A wonderful memory, even 60 years later. Thanks for reminding me!
I remember seeing them in Catalina and San Pedro in the late 70s.
Awesome memory. Wish I had the opportunity that you had. I’m 65, and as a 13-14 year old I built a model of the Catalina, and as a WWII buff, especially the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, this plane and the F4U Corsair were my favorite aircraft.
This is a great story. Looking out through a window that goes underwater during takeoff would be an incredible experience. I wonder if the flight crew told the passengers that this would happen so they would not get alarmed. I also wonder how long the window stayed underwater during takeoff. This would certainly be an experience I would like to have. Maybe if I had one choice of a World War II plane to fly in it might be a Catalina.
1980 arriving by Boeing 737 at Val de Cães airport in Belém/PA Brazil, I was startled by a PBY Catalina coming out of the water onto land, it went up the ramp and taxied nearby, leaving several passengers, they were the salvation of the people of the Amazon, they landed anywhere river or lake!
😳🤪😵💫
@@joaoleaolyrio9217That would have been a PBY 5A, the amphibious model, able to land on water or on runways. The wheels retracted into the hull, and the pontoons on the wings stayed up when landing on a runway.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
They were great aircraft and did sterling service in the Pacific.... enormous range too...
Alaska Coastal Airlines used to fly PBYs out of Juneau AK daily . As well as the Grumman Goose! One of my favorite childhood memories! Great airplane and a lot of history.
Thanks for the info!
I’m in Sitka, that’s where I would see both of these wonderous planes fly. As kids we’d get close to the turnaround or the ramps on Japonski island and we’d cover our ears and laugh so hard when they powered out of the water then rolled up the ramps. Thanks to historical machines for sparking that time up in our memories.
I had the rare chance to fly in one with a splash-and-go. I enjoyed the droning to the Pratt engines, the same as they have on the DC-3.
It's common to hear people say this plane is ugly. I think it's beautiful. I had a model of one when I was a kid. I marveled at it often.
I think it's unique, and that makes it beautiful in it's own way
I remember watching them land in the channel and then power up the ramp onto the turnaround, so long ago!
My Uncle was a pilot in the RAF during WWII but was sent to Pensecola, Florida, USA to train on Catalina Flying Boats. On his return he was eligible to wear both RAF and USAF wings. He was mainly on search and rescue missions for downed pilots along with searching for U-boats. I have a lovely embossed photo album that he was given by the USAF in Pensecola.
USAF wasn't formed until 1947. Pensacola is a Navy base.
My dad in the 1930s flew across the channel to Catalina on perhaps the same type of plane. It was his first flight as a child of 7 or 8 years old. Marvelous to see historical aircraft still in use today.
The "Black Cats" are my favorites! 😃
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was useful for reconnaissance but most famous for rescue missions. The greatest rescue mission was after the USS Indianapolis sank. The Catalina landed in heavy seas and picked up 56 survivors. They put as many as possible inside the plane and tied the rest to the wings, protecting them from exposure and shark attack and stayed afloat in the rough seas until a surface ship arrived and picked up the survivors. 56 Dumbos. The greatest mission of a Catalina during the war.
Wow!! . This is the 1st time I heard of this. Sounds like it would make a good movie .✌️✌️
Beautiful Aircraft.
There was a Catalina on an airshow in Augsburg, Bavaria (Augsburg is not too far from Munich), I think they were from Britain, and showed "her" abilities as an amphibium, with landing gear.
I thought I'd do them a favour and bought a coffee mug from them - and it turned out it was leaking!.
I wrote them "Lucky that it is the mug and not the plane that is leaking, that would be a bigger issue".
A real treasure.
My father was a radio operator on a USN PPY operating in the South Pacific during WWII. I have many photo's of his squardon but this is the first time I saw one taking off.
A friend of mine flew PBYs in the Aleutians during WWII in the US Navy. He said when operating on the ocean, you go thru the first swell taking off. The props would surge from all the water they went though. After that, you get up on the step and ride over the rest. No wonder so few remain after all the salt water they operated in.
Beautiful
The Cat is an awesome airplane.
Wow....fantastic
There was a facility here in Australia in country Victoria, called Lake Boga. A number of planes were fixed, maintained & the like here, from 1942 to1947. Lake Boga is just 160km from where I live. They have a museum called “Home of the Catalina” dedicated to this time.👍🏼🇦🇺🇳🇿
I did a seaplane trip there a few years ago - magical
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness."- John Keats
Though considered an old design even in WWII, it is impressive how many valuable roles they played. Interesting how the wing floats can retract into the wingtips to reduce drag.
I have always thought that it was an incredibly elegant engineering solution.
my wife's father flew in these in WW2, they would make a wake with a speed boat so it could lift off a bit quicker
The Cat has an aura like no other plane
The Consolidated Catalina PBY which is not a flying boat but an amphibian still holds the world record set in 1943 for the longest duration commercially scheduled flight by any aircraft. QUANTAS flew one from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to Australia taking 32 hours and 9 minutes to cover 3,500 nautical miles, a record for non-stop time in the air that that has never been beaten. And the distance covered was also a world record at the time.
Some PBYs were flying boats. None of the Catalinas operated by the RNZAF during WW2 were amphibians, they were all flying boats.
@@HistAvFilmUnitLeaving aside the fact that the fact that the Catalina in the video is an amphibian, I was unaware that a flying boat version existed so thank you for that information. I now wonder if the QUANTAS Cats were flying boat versions too as not having to carry the wheels and the gear to raise and lower them would have made the aircraft a good deal lighter and a little more aerodynamic thus giving them a longer range.
WOW! Beautiful!
It really is!
Um dos hidroavião mais bonito ja construído 🌟
Airworthy "cat" in Madras Or...... a long way from water.... beautiful bird!
Great video! I am still fascinated by the takeoff procedure of Catalinas (and I believe all seaplanes and amphibians): that is to have the stick right back until it is planing. Seems to be counter-intuitive to me. Is it something to do with the high thrust line?
That was glorious. 🎉❤🎉
Does anyone know what happened to Jimmy Buffett's PBY after he passed away? I remember he flew it to Portland, Oregon in the 80's and landed in the Willamette River before his concert here. A classy way to arrive, for sure!
I used to love watching the flying Boats taking off & landing from Sydney Harbour
Miss you Gramps! VPB-52 Sqaudron WWII
Talked to a gentleman at Albany Airport a he told me he was a blister gunner on a pby. He said patrolling in the gulf of mexico they ran on to a Japanese sub on the surface and he fired upon it.
I watched a show on tv a few years ago on how they made these. They wanted to find out if they were "water tight" but they didn't want to build a big enough tank to hold the plane .So somebody said Hey let's just put a water hose inside the plane cause if the water won't leak out it also won't leak in.
My father flew PBY's out of Port Leyote in Morrocco late in the war, patrolling the Straights of Gibraltor for German submarines.
I was competing in the taupo Ironman back around 2010, as I was finishing lap 1 of the cycle leg, downhill Into the cbd area, I hear a roar, look up and the Catalina flies low over the top of me I assume heading to land? In the lake. Later on the run leg, it was moored to a jetty outside the hotel I was staying at. By the time I finished, though, it was gone.
Nice!
One of the most underrated planes of WW2…Also P-61 Black widow
Watching that takeoff - which looked a huge effort to overcome the drag of the water -set me wondering.....
Which has least drag, Sea or freshwater?
I'm thinking Sea will be easier to lift off from because the plane will be more bouyant in Sea water.
But maybe sea water is more viscous or something?
Been for a flight in XXT out of Tauranga
Amazing
I believe these were manufactured during the war at a factory on the upper end of Sea Island, Richmond, BC. (Vancouver). I've been in the old factory about 25 years ago. Not sure if its still there, but recall dips in the floor which made working on the wings more accessible. A lot of women worked in that factory.
What a beautifully elegant aeroplane - with the neat wingtip floats too!
But those long, low-slung lines look as if they’re only marginally practical even on the flat waters of a lake. What it would be like in the open sea is another matter.
And I don’t suppose this plane was weighted down with anything like the maximum fuel-load of 1500 gallons (or more) they could carry. Or any weaponry either…
WWII-era large a/c like this one, the Albatross, and all the bombers were desperately underpowered by today's standards. Lovely, stately, graceful, and impressive - but _oh, my, word_ so sluggish. The response of a 747 without the climb rate.
No pressurization, no missions that required high altitude, and no need for a high climb rate.
She also has absurdly low wing loading, so the glide ratio is excellent
I guess this one better preserved than the one at the bottom of Loch Ness. And you don't even want to know what Nessie did with it......
I like the black cat
It could have used with another two engines in sea lift off mode!, but that of course would have limited its range!
Can anyone tell me if and how the radial engines on a Catalina, Albatross, or any other type of high wing aircraft were turned over by hand prior to starting to eliminate hydraulic lock caused by oil?
Engine failure on TO…do they have performance numbers?
Would the take-off run be shorter in salt water due to the difference in buoyancy?
Not sure. I guess al up weight would be more of a factor that salt water bouncy. This flight likely had a full compliment of 16 passengers.
I always loved the look of Catalinas. Beautiful.
They don't look very well balanced for take-off. Is that normal?
I think it is. They're a bit of an ugly duckling on the water. ;-)
0:29: how the hell did they get that massive ting in to a theatre ?? musta been a big theatre ?? or was it a football stadium or something similar ??
also: how the hell did they get that massive ting in to the air ?? seems massively underpowered ??
Does it have the bowchaser turret? Also, does it have more power than the WW II versions? A former Catalina air crewman told me that in flat seas the bowchaser had to be used to break the surface tension.
Doesn't have the bow turret. Same powerplant as used during WW2.
Well, I hope it gets off the water soon.... we're running up against the end of the video!
Fingers crossed!
This aircraft is hopelessy underpowered. It hardly wants to take off... I think the Do 24 used to have a little bit more power.
What's not to like about a plane that floats on water?
For those who don’t know, taking off from water is far from easy and is akin to pulling the aircraft up from liquid chewing gum …
How did it rescue five flyers in Feb 1944 when it wasn't delivered untill March 1944?
Because this aircraft (delivered to RCAF in March '44) is NOT the original XX-T which made the Dumbos in Feb '44, but is simply painted in the colours of that original flying boat.
Expressive
Long takeoff run. Not using full power to save the engines??
P Boat.
I'm typed in them. ❤
Its not a free risk free trial period you have to hand over your credit card info and that alone carries huge risk.
My father was witnessing a Catalina crew shooting down two German planes over Ørlandet airport under the WW2.
It was possibly two Messersmith 109.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
👍
Most impressive…‼️🥂
👊🔥
🪖
What a labor to pull free of the surface...like an osprey lifting off...wonderfully dramatic....thank you.
My late father-in-law flew in them for the RAAF during the war, working as a radio engineer and radio operator. I met someone recently whose father was also in one of the Australian squadrons and his job was to drive a boat ahead of the plane as it taxied for take off, creating water turbulence so that aircraft became "unstuck" more easily. This was the first time that I had heard of this happening but looking at this footage, it is easy to see why it would be desireable.
@@jonmarsden1366 what a great solution...and great remembrance. ty
@@jonmarsden1366I am not sure where in Australia you are located, but if you get the opportunity, take a trip to the Flying Boat Museum at Lake Boga near Swan Hill in Victoria. It's a beautiful Museum with a Frankenstein PBY Catalina cobbled together from Cats scrapped at Lake Boga after the war. The reason for the Museum being at Lake Boga is that it was the Top Secret Flying Boat Repair and Servicing Base in Australia and was far enough inland to be safe from air attack from Japanese carrier aircraft. We had learnt the hard way when flying boats evacuating from Java were attacked and many destroyed during an attack on Broome.
You can also check out the Museum online.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you sir. @@jonmarsden1366
Beautiful
Listen to that purr….
Well,what a great fluke to land on this clip! I had the priveledge to fly in this great amphibian,twice! At Wanaka ,Easter 2002 and then 2006,when it did a touch and go,on lake Wanaka. What a thrill!! The noise of the hull through the water and the radials powering up again to lift off, was just deafening! Bloody amazing! Have flown in a CAC Mustang before this,but this is right up there!
Nice one!
It is so powerful to watch a Catalina
lift off from water!
Absolutely beautiful piece of history. Wise to avoid salt water exposure.
After riding so low in the water, it's an impressive sight to see the Catalina get on step and break free of the surface friction.
Such a beautiful sight and sound.
It was!
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
I love Catalina airplanes! 🤩
One of my favorite airplanes. A very graceful looking bird.
Absolutely beautiful.
Its always remarkable to see something designed to fly to also be designed to float.
Art by engineering.
and a slide rule
Take a look at a tour through the inside. It's also designed to be lived in.
They sure do sit low in fresh water.
Really awesome to watch. Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Best sea plane ever built !
I remember the first time I saw a drawing of one of these aircraft in a War Picture Library comic in 1958, and thinking how absolutely beautiful she was!
When I was stationed in Labrador in the early 1980s I had the chance of a flight in a Newfoundland Fire Service Canso. I’m not a pilot, but the skipper let me have the controls for ten minutes, after which he said “I can see why you’re not a pilot!” I was in the right hand seat while alighting on a lake and on the subsequent takeoff.
A day I’ll not forget!
Thanks for a fantastic video. Reading the history of the a/c, I realised that I must have seen this Cat when we were in Luxor in 1991. We were sat by the river when police launches cleared the traffic. A couple of minutes later a Catalina appeared and after a flyover, came in and touched down. After refuelling and taking some passengers took off again. Fantastic sight with the afternoon sun making rainbows out of the spray.
That would have been an awesome sight (on the Nile).
It makes a grown man cry.
I've always thought it would be amazing to convert one of these into an "RV" and fly to different lakes and harbors around the world. No hotels, no boat trailers, no connecting flights, just the air and the sea.
I have has similar thoughts, though it would be outrageously expensive!
There was a company in USA that did just that, they bought ex Airforce ones after ww2 and con erted them into RV's
Pilots loved this boat, whether they were drunk or not, no one could tell as they drifted and paddled about.
Fun fact: It had more speed in the water than in the air. ☆
Always loved to see the Catalinas & also the associated yellow painted rescue boats from Rathmines on Lake Macquarie in Newcastle Australia. One of my strongest childhood memories.
My husband and I flew in this Catalina in the nineties when we lived in Hamilton. We flew from Hamilton shadowing the Waikato river to Lake Taupo, where we landed, once stopped on the water we could open our hatch by our seat and dip our hands in the lake. We got a bit swamped by boaties and took off for Lochinvar Station, a Cesna shadowed us, filming, after a night at Lochinvar we once again did some touch and goes on the lake and then to Taupo airport for tourist flights, whilst we went to town for lunch. The weekend was a fabulously run event, the Catalina the main attraction, but also the guided tour around Lochinvar station was most interesting. A bucket list outing for us.
I've always wanted one since I was a kid. I built the model. I envisioned myself in the Bahamas diving for lobsters while my girlfriends sunbathed. Oh well.
Nice dream! :-)
I swear that I could hear the pilot telling the guy on the yacht to get out the f*ckin' way.
It’s amazing enough watching a flying boat take off in the 21st century when flying is old news. Imagine the wonder people had for these back in the day when a plane was still a relatively new invention. When these were built many people would easily be able to recall the days before flight.
Such a beautiful aircraft. So art deco.
A Catalina is a beautiful thing.