Jimmy Buffet's Albatross was nice, sure.... but this!bufeo - 11-13-2011 at 09:56 AM
That IS nice, Mike. Any info on whose? Did I ever mention to you that Diana's father flew the Clipper Ships for Pan Am? Navy pilot first, then went to
Pan Am. He remained with the airline until '56 I think.
We have all his journals and diaries from those times. Some photos too. Even have one of him flying one of the 'boats' over a partially-finished
Golden Gate Bridge.
Allen R
On Edit: Is that a PBY Cat?
[Edited on 11-13-2011 by bufeo]capt. mike - 11-13-2011 at 10:31 AM
yeah, a PBY i think.
sent from a buddy who is Sr capt with US air.
i have a framed pix of a pan am clipper coming into SFO from hawaii over the GG in 1933.
very cool stuff!
thx Allen.
no idea who owned it or who the people were.Skeet/Loreto - 11-13-2011 at 10:41 AM
PBY6A Flying Boat or known as the Catalina.
Boy, this brought back many Memories. When I cam back from korea I was assigned to FAETUPAK on North Island San diego. I became Plane Capt. on one of
the four we had in the Swuadon.
We used it basically to fly over to El Centro and train new pilots on Radar Runs to a Target on the Salton Sea.
It took off at 80 Kts. Climbed at 80KTs, Cruised at 80 and landed at 80 Kts.
We gave two of these to the French Govt. We fitted them with extra Long Range Tanks and flew them to Nice France.
Slow but dependable. My very Favorite Airplane in the Navy
Skeet/Loreto.bufeo - 11-13-2011 at 10:59 AM
I did a little bit of futher research on this particular Cat, Mike. Turns out this plane was lost in a crash in Brazil. According to David Legg of the
"Catalina Society" it "crashed on landing near the city of Ubatuba, State of Sao Paulo, 5/7/1953."
Allen RLancairDriver - 11-13-2011 at 11:12 AM
This airplane was instrumental in The battle of Midway, the turning point of the war against the Japanese in the Pacific. Two patrolling PBY's spotted
the elusive Japanese fleet and radioed their position, setting the stage for the battle from which the Japanese never recovered their Naval strength
after loosing four of their carriers. The US Navy took some heavy blows but won the battle.Skeet/Loreto - 11-13-2011 at 11:15 AM
The Catalina had "Dual Controls. I as Flight Engineer sat in the "Tower" which was located where the Wing Connected to the Fuselage. I had to climb up
and set with a full array of Engine control including the Wingtip Floats.
It had Twin R-2800 Engines, the SparkPlugs which had to be regulary changed.
When flying over the Salton Sea we had a Huge under the Wing Searchlight as we made the approach on basic Radar the Traing Pilot would turn on the
SearchLight at about 1500 Feet over the Target., We would go back to the El Centro Base, change the Carbon Fuse on the Searchligh and go for several
more runs, returning to San Diego North Island about 4 in the morning.
Good Duty!!
SkeetBarry A. - 11-13-2011 at 11:59 AM
My Dad was a PBY pilot for the Navy in Hawaii in the late '30's. He ferried several PBY's from the mainland to Hawaii in about 1936 I believe. He
was making a landing in Pearl Harbor in late 1938 and something went wrong (nobody really knows what, but probably pilot error) and the plane veered
left on touchdown in the bay and hit a big pier, killing my Dad and his co-pilot-----everybody else survived just fine. My Dad, an amatuer
Archaeologist, had been digging around in some ancient Hawaiian graves several days before-------you can imagine the head-nodding and rumors in the
Native Hawaiian community----the graves had a curse on them, of course?!?!?!?!?!?.
It was a great airplane, I understand, tho I have never flown one.
Barrymotoged - 11-13-2011 at 12:21 PM
Nice ploat (plane and boat). I want one.
Does the blond in the "itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini" come with it? Mengano - 11-13-2011 at 12:24 PM
That's Santa Monica Bay off of Venice Beach.
bufeo - 11-13-2011 at 12:29 PM
I'll look through my father-in-law's Flight Logs for an entry circa 1941 or '42. He told me a story of landing what I remember as a PBY in Ensenada
after bad weather forced them south of San Diego but it may have been a 'Commodore'.
Right now, though, my dog and I are going to look for a pheasant or two.
Jimmy Buffet's Albatross was nice, sure.... but this!
Fantastic historic photos Mike. I especially like the photos of the blond woman with the big,,,,, errrrr.... lips!capt. mike - 11-14-2011 at 08:44 AM
Barry - sorry to hear of your father. Tough way to go.
i too lost mine in an accident, car not plane, but when i was young.
hurts every day. you never really get over it.tripledigitken - 11-14-2011 at 08:48 AM
Jimmy Buffet's Albatross was nice, sure.... but this!
Fantastic historic photos Mike. I especially like the photos of the blond woman with the big,,,,, errrrr.... lips!
That group was having a LOT of fun!Vince - 11-14-2011 at 10:39 AM
Thanks for posting those photos,Cpt. Mike. Like the others, they stimulate some interesting stories. In about 1974 I was sitting on the porch of my
Baja house on Coyote Bay. A PBY landed far out in Conception Bay and taxied right up to the beach in front and put his anchor out. I paddled out on
my windsurfer board and greeted them. They invited me aboard and gave me a tour. It was just like the one in the photos, but updated with a microwave
oven. The pilots were two WWll veterans (actually resembling the two in the LIFE article) with their girlfriends. They were based in Long Beach and
were beginning an adventure of flying all thru Mexico. That afternoon they came up to the house for c-cktails and dinner and regaled us with many war
stories and adventures in that PBY. The next morning they taxied out and took off using about half of Conception Bay. I can only imagine the fun
those two couples had! Thanks for bringing up that great memory with your photos.Von - 11-14-2011 at 05:44 PM
Cool! AWESOME story Vince! Love to hear them! :-)bonanza bucko - 11-14-2011 at 05:53 PM
I had an old and retired Coast Guard Chief Aviation Machinist who worked on my old Cessna years ago tell me that any sea plane operated in salt water
required 12 HOURS OF MAINTENANCE FOR EVERY 1 HOUR OF FLIGHT. He said that aluminum and magnesium tend to fall apart when they get dunked in salt
water...I believe that. Maybe that's why there are so few ex military sea planes available. I know of a pretty good Grumman Albatross and of another
decent Catalina but that's about it.
I know that people who have the temerity to land their birds at Alfonsina's when there is water on the runway always regret it to da max about two
days later.
