ok questions on PBY's

[Nathan]

Ok since I posted some historical facts on the PBY I got a few questions.

I used to think there were many PBY's still flying but you don't hear much about them on WIX. But it seems there are only a couple on the airshow list. So how many are still flying? The registry is outdated on the PBY some.

I think a PBY reunion is in order!

[gary1954]

Nathan, don't hold our breath

[Holedigger]

Hmmmm, found one list that had 21 "airworthy" Cats of various breeds scattered around the world. I would put good money (if I had any) on less than half of those being flown regularly!

[jet1]

a PBY is the worst toy combination ever.....its a BOAT and a PLANE. Talk about tossing money down a hole....

[jdvoss]

Nathan:

You might wish to try www.pby.com The moderator of the site seems to be on top of PBY action around the world.

BTW, what part of PA do you live ??

JohnV

[TJJ]

We've got a couple airworthy in the UK. One at Duxford and this one (N423RS), which flew in to North Weald from Lee on Solent on Tuesday. It's having some work done before leaving for the US in the middle of next year. There's also a PBY in Holland.

[Jerry O'Neill]

Nice to see Atlantic Warbirds old C-54 is still in one piece!
Jerry

[David Legg]

Nathan - go to http://www.catalina.org.uk/

....then click on 'Survivors List' in the top menu bar. Defining what is actually 'airworthy' is always a task but the appropriate column in ths list shows what I feel is a reasonable attempt. Note that in the listing, VH-EAX shown under Australia has not actually made it there yet and is still in the far east whilst the entry under England for N423RS has not yet been updated to reflect its delivery flight earlier this week from Lee-on-the-Solent to North Weald. Hopefully a bit more helpful than Jet 1's comment above anyway

[Holedigger]

What do you expect from a kerosene berner!?!? I was about to link to your link. Looks like 20ish, with a few capable but stored, a few more under restoration to flight. I guess there are enough PBY enthusiasts around to keep the ol gals going!

[Canso42]

Four two three Romeo Sierra is lookin' good these days! David, what's the story behind the serial number on its tail? Is it marked as an aircraft with some history or was that its actual number 'back in the day.'?

[David Legg]

Doug - the marking 'JV928' has nothing to do with the history of N423RS, the PBY now at North Weald which has a US Navy pedigree. The original JV928 was the RAF Catalina IV 'Y' of 210 Squadron, Coastal Command in which John Cruickshank earned the Victoria Cross in July 1944. He was one of only two Catalina VCs, the only Coastal Command VC to survive WWII and, I believe, the last surviving RAF VC holder still alive to this day.

The serial 'JV928' has been carried by two airworthy Catalinas in recent times. For several years, Plane Sailing's G-BLSC flew in Europe as 'JV928/Y' until it was re-painted in the colours of the other Catalina/Canso VC aircraft, David Hornell's RCAF 9754. Sometime after that, the then owners of N423RS had it painted in RAF colours as 'JV928' although the scheme was never finished and it never flew on the show circuit as such.

[Canso42]

Got it. Thanks David.

[baldrick]

We have this one flying in Australia, with two more on the way

[A2C]

Are any PBY's in standard category?

[B-25 MM Jim]

The Red P-boat at the Duluth CAF Squadron is Standard category... it is not being repaired at this point however. They are repairing the 6A that flipped at Fleming field about 15 years back.