More Coast Guard Aircraft History

[CoastieJohn]

Coastie John,

RE: PBY's in the above photo

I did read a book written by a RCAF Ferry pilot who commented that he frequently picked up Lend Lease Catalina's for the RAF at ECity. If I look closely at the PBY's the national insignia is displayed aft of the blister and show a high vertical fin flash which was characteristic of RAF A/C.

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

Now that you mention Lend-Lease that does ring a bell. I'll have to look around for that pic.

Meanwhile....this is an actual flt op report from 1944. A CG J2F-5 in Greenland tried to bomb a U-Boat. You do not see these CG op reports involving combat reports often. A few years ago we were able to get in contact with the pilot's son and he was kind enough to share his dad's logbooks and files.

[jdvoss]

Coastie John,

On Feb 21 you made an entry regarding the USCG PB4Y-1 Liberator and of course included a great color video clip of the subject aircraft on Guam. I've done a bit more research on this particular A/C (Bu No 90480) and found a rather extensive article on this very A/C and its usage in the far reaches of the Pacific. A fascinating story and the link is attached. I found the article in the USCG publication "The Quarterdeck Log", Vol 15, No 4, Winter 2000, pages 16-19.

http://www.coastguardcombatvets.org/2000-Winter.pdf

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

[CoastieJohn]

Thanks. I had come across that earlier myself. Of continuing interest is the Editor's Note at the end of the article. We were trying to identify the other aircraft (the -2) they swapped out for.

[jdvoss]

Coastie John,

The "Impatient Lady" was replaced with a PB4Y-2 Privateer BuNo 59598 at NAB Tinian. The story is explained in thorough detail in the "The Quarterdeck Log" , Vol 16, No.1, Spring 2001 pgs 16 -19.

http://www.coastguardcombatvets.org/2001-Spring.pdf

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

[CoastieJohn]

Coastie John,

The "Impatient Lady" was replaced with a PB4Y-2 Privateer BuNo 59598 at NAB Tinian. The story is explained in thorough detail in the "The Quarterdeck Log" , Vol 16, No.1, Spring 2001 pgs 16 -19.

http://www.coastguardcombatvets.org/2001-Spring.pdf

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

Thanks!!! That is the next installment to the previous story above. It mentions they used 3 different aircraft. We can now account for two of them. There was a mention of PBY-5, V-189 that was used as the counterpart for the Impatient Lady's nose art. I'm not sure what that means or if that was the 3rd aircraft mentioned. You're on a roll finding these mystery airframes.

Also....side note...at the Aviation Archeology site I did find a mention of two PB4Y-1's that were temporarily transferred to CGAS Brooklyn in 1945. I forwarded all of this on to see if it counts as an official transfer to the CG. Joe Baugher's site mentioned one of these ended up with Paul Mantz....I forget which one. It's not a big deal.

BUNO 31944, 41-23995:

Awaiting Reconditioning Quonset Pt. AUG-NOV;Pool Quonset Pt, JAN-DEC;Hedron-2 FAW-5, MAR-AUG;Minor repairs Hedron-2, FAW-5, MAY;CGAS Brooklyn, JUN;Pool Hedron FAW-5 31 Jul 1945;Non-airborne damage,uneconomical to repair, declared obsolete, Stricken 31

BUNO 32041, 42-40440:

11 Mar 43 Com Fair West Coast;JAN Pool Quonset Pt. AUG to DEC;Under Recond Quonset Pt FEB;HDN-2 FAW-5 MAR to MAY;CGAS Brooklyn APR;Pool HDN FAW-5;Transfered from Navy custory & declared excess, Stricken 31 JUL 1945.

[jdvoss]

Coastie John,

Success! I have researched the info on the PBY-5 Catalina USCG serial V189. I found it on "The Quarterdeck Log", Vol 15, Number Two, Summer 2000, pp 26-29.

http://www.coastguardcombatvets.org/2000-Summer.pdf

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

[CoastieJohn]

Coastie John,

Success! I have researched the info on the PBY-5 Catalina USCG serial V189. I found it on "The Quarterdeck Log", Vol 15, Number Two, Summer 2000, pp 26-29.

http://www.coastguardcombatvets.org/2000-Summer.pdf

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

Success....thanks! I'll have to troll the CGCV's Quarterdeck Log's one of these days to see what they hold. That closes the door on the 3 aircraft sent on the early LORAN missions.

Side thought....if anyone is interested in LORAN history, below is a good site. I located some original LORAN documents in NARA when I was researching the Duck Hunt. Unfortunately I did not make copies of them. There is thinking in some circles if GPS capability is ever knocked out or blocked out intentionally or otherwise, LORAN could return as a back up.

http://www.loran-history.info/default.htm

[Chris Brame]

Not sure if it has been posted before, but this photo's been on eBay for a while:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/B-17-Goose-and- ... SwpLNX~rWl

Last edited by Chris Brame on Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[CoastieJohn]

That looks like Elizabeth City, NC.

[CoastieJohn]

This is a pic one of the guys received showing an experimental Piasecki going thru some testing. The pilot is a CG Pilot named Leland "Bud" Felt. He is was a Chief Aviation Pilot during the war then after the war took a commission as an officer. He is CG Helo Pilot #42 trained by Frank Erickson. He was killed in 1948 test flying a Piasecki. That is Frank Piasecki on the left. That may be his wife. We do not know who the other three men are.



After the crash, some tests were done to figure what caused the crash. The below pic and partial story is courtesy of the blog site of Charles Kessler.

http://helicopterstory.blogspot.com/201 ... -xhrp.html

Following the Bud Felt accident the test stand was used for part of the investigation. There was need to simulate a flare so we towed the test stand down the runway with our old fire truck at 60 knots with the rotor running.

It was a sight to behold and prompted a comment on the radio from one of the airline pilots “Tell those guys they are never going to get that three dollar bill off the ground”.

[CoastieJohn]

The Aircraft Record Cards for the very first Coast Guard Flying Boats that went to Morehead City, NC in 1920.

[CoastieJohn]

A bit of sad CG news. As I was typing the above post, an email just came over announcing the passing of one of the CG's WWII vets back on the 17th.

Jack Roscoe Sutherlin Wednesday, June 27, 1923 - Saturday, April 22, 2017
Jack Roscoe Sutherlin 93, of Santa Maria passed away on April 22, 2017. Jack was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 27, 1923. He came to California at the age of eight and has remained a resident of this state although job assignments took he and his family to various places of the world including the Marshall Islands for 2 and one half years, Indonesia for a year and a half in addition to shorter trips to assist airlines with technical issues. Jack worked for American Airlines for four years while going to school but most of his working years were with the Douglas Aircraft Company and McDonnell Douglas. He was proud of his military service with the United States Coast Guard during WWII. His service included search and rescue missions in addition to one incident where Jack and his pilot dropped a depth charge on a Japanese submarine that was trying to attack two navy Escort Carriers off Point Loma, California on December 25, 1943. He received a letter of commendation from the Commandant of the Coast Guard that stated his actions had ensured the safe arrival of these two escort carriers into San Diego Harbor and ”were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy and U.S Coast Guard". Congresswoman Lois Capps included Jack's Coast Guard service in the records of congress.

Jack is preceded in death by his wife Merle (Verret). He and Merle married on July 12, 1943. They have remained together for their entire lives and have three children: Donald, Sharon, and Gail. Also surviving are five grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. Jack had two brothers, Harry and Ronald. Harry passed away in 2001 and Ronald resides in Payson, Arizona with his wife, Carmen. Jack is most proud of the closeness of his immediate family and the years spent with his children including camping in the early years and the lifelong fishing experiences with his son, Don. Jack's wife Merle had two sisters; Phyllis and Betty. Phyllis passed away in 1985 and Betty resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 1:00pm in the Chapel of Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary. A Celebration of Life will follow the service at the Masonic Lodge at 700 Lakeview Road.

I heard a couple of days ago I heard from a source that NOAA maybe planning a search for the Japanese sub.

[Chris Brame]

Do Japanese records confirm a loss, and if so which sub would it have been?

[CoastieJohn]

Do Japanese records confirm a loss, and if so which sub would it have been?

I do not know. I also heard it wasn't a sub. I'm thinking there maybe something there to generate possible NOAA interest. There is some type of international roadblock at the moment. This alleged sub story could be something legit...could be a total bust. I do not have any other details than that.

[CoastieJohn]

Got this in the email today. The announcement of the passing of the CG's oldest aviator last month. He had a historical career.