PBY Catalina Flight

cwyckham

cwyckham

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cwyckham
I went for a flight on a PBY Catalina today. This particular one was built in Canada during the war and worked the North Atlantic. After the war it spent some time in Canada, Costa Rica, and even flying the Nile in Zimbabwe. It is now privately owned in New Zealand by a syndicate of enthusiasts who help pay for its upkeep by taking 16 passengers up at a time on a part 91 cost share basis. It costs $100 NZD for about a 45 min flight. This PBY is one of the amphibious models. It still operates off of fresh water lakes on a regular basis, but they've decided to keep it out of the salt to limit corrosion.

There are only 20 airworthy Catalinas left in the world. I don't know how many of them take passengers.

I also took two short videos:

Takeoff
Landing

Chris
 

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cwyckham said:
I went for a flight on a PBY Catalina today.

There are only 20 airworthy Catalinas left in the world. I don't know how many of them take passengers.
Click to expand...
Wow, how great to be able to have the opportunity to get a ride in that! I envy you living in New Zealand, too. It looks beautiful! Will you miss NZ when you move back home?

This PBY thread also kind of ties into the thread about the movie "Always". :D
I love the first scene with the guys fishing in the lake.
 
cwyckham said:
I went for a flight on a PBY Catalina today. This particular one was built in Canada during the war and worked the North Atlantic. After the war it spent some time in Canada, Costa Rica, and even flying the Nile in Zimbabwe. It is now privately owned in New Zealand by a syndicate of enthusiasts who help pay for its upkeep by taking 16 passengers up at a time on a part 91 cost share basis. It costs $100 NZD for about a 45 min flight. This PBY is one of the amphibious models. It still operates off of fresh water lakes on a regular basis, but they've decided to keep it out of the salt to limit corrosion.

There are only 20 airworthy Catalinas left in the world. I don't know how many of them take passengers.

I also took two short videos:

Takeoff
Landing

Chris
Click to expand...

Pretty nice old girl. Looks like you had a fun ride. BTW, IIRC all the PBYs were Amphib, the PBMs were straight seaplanes.
 
Chris, that's awesome. I've not even had the pleasure of landing on floats yet. It's too bad you couldn't get a water flight on the old girl.

I'm glad you pointed out some history of her. Next air show with an old war classic, I'm going to be asking more about where it's been and the accomplishments made. That's a lot of rich history never considered.
 
By dad crossed the ocean in one of those, in the Bomb Bay area in a hammock- to Letterman AAF in San Francisco, 1946. His comment: hours and hours at 160 knots, 10,000 feet.
 
Chris, we're jealous too! Looks like a great time!

BTW, did you catch the name of the co-pilot? She looks familiar to Leslie and me. We're wondering if we met her at the 99's Int'l conference a couple years ago.
 
Diana said:
I envy you living in New Zealand, too. It looks beautiful! Will you miss NZ when you move back home?
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't think I'll miss New Zealand when I leave. I certainly don't regret coming here, but I feel like I've gotten what I wanted out of the experience.

One's feelings about a place are colored by the events that take place there, of course. My job hasn't worked out as well as I'd hoped and my marriage fell apart. That's bound to affect my feelings somewhat.

It's certainly been a beautiful (if expensive) place to fly. I've had some great aviation experiences here.

Chris
 
gprellwitz said:
Chris, we're jealous too! Looks like a great time!

BTW, did you catch the name of the co-pilot? She looks familiar to Leslie and me. We're wondering if we met her at the 99's Int'l conference a couple years ago.
Click to expand...

Sorry, Grant. She was introduced along with the rest of the crew, but I forget her name.

The whole crew was really amazing and totally dedicated to keeping that airplane flying. It was a part 91 flight, so they all had to pay $100, just like us. When I arrived, they were all crawling over the aircraft wiping off the oil from their flight in. As you can see in the photo taken from the blister looking forward, those engines spit a lot of oil!

Chris
 
gprellwitz said:
BTW, did you catch the name of the co-pilot? She looks familiar to Leslie and me. We're wondering if we met her at the 99's Int'l conference a couple years ago.
Click to expand...

I just bumped into somebody who knows her. Her name is Dee Bond. She is likely a member of the 99s, though I don't know for sure.

Chris
 
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Cool PIX & videos, TKS.
Brings back memories from flying out where I worked in the desert. When the forest fires in the mountains got really bad, a PBY Catalina named "Fire Eater" would show up for fire-bombing.
 
cwyckham said:
Actually, I don't think I'll miss New Zealand when I leave. I certainly don't regret coming here, but I feel like I've gotten what I wanted out of the experience.

One's feelings about a place are colored by the events that take place there, of course. My job hasn't worked out as well as I'd hoped and my marriage fell apart. That's bound to affect my feelings somewhat.

It's certainly been a beautiful (if expensive) place to fly. I've had some great aviation experiences here.

Chris
Click to expand...
Chris, when you make it back to the New York area, the first round is on me. Awesome thread!
 
Chris. Very cool. I've always liked those planes.
 
Awesome....there was one at the fly-in community behind my house last summer. It belongs to a friend-of-a-friend. We are hoping to get a ride in it before he sells it.

It is one of my all-time favorite aircraft.
 
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