Ex CAF/Gary Austin/Pima Catalina N68756 The End

[JohnH]

And so ends my Uncle’s PBY. Gary Austin rescued it. Yea it’s the one that went derelict at Harlingen then Brownsville. It flew to Australia with my Uncle and back in 1981. Mike Wansey was the sponsor. Final air show season was 1986. Lots of great memories with it.

https://www.facebook.com/MotoArtStudios ... 4272130486
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/pbyregis ... 46590.html

[JohnB]

Last February I was at Pima and counted several PBY sections (center sections/wing pylon) in their restoration area (they don't make it easy to see in there).

Leftovers from their recent restoration.

[David Legg]

Can the mods change the thread title. This is NOT N7057C but N68756.

[WIXMOD-Charlie]

@David: done

[TAdan]

I saw she was being cut up for artwork. While its always disappointing to see a complete airframe dispersed, at least this one went on to donate to other restorations (Wing to Australia and rear fuselage to Pima) and now the nose sections will live on as artwork / display pieces.

Last edited by TAdan on Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Craig59]

Gonna make a heck of a wall-art piece!

[marine air]

Unfortunately not everyt airplane gets to "live" forever. There are DC-3's littered all over the U.S. and will have the same eventual fate. Flew a Citation down to Tyler , Texas last week and visited the museum there. It was an outside display but lots of nice aircraft. Outside the restoration hangar is a dismantled PBY with wings and everything. Just wondered if anyone knew the story on that one.

[Lynn Allen]

Unfortunately not everyt airplane gets to "live" forever. There are DC-3's littered all over the U.S. and will have the same eventual fate. Flew a Citation down to Tyler , Texas last week and visited the museum there. It was an outside display but lots of nice aircraft. Outside the restoration hangar is a dismantled PBY with wings and everything. Just wondered if anyone knew the story on that one.

Its been there for at least 10yrs sitting like that. Did you go in to East Texas Turbines?

[Chris Brame]

Sad to see it go; but I do wish I could get one of those window hatches to hang on the wall...

[JohnB]

PBYs and C-47s are about the last of the large "still disposable" WWII types.

If I were to make a list of smaller aircraft, C-45:-/Beech 18s would be on the list as well as some T-6s.


BTW: There is the wreckage of a T-6 at a local aircraft salvage yard, it fatally cashed in 2003. A lot of rear fuselage parts and back cockpit are still there.
The only thing that looks like its been removed is the right horizontal stabilizer.

[kalamazookid]

RIP, Sea B*tch.

[David Legg]

Flew a Citation down to Tyler , Texas last week and visited the museum there. Outside the restoration hangar is a dismantled PBY with wings and everything. Just wondered if anyone knew the story on that one.

This is ex-N4934H, a former RCAF Canso A, s/n 9838 and later Force Aerea Brasileira s/n 6525. It has moved around a bit in its time but as Lynn Allen said, it has been at Tyler for a long while now. Pity it has not yet been re-assembled.

[Joe Scheil]

A terrible shame, and to clarify the “self absolution” of those cutting her up using the logic “too fear gone to restore”....

The plane, as any other is restorable. It was not a financially attractive proposal because of the value of a restored PBY. However a P-47 with equal corrosion or even double would not become wall art. Shameful a museum was party to this.

[TAdan]

N/M

[Nathan]

I was told recently that the warbird parts I've collected are all junk. Well I don't really care what people think and I don't care if its just junk. You don't need a whole airplane to make a display and tell a story. You don't need to be rich and buy a 1.8 million dollar restored P-51 to not be considered junk.

I enjoy some of the artwork motoart does, but they had a F-86 side panel for sale and I had asked what they wanted to sell it, and they told me $4500 for a 3'x6' piece. They also had a Piasecki H-21 they cut up that was fairly intact and non corroded. These guys I am not a fan of. I don't think any airplane "junk" is junk. Save everything you can I say! Display it as is, or sell it/donate it to someone that has a project and is in need of that part. I've been advocating "Display it as is". There are going to be people interested in warbirds, regardless if its restored or still in derelict condition. In fact more people find derelict stuff interesting. So I wouldn't throw the concept out entirely.

The old saying, "better to have, then to have not"

Last edited by Nathan on Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:28 am, edited 3 times in total.