World Catalina News - November 2025

This article is taken from the print version of The Catalina News magazine, Issue No 104, Autumn/Winter 2025 received by subscribing members of The Catalina Society. If you are not a member, why not support us by joining?

The last few months have been fairly quiet regarding worldwide Catalina news. The airworthy population of Catalinas and Cansos remains at around eight – none of the potentially airworthy examples have flown since our last edition earlier this year. Apart from our own UK-based Miss Pick Up, all of the other ‘flyers’ are in the USA (five) and Canada (two). The eight that are flying regularly are a mix of former PBY-5As (just two – N2172N at Madras, Oregon and N9521C at Virginia Beach, Virginia) and six that were originally Royal Canadian Air Force Canso As (G-PBYA at Duxford, UK; C-FNJE at Fairview, Alberta; C-FPQL at Hamilton, Ontario; N222FT registered in Wilmington, Delaware; N427CV at Colorado, Springs, Colorado; and N9767 at Eugene, Oregon). The most frequent flyers are G-PBYA and N9767 with the former probably the busiest overall. The Catalina website has a regularly updated summary of all surviving Catalinas – just use the ‘Survivors’ tab at www.catalina.org.uk A reminder that I quote type designations as given when airframes were built which are not necessarily how aircraft are now registered, an example being our G-PBYA, bult as a Canso A, later modified to a Canso 2F but registered on the UK civil aircraft register as a PBY-5A.

The Boeing of Canada-built Canso A N9767 flies out of Eugene, Oregon with the Soaring By The Sea Foundation. It flies shows mainly in the north-west of the USA as well as offering rides for passengers. At the end of June this year whilst on the way to the Tanglefoot Splash-in at Cavanaugh Bay, Idaho the port engine started to lose power. The crew diverted to Arlington Municipal Airport, Washington and an engine swap was completed in four days. Pilot/engineer Peter Houghton had connections at the airport which is his old base of operations. Inspection found that the port engine had dropped a valve and broken a piston, contaminating the engine. A new oil cooler was put on and the prop’ and prop’ governor, the oil tank and oil lines were all flushed out. Once back in the air, N9767 flew shows at Olympia, WA; Skagit, WA; Klamath falls, OR; Boeing Field, Seattle, WA; and was due display at the Wings & Wheels show at Spanish Fork, Utah on September 27th.

For some years now, work has been underway on John Sterling’s PBY-6A N24VP at Ocaña in Spain. When John acquired it, the intention was to fly it to the USA and then display it at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum at Ford Island, Honolulu. However, work has been sporadically underway over the last nine years or so and the Catalina shows no signs of being near to flight. A recent email to John went unanswered so the current status of the project is not known – but see entry below. N24VP was originally bult as a PBY-6A but was one of three examples acquired by a Canadian company after being sold by the US Navy that had to have the tail areas converted to PBY-5A standard in order to gain Canadian certification.

Meanwhile, PBY-5A N607CC, for many years stored in the open at what is now the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida, has been moved by road for restoration by the Kalamazoo Air Zoo at Kalamazoo, Michigan prior to a move to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Does this mean that N607CC will take the place of N24VP? – time will tell. The move by road to Michigan took place on March 27th, 2025. In between wartime and post-war service with the US Navy as BuNo 46602, this Catalina few with the Mexican Navy before going to Canada and conversion to a waterbomber then going to Pensacola in the early-1990s. The last registered owner was Florida Aircraft Leasing Corporation of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the aircraft being de-registered in August 1999 with ownership passing to the Pensacola museum in May 1994. The loan to the Pearl Harbor museum was agreed in July 2023.

In Canada, Canso C-FPQM has been stored in the open at Gander, Newfoundland for some years now. A veteran of waterbombing service with the Province of Quebec government it was later sold to Buffalo Airways Ltd of North West Territories before being acquired by firefighting pilot Patrick White of Exploits Valley Air Services Ltd, the current registered owner. Although not flown for a very long time, it seems to have been looked after and a recent Facebook post by Ian White, Patrick’s son suggested that engine runs, hydraulic testing and taxying were imminent so perhaps a return to the skies is on the cards?

Now to Australia. The one-time Royal Australian Air Force PBY-5 A24-46, for many years displayed at the Whale World Museum on the coast at Albany Bay, south-east of Perth, Western Australia, has moved a few times since museum owner John Bell was killed in an aircraft crash in 1996. The most recent move was to the Merredin Military Museum at Merredin, due east of Perth, in October 2023 since when work has continued to restore the Catalina to display condition. The most recent news is that in May this year, the wings were placed back on the hull superstructure (pylon) although, initially at least, it was not supported by lift struts. Meanwhile, in June, a truckload of parts arrived at Merriden including spare floats.

Peter Costigan of Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Shellharbour Airport, Albion Park, New South Wales advises that restoration work continues in their PBY-6A VH-PBZ. Previously a frequent flyer, it has not taken to the air for some time now. Latest news is that first trailing edge section has been refurbished with new riveting. This work was completed at the end of August and after a trial fit back on the wing to check for any distortion, the fabric guys will get to work and recover the section. They are experienced in the task, having been involved in replacing fabric on the Southern Cross Fokker FVIIB replica. The repairs are quite extensive in this section but HARS feel that it is the worst section, or at least they hope so! Looking closely at the accompanying photograph, the green sections sourced from our cousins in NZ who look after Canso A ZK-PBY can be seen. They saved our bacon says Peter!

And, speaking of Canso A ZK-PBY, she is still parked out in the open at North Island’s New Plymouth Airport although the plan is to get her flying again and move her to a more suitable location for work to continue. Gear retraction tests were successfully carried out on June 22nd. She remains for sale.

Back to the USA for our final item. PBY-5A N459CF spent many years flying in the Netherlands as PH-PBY until she had to be sold a few years back. She is still greatly missed by the Dutch as we found out when we took Miss Pick Up to Rotterdam in August. The good news is that her restoration to ‘stock’ condition continues to a fantastic standard. Here is an update from Project Manager Casey Littrell: ‘That old saying ‘the devil is in the detail’ certainly holds true for the ongoing restoration of Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina BuNo 2459 in New Smyrna Beach, FL at American Aero Services. Though the exterior restoration is mostly complete, the interior restoration to bring the aircraft back to accurate 1942 wartime configuration has been an enormous task that has tested the skills of the restoration crew. Because the aircraft arrived from Europe with little original equipment, nearly all of the interior components have either had be found or fabricated. And considering the early vintage of this PBY, original equipment is scarce… so just sourcing the materials is a monumental task in its own right. And for items that need to be fabricated, finding original drawings or photos to accurately reconstruct them is an additional challenge.