Here she is... in all her glory.

[Kerrowdown]

Catalinas are such cool planes. Always have liked flying boats and planes with floats. Excellent shot of the old bird.

Thank you, interestingly the two outriggers/floats fold upwards and become the wing tips.

[Kerrowdown]

So that's a Catalina.

An old guy I knew told me that General De Gaulle escaped from France to Britain in one of those in 1940. My friend commanded an anti-aircraft battery near Southampton, down by the Solent. At the time that France fell to invasion, a Catalina came up the Solent towards Southampton water, and my friend and his sergeant through their binoculars could not recognise it at first. They had never seen a Catalina before. His sergeant was jumping up and down saying "Shoot it down, it's not one of ours!". But my friend was saying "Wait! Wait!" and frantically leafing through the recognition book. He had an inkling it was American, and found it just in time.

He nearly had it shot down. His guns were trained on it and it would have been an easy hit. There had been no advance warning of De Gaulle's arrival, probably no-one knew. It touched down near Southampton Docks and he only learned who it was carrying the next day. How easily history could have been different.

Interesting tale, sounds like the VIP has a lucky escape.

[aslyfox]

Nice shot. They were a great aircraft. In WWII the RAAF did 20 hour flights in them from Port Moresby to Truk and back, to drop a few bombs and gather some intel.

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was the most-built flying boat of World War II: 3281 were built in the USA and Canada, and several hundred in the USSR. (The Soviet version was known as GST, MP-7 or KM-2, depending on the engines.) The prototype had flown in 1935, so it was not a modern aircraft, and performance was modest. The PBY was jocularly described as the slowest combat aircraft of the war. But it was a sturdy, reliable aircraft, ideally suited for long patrols over the ocean . . .

Consolidated PBY Catalina - Aircraft - Fighting the U-boats - uboat.net



this plane actually saw service in WW II on antisubmarine patrols out of Canada

The Catalina plane G-PBYA "Miss Pick Up" was stranded in Loch Ness as a result of engine failure. The blister window was subsequently damaged as a result of a collision with a boat. An RNLI lifeboat was called out at about 17:50 on Saturday and took the aircraft to moor in Urquhart Bay.. . .,

https://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/244291

G-PBYA was originally ordered for the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Canso A amphibian, basically equivalent to the US Navy PBY-5A. It was built by Canadian Vickers at Cartierville, Quebec and was allocated their constructors number CV-283 before adopting the RCAF serial 11005. It was taken on charge by the air force on 27 October 1943 and initially saw service with 9 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron at Bella Bella on the British Columbia coast between Vancouver and Prince Rupert. It was on their inventory from November to the following August. 9 Squadron had been based at Bella Bella for some time prior to the arrival of Cansos, having operated Supermarine Stranraers there. The Cansos were mainly operated from water despite their amphibious undercarriages and were used on day and night patrols, looking out for enemy submarines. By mid-1944, the threat of a Japanese invasion of Western Canada had receded and it was decided to disband 9 Squadron and close the station at Bella Bella. The Cansos, including 11005, were flown to Alliford Bay in the Queen Charlotte Islands, also in British Columbia, and transferred to 7 (BR) Squadron in August. The job was the same – anti-submarine patrols mostly – and 11005 remained with 7 Sqn until it too was disbanded on 25 July 1945. During this period of 11005’s service, it would have flown with an overall matt white hull and upper surfaces, the lower hull being gloss white.. . . preparation for British registry as G-PBYA and it was re-registered as such on November 19th, 2004 . . . .

https://www.catalina.org.uk/our-catalina-g-pbya/

[Kerrowdown]

Update

If the weather conditions are favourable tomorrow morning, she is due to be craned back into the Loch and to take off on the first stage of her journey home.

I planing to go and cover this... subject to security, access and the like.

[aslyfox]

Update

If the weather conditions are favourable tomorrow morning, she is due to be craned back into the Loch and to take off on the first stage of her journey home.

I planing to go and cover this... subject to security, access and the like.

watch out for Nessie

[Kerrowdown]

watch out for Nessie

Her and I are old friends, “Miss Pick Up” will just need to drive around her on take off.