PBY Catalina | Consolidated's flying boat and amphibious aircraft | World War II Seaplane | Upscaled

[@Dronescapes]

Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: kzbin.info/aero/PLBI4gRjPKfnNx3Mp4xzYTtVARDWEr6nrT

[@marcsmith7037]

Dad was a US Navy "Enlisted Pilot", assigned to VP-11 (a Black Cat squadron) in 1942, flying PBY-5 and 5a throughout the South Pacific. Solomons, New Guinea, Australia, etc. Participated in the Sepik River (New Guinea) extraction of about 200 Aussie raiders from behind enemy lines. Did two tours in PBYs. Retired with 30 in '69. We still eat using the USN-marked silverware from the galley of his last P-boat when decommissioned.

[@sheogoraththedaedricprince9675]

That is awesome! I love everything about this aircraft. I've heard of the black cats. The stuff of legends right there.

[@PK-mw7et]

Really appreciated this video. My father was rescued by a Catalina after floating for 16 hours tied to the nose wheel of his Liberator, which had ditched in the Bay of Bengal.

[@Dronescapes]

👍❤

[@thomasharroun8068]

PBY piloted by Adrian Marks rescued 56 sailors from the USS Indianapolis after the ship was sunk at the end of World War II. The crew tied sailors to the wings after room inside was filled. The aircraft acted as a lifeboat, protecting the sailors from exposure and the risk of shark attack, until rescue ships arrived. The aircraft did not fly again.

[@Dronescapes]

Amazing. Thanks for adding the story Thomas

[@Chris_at_Home]

My Dad was friends with one of those survivors and the ordeal caused his hair to turn white.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@Chris_at_Home Was his name Quint?

[@Chris_at_Home]

@@dukecraig2402 I cant remember, I met him a few times and I saw him at my Dad’s funeral over 20 years ago. He lived in Brooksville, Fl.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@Chris_at_Home Sorry, it went over your head, I was referencing Robert Shaw's character Quint from the movie Jaws who was an Indianapolis survior and gives a memorable account of it's sinking and when the sharks "came cruising" the next day. If you're not familiar with it just enter "Quint's USS Indianapolis account" here on KZbin, it's one of the greatest 5 minutes or so ever caught on film.

[@reidbronson6358]

My Dad was a Flight Engineer on a Catalina at Dutch Harbor. Dad received his training in Chicago. He met Mom at a big Downtown Bank. Mom was a teller. Dad went to cash his paycheck. Being a Sailor, he picked the prettiest teller, Mom. Being a Sailor, Dad asked her out. Dad Being a Sailor, Mom said no. Every payday, Dad asked her out. Finally, Mom said yes. Her German Catholic Yankee parents were leery of this Southern, Protestant Sailor. He eventually won them over. Early June 1942, Dad's Catalina was out looking for the Japanese Fleet. They received orders not to return to Dutch Harbor as Japanese Carrier plane were bombing the hell out of Dutch Harbor. The crew decided to keep looking for the Japanese even though they knew the crew would be the water very soon. Running out of fuel, the Catalina radioed their position. Being a seaplane the Catalina was able to set down in the water, but the Catalina quickly floundered in the heavy seas. The crew managed to all get into the life raft. After three days, they were rescued by a US Destroyer. After time in the hospital for exposure, the crew got 30 day's survivor's leave. When Dad reached Seattle, he called Mom. He said he'd be home in 3 days and they should get married. Mom accepted. The Church ladies arranged a wedding in only 3 days. Both the Catholic Church and the City of Elmhurst waved some requirements. After a week at a downtown hotel, Dad was back on a train heading back to the Pacific. Back to the war. What a magnificent generation. Dad passed at 93 in 2013. 27 years in the Navy. 20 years at McDonnell Aircraft building F-4s and F-15s. We loved him. Nine children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are named after Dad. Including me and my son. Thank you. Reid Thomas Bronson God we miss him. Mom's still with us. She turns 99 in two months. Tough Navy Wife.

[@southronjr1570]

Your story sounds a lot like my Grandparents, Grandpa was a weapons/comms specialist in a calvary unit in 1942 in training at the Army training school in Athens Ga, Grandma was walking down the street with her best friend and my Grandpa with 2 friends came up and started talking to them. They were married in June 1943, a week before he shipped out for England. My mom was born 9 months all most to the day after he came home in June 1945. He spent 10 months riding his way to Germany with the 5th Armored Div, first in the hull of M4 tanks, after his 3rd M4 was knocked out with him being the only survivor, his CO transferred him to being recon for his unit riding in Dodge 1 ton trucks, Half tracks, and occasionally a jeep with him being the radio man for a Lt or Capt. He passed away in April of 96 and Grandma passed away in April of 2016. They have 4 children, 13 Grandchildren, and at last count 28 great grandchildren, and as of now 2 Great Great grandchildren and counting.

[@thomasreid2815]

😂😂😮😮😮

[@rogerw3818]

There is nothing more beautiful than a vehicle that is seen as nothing but a collection of flaws, yet performs brilliantly in multiple jobs that no other vehicle can accomplish.

[@michaelturner2500]

My dad flew Black Cats in the pacific theater. A Chief Aviation Pilot, he was commissioned when war was declared. Retired with 30 years of service at NASNI.

[@motoartosorno8945]

I love the PBY. First plane in fly direct between Continental Chile and Easter Island ( Isla de Pascua). Using Stars as GPS, almost 4000 km in 20 Hours in 1951. A milestone for this great plane and for our country . Thanks for you time to do this video.

[@pukicat]

Hi Moto Art , good comment . The ManuTara flight from La Serena , Chile to Easter Island in 1951 was a total of 2047 nautical miles (3791 Km. ) and it took 19 hours and 22 mins. Unfortunately the plane was damaged on take off and could not be repaired there and then so the pilots and the crew had to be taken back to the continent on a Navy vessel. I have no details of what happened to the plane after this accident but Apparently the Manu Tara was somehow taken to tha continent and lost sometime later , pity ! Cheers mate!

[@alimtimm7355]

God, I remember going in one. The blister bubble room can fit at least 12 people on each side, and the mid section can fit one person in the wing mast, and 4 seats can be fitted surrounding the wheel wells. The front section can fit 4 seats on either side and 2 jump seats on the wall that divides the main hold from the cockpit. I never thought me, 5’8, could fit in one. But trust me, their bigger in the interior then outside. Perfect plane for me.

[@stevekirby6034]

My father, Stan Kirby, was an aviation machinist mate on a PBY on the Aleutian Islands during WW2. Love you and miss you everyday dad. Thank you.

[@sheogoraththedaedricprince9675]

Thank you for your story. I'm A fourth generation Navy sailor. I respect every service member in this era. People were built differently back then. 🫡

[@lindasuprenant6531]

My dad, Philip E. Suprenant, was the flight engineer on the USCG PBY Catalina the "Miami Mammy" during WW2. They flew anti submarine patrols, and air sea rescue out of Banana River FL, Elizabeth City NC, Salem MA, and San Diego. On occasion, when people would insult Coast Guardsmen by calling them "shallow water sailors" my dad always said to tell them that he never rescued anyone who wasn't glad to see him. I am still so proud of him.

[@Dronescapes]

👍👍❤

[@michaelemory552]

USCG - always needed - my service. Had I been in during that war I’d have tried for what your father did. Before I joined I was ridiculed as cruel for even considering. I mentioned rescue and the dippy girl said, “Well the people can organize to do that.” “Guess what,” said I. Decades later I still get that attitude from Veterans Affairs … Army. Best guys in the Coast Guard underway are Marine Vietnam Vets.

[@shenmisheshou7002]

I went into a PBY once and I was pretty shocked at how small it was inside. Later, thinking the B-17 was much larger, I was even more surprised at how small it was inside.

[@topixfromthetropix1674]

My dad was a Navy flyer. In the European phase of the war he taught dive bombers at Pensacola in Corsairs. In the Pacific theater, he flew a converted B-17, it was a hospital plane that took wounded soldiers from Guam to Pearl and then to Oakland. He said the PBY was his favourite airplane. My mom had a picture of him flying a B-17 under the Golden Gate Bridge.

[@johnfrancis4809]

Just saw hours of Victory at Sea documentary on 2 DVDs. Speechless

[@davidrohlader3498]

In 1968,my wife and I flew from St. Croix to St. Thomas in a PBY on Antilles Airway. I took photos from the machine gun bubble.

[@TheRoyalBavarian]

I know it was primarily a war plane but I find this craft absolutely romantic. Sailing over the ocean under a full moon looking out one of the blisters. Fantastic.

[@stephencummins7589]

In my opinion,the Catalina and the Moskito are the two most beautiful planes ever built, if I had the money I would own them both.

[@a24-45]

My uncle piloted black cats out of Darwin in WWII on minelaying missions after dark. He actually took my father(an Ack Ack gunner based at a nearby airfield) on a couple of non-mission supply/practice flights. My dad told me decades later that the gorgeously unique whale-like hull of the Catalina is designed for aquaplaning. The goal of the pilot during takeoff is to reach a speed where the hull is "up on the step", that is, the cutaway section of the front underside is gliding over the water, and is not submerged. This is the same principle which operates in small sailing boats when they are "on the plane". Though a Cat's maximum speed was never high, a Cat would achieve a sudden acceleration once it started planing, which was needed for successful takeoff. The Aussie cats were usually so heavily loaded with munitions that getting the Cat up on the step was never assured; also choppy water and wind conditions could interfere with getting on the step too -- especially after putting down on the open ocean. Missions could be cancelled simply because the wind direction might not allow that minimum takeoff speed to be achieved. Apparently takeoff was the most tense moment of any flight.

[@johnrudy9404]

Of the many planes of WW2, my absolute favorites are the PBY and Vaught F4U Corsair. Graceful lines and intristing appearance(but not for the enemy.😎).

[@adriaanboogaard8571]

Excellent program. Great detail without overdoing it. Very well done .

[@Dronescapes]

Thanks 🙏

[@alexius23]

During the hunt for the Bismarck a PBY found the battleship & gave vital information to the Royal Navy. It came out, long after the War, that a USN pilot was on that PBY long before the US had entered WWII.

[@briankdey1746]

I wish they talked about its expansive civil aviation career and that some were even converted into motor homes of the sky. One of which was involved in a frightening international incident off the coast of Egypt.

[@josephkrupp7430]

In the '80s I worked with a gentleman that was a radioman/gunner on a PBY in the Aleutian islands of Alaska. He said he was shot down twice by the Japanese and no crew members were hurt. He stayed with the aircraft while the rest of the crew walked back. While the crew walked back the repair/rescue team arrived. He said he beat them back to base both times.

[@kenbellchambers4577]

My dad was a wireless air gunner on a Catalina. He was the radio operator in other words. He was a flight sergeant. He was in the RCAF stationed in Cole Harbour on Vancouver, (or possibly Victoria Island). He had the job of shooting down Japanese incendiary bomb balloons that were carried by the air currents over the Pacific from Japan to the Northwest Coast of Canada and the USA. The primary duty of his unit was conducting submarine patrols. He enjoyed shooting down the ballons with a fifty-cal. machine gun. He met my mom in British Columbia, they got married and I was born one month after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The fallout came the same way as the bomb ballons, so I suspect that I am fairly radioactive.

[@scottgorman7166]

I was fortunate enough to see a PBY flying, landing in Long Beach, Ca harbor in the early 80's. While sailing our Cal 29 we were pretty close at times to get wonderful memories.. Boy she was a beauty and a sight to see

[@timmccann2293]

My father Lt. jg Richard E. McCann flew the PBY5A with VP 84 Pat Wing 8. Pat Wing 8 was initially stationed in Iceland to protect the Lend Lease shipments to the UK. Later the wing mission changed to the South Atlantic. Dad flew missions from Jacksonville NAS to as far south as Rio Di Janeiro. These mission lasted for over 12 hours. And the did it week in week out . I still have his flight chart when he flew from Alameda NAS to Oahu NAS Hawaii. They ferried in new aircraft to replace the Black Cats . One of his last missions was flying security around the San Francisco Bay during the conference that established the United Nations. Amazing guys and a wonderful aircraft. Wish he was here to see this.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

There has been one on a plinth at Lake Boga in Victoria Australia. With some government money they have built a hangar over it. The chap that gave us the talk said that they were trying to get it operational again. Considering the decades on the plinth evidently the airframe was still sound. Lake Boga was the seaplane repair station during WW2. The area used was very large, some buildings and all the concrete are still there.

[@chrisbanbury]

This plane is so romantic. It could be the perfect family live-aboard to travel the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

[@jeffthompson9622]

I enjoyed seeing a PBY Catalina that operated out of Berkeley Airport in SC for quite a while in the '90s or early 2000s to fight forest fires.

[@jockellis]

My son in law, an airline pilot, told me of seeing this.

[@craighaldane3596]

One of my all time favourite planes ever.

[@paulware4701]

I don't know why but I absolutely love flying boats. I don't much like flying and I'm terrified of the water, so go figure. I think it's the sheer practicality behind their conception, something that didn't need a runway to take off and "land". Like so many great concepts, it died because of harsh realities (the war) and was never revisited in the way it should have been. I would love to fly on a flying boat, but I suspect I never will.

[@pratapbalakrishna3036]

Me too, I would love to see flying boats come back, something which is old , yet so practical, needs to be resurrected.

[@306champion]

Yep, I can relate to that mate.

[@gmg1985]

In the Royal Canadian Air Force, they were called PBY-5A Canso. They were not painted ... they were metal-colored and they flew from Newfoundland, Iceland and Scotland. They escorted convoys, individual ships like the fast moving Queen Mary, dropped supplies to Norwegian resistance fighters, captured and sunk U-boats and rescued air crews and shipwreck sailors. In the last year of the war, they were equipped with radar. I know this because I have my father's log books from RCAF Sqn 162.

[@nataliedyson1851]

My uncle flew Catalinas during WW2. He did his training at Pensacola. He lived the plane.

[@Dronescapes]

👍👍

[@maureencora1]

The PBY -5A Catalina is My Favorite Seaplane.

[@stephenboice7324]

I've loved this plane since I was given a 1/72 model of it in the 1970's. Still have it :) Thanks for the excellent video.

[@Dronescapes]

Very cool!

[@stulynn2005]

Aside from its awesome history, I always thought it would make a great flying RV

[@roberthemingway7419]

My dad was a PB2Y pilot during WW2 in the Pacific. He loved it Except in combat, they were a sitting duck. He was often thankful for good gunners.

[@connormclernon26]

If I had the money for it, I’d buy a Catalina and use it as my go anywhere aircraft. If I had the sort of stupid money where I could afford to do it, I’d make a Catalina analogue with all modern tech so it could keep going as long as possible and be as eco friendly as an airplane can reasonably be.

[@ko9446]

My mentor was a PBY pilot. He earned a distinguished flying cross for landing on ice to save a crew of a bomber that went down.

[@Dronescapes]

❤

[@BobK58]

My dad was a gunner on PBYs during WWII. He was stationed at Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Lucky for me, he never saw any combat.

[@WeazelJaguar]

Our Hamilton, Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has one, and it flew by earlier today, Thanksgiving weekend, 2022! I want one!!!!

[@mcjdubpower]

My Grandfather was sparks on the Catalina during WW2

[@frednutz1604]

Love to get a copy of the thumbnail you used for this vid. My father is there somewhere. He was an electrician on them during WWII in the Solomon islands.

[@stevefranklin9920]

I always did love this aircraft! Next to the A-10 of course!

[@ddburdette]

It was a PBY that spotted the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway.

[@stan2719]

Love this channel!! Always have great documentaries

[@chrisgriffiths2533]

The Catalina an Impressive Plane. Well Done USA.

[@rikkitikkitavi3118]

Emphasis should have been placed on the " pilots lifesaving" function the Catalina's performed.

[@RetiredPilot]

Many of these aircraft were converted to be water bombers and were very successful in that job. One of my first jobs was flying as a bird dog for PBY's doing forest fire bombing in British Columbia.

[@robharris5467]

My uncle was a flight engineer/gunner with 6 Squadron RNZAF based in Fiji and then the Solomons during WW2. I recaqll he was always very careful to differentiate between amphibians and flying boats. The latter having only bolt-on trailer wheels for haulouts on the dock. Amphibians are still around because of their versatility for air shows and the like.

[@peterswatton7400]

Your Uncle was in the same unit as my old friend, Arthur Peryman, also a flight engineer. Arthur worked for Air new Zealand after the war. he was also a keen model engineer building many steam locos. He passed away in 2016.

[@robharris5467]

Thanks for that anecdote Peter. My uncle Bruce Andrews went on to a successful career in farm machinery after the war, but many RNZAF people did go to the airlines. Post war all civilian airliners including the early jets had FEs. Now it's just two pilots and a v sophisticated flight management system. Best@@peterswatton7400

[@robertscheinost179]

Great video on a great flying boat. Thanks!

[@Dronescapes]

♥️👍🙏

[@troyt6864]

My grandfather was a nose gunner during WW2.

[@Dronescapes]

Bless him

[@hertzair1186]

Always wondered how the PBY would fly with R-2800 engines with the 2000 hp, instead of the 1200 hp engines…

[@louiebrake1297]

My grandfather was on the first pby to fly around the world before the war

[@Dronescapes]

😮 please feel free to share any memories, if you have time Louie

[@roberttalarsky4238]

My Late Father Flew PBY , Black Cat's

[@b5442]

thank you.

[@TheMonolake]

Bless world war 2 and all the cool planes it invented

[@maineman11]

A video about the 'Fairchild J2K' would be great.

[@guypehaim1080]

The wing plan looks a lot like the majority of Cessna wings. The aircraft appears to be very stable with its parasol wing position and it looks as if it was easy to fly. I wonder how balanced the controls were.

[@JohnB-ei1ic]

My father was in the Pacific with the Black Cats. Only.night missions except during full moon Torpedo runs and dropping flares behind the Japanese ships to make them easy to sink.

[@Dronescapes]

👍❤

[@platoon1026]

Would like to see a video about often neglected seaplane tenders.

[@oldgysgt]

Sorry guys, but the PB in PBY stands for Patrol Bomber, not Patrol Boat.

[@RobertClolery-h5r]

My father was in the USN after the war and told me how on the first flight they put you in the gin blister so you could see the wings flap!

[@sirswerve2493]

The king of the Seaplanes!

[@danielhixson3717]

There was a guy who tried to use a Catalina to run vacation tours up the Nile. With planned stops for sight seeing, and at river side hotels. But the further up stream they got they ended up higher in ground elevation, so the wings quickly became less efficient. Too bad, the PBY's observation blisters were perfect for this.

[@pedalingthru2719]

Huh that's strange since the cat had a service ceiling of 16,800 ft don't think any of the Amazon River is that high.

[@danielhixson3717]

@@pedalingthru2719 Yeah, right? That's what I thought. I saw it in a documentary, I'm hunting it now. I'm pretty sure it affected take off airspeed. I suppose that it's just different for an 'honest to God' seaplane rather than a float plane.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@pedalingthru2719 Not if he had it overloaded.

[@markfryer9880]

@@pedalingthru2719 Nile River in Africa, the Amazon River is in Brazil, South America.

[@pedalingthru2719]

@@markfryer9880 dosent matter neither river has a navigational section above 16,800 ft

[@RobertClolery-h5r]

PS It was also one of the many planes that hung from my bedroom ceiling as a boy.

[@somebodyelse836]

There is a wrecked one on the island of Diego García.

[@bravevoice2771]

Did the cloth wing make it slightly stealthy?

[@mickzammit6794]

Beautiful weren't they? There was one at Shute Harbour in the Whitsundays of Australia. First the wings were removed then it was a pathetic looking floating dump someone lived in and then it vanished. Shame.

[@paulchsney5994]

My X helped build the Cat during WWII in New Orleans.

[@nmflyerrobbin5413]

VERY INTERESTING

[@Dronescapes]

🙏

[@73Trident]

A war winning aircraft. Way to many things to list.

[@russbell6418]

He says the PB2Y was not manufactured as an amphibian, though some were, including two in this video.

[@jockellis]

Steel frame?

[@johncoe929]

A PBY scored the only successful American aerial torpedo hit at the Battle of Midway.

[@johnfrancis4809]

Always an impressive aircraft and crews. Navigation at night!! Wow Did not about the Indianapolis involvement. Why not in the movie??

[@PaulP999]

Enjoyable video with some very nice views but have to mention, at 11.30, NOT Double Wasps but Twin Wasps, very different engines....and why would you expect it to dive bomb?

[@donaldclark8692]

Was the crew chief on one for 5 years.

[@supermeshpool]

PBY saved USA!

[@madzen112]

I love that machine

[@Dronescapes]

👍♥️👍

[@frankie7000]

Pb stood for patrol bomber not patrol boat, the navy b-25 was pbj the privateer was pb4y and neither of these aircraft were flying boats.

[@maryrafuse3851]

Just wondering if any of your viewers had relatives that flew out of the US Navy seaplane base located in North Sydney, Nova Scotia? I would appreciate any remembrances.

[@shoominati23]

The Black Cats flew out of Crawley Western Australia .. There had been a plane located to be restored and placed as a monument inside a museum building on the riverside there, but the local government nixxed it as prejudicial to native title, I guess the fact that we aren't speaking Japanese now doesn't figure in their thought process...

[@markfryer9880]

My late mate Bill Clarke would have flown out of there as an Airframe Rigger/Air Gunner on the China Run missions. Leave Australia, fly up into the Islands, land and take on extra fuel and mines and then fly up to Japan and into the Sea of Japan. Ending up just off the coast of China to lay sea mines to help cripple the Japanese War Effort. Turn around, fly back over Japan and then head back to the Island base, refuel and then head back to Australia. Mission Time, assuming that you returned safely, 27 hours. Vale Bill. LEST WE FORGET. Mark from Melbourne Australia

[@shoominati23]

@@markfryer9880 Yes, and every passenger that flew on the Perth - Ceylon mail route received a certificate stating that they were now a member of the 'Order of the Double Sunrise' !

[@melheinrich5438]

Navy and air force should bring them back into operation. They'll be cheaper than the osprey aircraft and further distance in flights. Saved so many airmen at sea as well as military 🪖 operations. Japan has one as of now in use.

[@stulynn2005]

And there was 18,482 B24s built in WW2

[@cattuong9062]

catalina is awesome I can use it to post on facebook

[@Dronescapes]

👍

[@JohnShields-xx1yk]

PB stands for patrol bomber. 🇺🇸

[@Grams79]

PBY @ KSUW by Commemorative Air Force Lake Superior Squadron

[@joebfnl1079]

Another aircraft that needs to be put back into production!. And guess how they tested for leaks?, They filled the hull's up with water!!!...

[@joebfnl1079]

Guess how they tested for leaks on the PBY's?. They filled the hull's up with water!.

[@rd468magnum]

OK checkit out-if someone were to build this plane again,with improved engines and materials.what would you have then?

[@russbell6418]

A beautiful, antiquated design. Slightly more efficient, but not exactly a Bombardier 415. The unfortunate fact is that it takes incredible infrastructure to maintain an antique in flying condition, and the more complex, the more difficult. And no one is going to dump a few million into re-engineering just to match appearances. Even something as useful and marginally affordable as the Beech Staggerwing, when duplicated as the updated Griffon Lionheart, couldn’t function financially.

[@paulrichards2365]

Great Documentary, but painful to listen to the narrator.

[@the1magageneral323]

Here's a toast to the host Of those who love the vastness of the sky, To a friend, we send a message of his brother men who fly. We drink to those who gave their all of old, Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold. A toast to the host of men we boast, the U.S. Air Force! Off we go into the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun; Here they come zooming to meet our thunder, At 'em, boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!) Down we dive, spouting our flame from under, Off with one helluva roar! We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey! Nothing will stop the U.S. Air Force! Salute to the WW2 Army Aircorps!

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

A cat spotted the Bismark and helped the British Royal Navy ultimately sink her. PB stands for Patrol Bomber. Y was the code letter the navy assigned to Consoladated aircraft. The PB2Y was called the Coronado.

[@yahatinda]

STEEL WING...... WHAT WAS ITS WEIGHT

[@pedalingthru2719]

If the cat had a 4000 mile range why was there a mid ocean gap where convoys had no air coverage. ?it is only 2773 miles from Halifax to England.

[@dukecraig2402]

Because ranges are dependent on how an aircraft is configured. Rating aircraft performance is a tricky thing and Wikipedia makes for a poor source for information because it can make it seem that you get maximum range and maximum altitude and maximum payload all at once when in fact you don't, the heavier you load an aircraft the shorter the range and the lower it can fly. The number given for a 4,000 mile range are probably just for a standard configuration PBY with a minimum crew and no weapons, load on 500 lb bombs under the wings for dropping on submarines and your range and altitude start decreasing not only from the weight but also from the drag of having bombs strapped to the plane. A good source for the actual range of a PBY configured for that type of duty would either be the pilots manual or the NACA test reports either of which could be found online. Edit, just looked up the specs on the PBY, he misspoke, the range is 4,000 kilometers not miles. Also as I said that's for a standard configuration PBY not one after it's got bombs and torpedoes strapped to the outside of it, just like the listed range for something like a P47 doesn't include if you strap bombs and rockets on it, the listed range is only for standard fighter configuration. And I'm pretty sure after the PBY came into play there was no longer a gap in protection for convoys in the Atlantic, pretty sure that gap only existed early on when the PBY wasn't being used yet and aircraft designed in the late 20's and early 30's were, the mid/late 30's saw the development of the successful aircraft engine's and subsequently the aircraft that were used during WW2.

[@markfryer9880]

@@dukecraig2402 The VLR Liberators and Escort Carriers helped to close the Black Gap. VLR, Very Long Range, stripped to the bone and carrying extra fuel, the VLR Liberators were like flying gas cans, equipped with a handful of depth charges, a couple of machine guns and a search radar.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@markfryer9880 Yea I know there were other aircraft involved in closing the gap that existed in the convoy route at the beginning of the war, the Navy version of the Liberator could probably fly all the way from England to Halifax and back on one load of fuel, I think I also remember reading that Coast Guard ships from both the US and England had their ranges extended or they got longer range boats capable of going the distance for the sake of picking up sailors from sunken ships because the convoys and their escorts couldn't stop, even in a lifeboat going in the water during the early days of the convoys was a death sentence.

[@russbell6418]

In addition to the iffiness of the published range numbers. It took about the first year of USA’s involvement in the war to get the landing fields and fueling capabilities on Greenland and Iceland completed. Also, zero-zero landings were still five decades away. Bad weather interdiction was still as much art as science at the end of WWII, and flights often were not launched unless there was a good chance of a safe return. We have a difficult time imagining the functional demands faced by the aircrews of that era. Heroic is kind of an understatement.

[@77Zach]

you sound like an old buddy i played war thunder with his name was konrad

[@terryfletcher6465]

A true lady!

[@Giovannchile]

Why Catalina name?

[@Dronescapes]

Dear Giovanni, the plane was named after the Santa Catalina Island, in California.

[@Giovannchile]

@@Dronescapes Thanks. I emphasize that in addition to the video, relevant are the comments of those who had their parents or grandparents in the war scene; they tell what is not in the videos.

[@GLYNM1221]

😊😊

[@JohnMagelius]

Sweden allso had catalina one was shot Downey by sovjet mig near Finland.

[@benm5913]

The PBY Catalina played a major role in supporting the Lemurians against the Grik at the behest of Captain Reddy himself. IYKYK.

[@jaik195701]

The letterbox ruins this film