Cat War 2

90,000 (as of 1935,$1.68 million today)VariantsThe Consolidated PBY Catalina, also known as the Canso in Canadian service, is an American, and later an of the 1930s and 1940s produced. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of. Catalinas served with every branch of the and in the air forces and navies of many other nations.During World War II, PBYs were used in, missions (especially ),. The PBY was the most numerous aircraft of its kind, and the last military PBYs served until the 1980s.

As of 2014, nearly 80 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as a (or airtanker) in operations in some parts of the world. Contents.Design and development Background The PBY was originally designed to be a, an aircraft with a long operational intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in order to disrupt enemy. With a mind to a potential conflict in the, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range flying boats for this purpose.

Sep 29, 2014  His efforts for Britain’s Royal Navy during World War II - first surviving a brutal attack that killed his caretaker, then proceeding to annihilate rats and raise the morale of his crew - made him a national hero and earned him the prestigious Dickin Medal. To this day, he is the only cat.

Had the advantage of not requiring, in effect having the entire ocean available. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced. PBY riding at.Although slow and ungainly, Catalinas distinguished themselves in World War II.

Forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles for which the aircraft was never intended. PBYs are remembered for their rescue role, in which they saved the lives of thousands of aircrew downed over water. Catalina airmen called their aircraft the 'Cat' on combat missions and ' in service. Initial development As American dominance in the Pacific Ocean began to face competition from Japan in the 1930s, the U.S. Navy contracted Consolidated, and in October 1933 to build competing for a patrol flying boat. Naval doctrine of the 1930s and 1940s used flying boats in a wide variety of roles that today are handled by multiple special-purpose aircraft.

Navy had adopted the and models for this role in 1931, but both aircraft were underpowered and hampered by inadequate range and limited payloads.Consolidated and Douglas both delivered single prototypes of their new designs, the XP3Y-1 and, respectively. Consolidated's XP3Y-1 was an evolution of the XPY-1 design that had originally competed unsuccessfully for the P3M contract two years earlier and of the XP2Y design that the Navy had authorized for a limited production run. Although the Douglas aircraft was a good design, the Navy opted for Consolidated's because the projected cost was only $90,000 per aircraft. PBY waist gunner mounting port side gun blister.Consolidated's XP3Y-1 design (company Model 28) had a with external bracing struts, mounted on a pylon over the fuselage. Wingtip stabilizing floats were retractable in flight to form streamlined wingtips and had been licensed from the company.

The two-step hull design was similar to that of the P2Y, but the Model 28 had a cantilever unit instead of a strut-braced. Cleaner aerodynamics gave the Model 28 better performance than earlier designs.

Construction is all-metal, of sheet, except the and wing, which are.The prototype was powered by two 825 hp (615 kW) Twin Wasp mounted on the wing's leading edges. Armament comprised four.30 in (7.6 mm) AN/M2 machine guns and up to 2,000 lb (910 kg) of bombs.The XP3Y-1 had its maiden flight on 28 March 1935, after which it was transferred to the U.S. Navy for service trials. The XP3Y-1 was a significant performance improvement over previous patrol flying boats. The Navy requested further development in order to bring the aircraft into the category of patrol bomber, and in October 1935, the prototype was returned to Consolidated for further work, including installation of 900 hp (670 kW) R-1830-64 engines. For the redesignated XPBY-1, Consolidated introduced redesigned vertical tail surfaces which resolved a problem with the tail becoming submerged on takeoff, which had made lift-off impossible under some conditions.

The XPBY-1 had its maiden flight on 19 May 1936, during which a record non-stop distance flight of 3,443 (2,992; 5,541 ) was achieved.The XPBY-1 was delivered to in October 1936. The second squadron to be equipped was, which received the first of its aircraft in early 1937. The second production order was placed on 25 July 1936. Over the next three years, the design was gradually developed further and successive models introduced.The aircraft eventually bore the name Catalina after; the name was coined in November 1941, as Great Britain ordered their first 30 aircraft.

PBN Nomad The made significant modifications to the PBY design, many of which would have significantly interrupted deliveries had they been incorporated on the Consolidated production lines. The new aircraft, officially known as the PBN-1 Nomad, had several differences from the basic PBY. The most obvious upgrades were to the bow, which was sharpened and extended by two feet, and to the tail, which was enlarged and featured a new shape. Other improvements included larger fuel tanks, increasing by 50%, and stronger wings permitting a 2,000 lb (908 kg) increase in gross takeoff weight.

An auxiliary power unit was installed, along with an improved electrical system, and the weapons were upgraded with continuous-feed mechanisms.138 of the 156 PBN-1s produced served with the Soviet Navy. The remaining 18 were assigned to training units at and the Naval Air Facility in. Later, improvements found in the PBN such as the larger tail were incorporated into the amphibious PBY-6A.Naming The designation 'PBY' was determined in accordance with the; PB representing 'Patrol Bomber' and Y being the code assigned to as its manufacturer. Catalinas built by other manufacturers for the were designated according to different manufacturer codes, thus -built examples were designated PBV, examples PB2B (there already being a ) and examples were designated PBN. In accordance with contemporary British naming practice of naming seaplanes after coastal port towns, examples were named Canso, for in.

The used the name Catalina and the U.S. Navy adopted this name in 1942. The and later the used the designation OA-10. Navy Catalinas used in against the Japanese for night operations were painted black overall; as a result these aircraft were sometimes referred to locally as ' Black Cats'.Operational history.

A PBY-5A of over the Aleutian Islands in 1943In their role as patrol aircraft, Catalinas participated in some of the most notable naval engagements of World War II. The aircraft's and large waist blisters provided excellent visibility and combined with its long range and endurance, made it well suited for the task.A Catalina, piloted by Ensign of the U.S. Navy and flying out of, Northern Ireland, located on 26 May 1941, some 690 nmi (1,280 km; 790 mi) northwest of, the German battleship, which was attempting to evade Royal Navy forces as she sought to join other forces in Brest. This sighting eventually led to the destruction of the German battleship.On 7 December 1941, before the, their invasion force was approached by a Catalina flying boat of. The aircraft was shot down by five fighters before it could radio its report to air headquarters in Singapore. Flying Officer Patrick Bedell, commanding the Catalina, and his seven crew members became the first Allied casualties in the war with Japan.A flight of Catalinas spotted the Japanese fleet approaching, beginning the.A (RCAF) Canso flown by Squadron Leader foiled the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean fleet on 4 April 1942 when it detected the Japanese carrier fleet approaching (Sri Lanka).

Night attack and naval interdiction. Squadron Leader aboard a Consolidated Catalina before being shot down and captured near Ceylon by the JapaneseDuring the four PBYs of Patrol Squadrons 24 and 51 made an attack on the occupation force of the Japanese fleet on the night of June 3–4, 1942.The (RAAF) also Catalinas as night raiders, with four squadrons Nos., and laying mines from 23 April 1943 until July 1945 in the southwest Pacific deep in Japanese-held waters, bottling up ports and shipping routes and forcing ships into deeper waters to become targets for U.S. Submarines; they tied up the major strategic ports such as which shipped 80% of Japanese oil supplies. In late 1944, their mining missions sometimes exceeded 20 hours in duration and were carried out from as low as 200 ft (61 m) in the dark. Operations included trapping the Japanese fleet in Manila Bay in assistance of General 's landing at Mindoro in the Philippines. Australian Catalinas also operated out of Jinamoc in the Leyte Gulf, and mined ports on the Chinese coast from Hong Kong to as far north as Wenchow.

Both USN and RAAF Catalinas regularly mounted nuisance night bombing raids on Japanese bases, with the RAAF claiming the slogan 'The First and the Furthest'. Targets of these raids included a major base at. RAAF aircrews, like their U.S. Navy counterparts, employed 'terror bombs', ranging from scrap metal and rocks to empty beer bottles with razor blades inserted into the necks, to produce high pitched screams as they fell, keeping Japanese soldiers awake and scrambling for cover. Search and rescue.

Search and Rescue OA-10 atCatalinas were employed by every branch of the U.S. Military as aircraft. A PBY piloted by Adrian Marks (USN) rescued 56 sailors in high seas from the after the ship was sunk during World War II. When there was no more room inside, the crew tied sailors to the wings.

The aircraft could not fly in this state; instead it acted as a lifeboat, protecting the sailors from exposure and the risk of, until rescue ships arrived. Catalinas continued to function in the search-and-rescue role for decades after the end of the war.Early commercial use.

Further information:Catalinas were also used for commercial air travel. For example, flew commercial passengers from to, a journey of 2,060 miles (3,320 km), which in 1949 took two days. The longest commercial flights (in terms of time aloft) ever made in aviation history were the flights flown weekly from 29 June 1943 through July 1945 over the Indian Ocean, dubbed the Double Sunrise.

Qantas offered non-stop service between and, a distance of 3,592 nmi (4,134 mi; 6,652 km). As the Catalina typically cruised at 110 (130; 200 ), this took from 28 to 32 hours and was called the 'flight of the double sunrise', since the passengers saw two sunrises during their non-stop journey. The flight was made in radio silence because of the possibility of Japanese attack and had a maximum payload of 1,000 lb (450 kg) or three passengers plus 143 lb (65 kg) of military.

Post-World War II employment. A PBY-6A Catalina drops a load of water from its bomb-bay doorsused a PBY-6A (N101CS) to support his diving expeditions. His second son, was killed in an accident in this aircraft that occurred on the Tagus River near Lisbon.

The Catalina nosed over during a high-speed taxi run undertaken to check the hull for leakage following a water landing. The aircraft turned upside down, causing the fuselage to break behind the cockpit. The wing separated from the fuselage and the left engine broke off, penetrating the captain's side of the cockpit.converted an unknown number of surplus Catalinas to flying yachts at his Orange County California hangar in the late 1940s and early 1950s. An OA-10A converted by Steward-Davis Inc to their Super Cat standard.

It is additionally fitted out for survey work for Geoterrex IncSteward-Davis converted several Catalinas to their Super Catalina standard (later known as Super Cat), which replaced the usual 1,200 hp (890 kW) engines with engines of 1,700 hp (1,300 kW). A larger, squared-off rudder was installed to compensate for the increased yaw which the more powerful engines could generate. The Super Catalina also had extra cabin windows and other alterations.Chilean Air Force (FACH) Captain, in his PBY Catalina FACH No. 405 called ', which means Lucky Bird in the Rapanui language, undertook the first flight between and the continent of South America (from ), as well as the first flight to, making him a national hero of France as well as of Chile.

The flight was authorized by the Chilean President in 1951, but a second flight he made in 1957 was not authorized, and he was dismissed from the Chilean Air Force.Of the few dozen remaining airworthy Catalinas, the majority are in use as aircraft., the official airline of the was founded with two Catalina amphibians.Platforms are folded out and deployed from Catalinas for use in open ocean fishing and tracking in the Pacific Ocean.Catalina affair. A United States Coast Guard PBY-5A at in 1953An estimated 4,051 Catalinas, Cansos, and GSTs of all versions were produced between June 1937 and May 1945 for the U.S. Navy, the, the, nations, and civilian customers.US Navy XP3Y-1 Prototype Model 28 flying boat later re-designated XPBY-1, one built (USN Bureau No. Later fitted with a 48-foot-diameter (15 m) ring to sweep magnetic. A 550 hp Ranger engine drove a generator to produce a magnetic field. XPBY-1 Prototype version of the Model 28 for the United States Navy, a re-engined XP3Y-1 with two 900 hp R-1830-64 engines, one built.

PBY-1 (Model 28-1) Initial production variant with two 900 hp R-1830-64 engines, 60 built. PBY-2 (Model 28-2) Equipment changes and improved performance, 50 built.

PBY-3 (Model 28-3) Powered by two 1,000 hp R-1830-66 engines, 66 built. PBY-4 (Model 28-4) Powered by two 1,050 hp R-1830-72 engines, 33 built (including one initial as a XPBY-4 which later became the XPBY-5A). PBY-5 (Model 28-5) Either two 1,200 hp R-1830-82 or −92 engines and provision for extra fuel tanks (with partial self-sealing protection). 683 built (plus one built at New Orleans), some aircraft to the RAF as the Catalina IVA and one to the United States Coast Guard.

The PBY-5 was also built in the Soviet Union as the GST. XPBY-5A One PBY-4 converted into an amphibian and first flown in November 1939. PBY-5A (Model 28-5A) Amphibious version of the PBY-5 with two 1,200 hp R-1830-92 engines, first batch (of 124) had one 0.3in bow gun, the remainder had two bow guns; 803 built including diversions to the United States Army Air Forces, the RAF (as the Catalina IIIA) and one to the United States Coast Guard. PBY-5R The XPBY-5A converted into a staff transport, with amphibious gear and nose turret removed and additional windows added. PBY-6A Amphibious version with two 1,200 hp R-1830-92 engines and a taller fin and rudder. Radar scanner fitted above cockpit and two 0.5 in nose guns; 175 built including 21 transferred to the Soviet Navy. PBY-6AG One PBY-6A used by the United States Coast Guard as a staff transport.

PB2B-1 Boeing Canada built PBY-5 for the and from 1942. PB2B-2 Boeing Canada built version of the PBY-5 but with the taller fin of the PBN-1. Most supplied to the RAF as the Catalina VI. PBN-1 Nomad Naval Aircraft Factory built version of the PBY-5 with major modification including a 2ft bow extension, modified hull lines with a modified step, re-designed wingtip floats and tail surfaces and a revised electrical system. A total of 155 were built for delivery to the RAF as the Catalina V although 138 were Lend-Leased to the Soviet Navy as the KM-1. PBY-6A PBV-1A built version of the PBY-5A, 380 built including 150 to the as the Canso-A and the rest to the as the OA-10A.

Mass-produced U.S. Navy variants ModelProduction period and distinguishing featuresQuantityPBY-1September 1936 – June 1937Original production model.60PBY-2May 1937 – February 1938Minor alterations to tail structure, hull reinforcements.50PBY-3November 1936 – August 1938Higher power engines.66PBY-4May 1938 – June 1939Higher power engines, propeller spinners, blisters over waist guns (some later units).32PBY-5September 1940 – July 1943Higher power engines (using higher octane fuel), discontinued use of propeller spinners, standardized waist gun blisters. Self-sealing fuel tanks introduced during production run.684PBY-5AOctober 1941 – January 1945Hydraulically actuated, retractable, with main gear design based on one from the 1920s designed by, for amphibious operation. Introduced tail gun position, replaced bow single gun position with bow 'eyeball' turret equipped with twin.30 machine guns (some later units), improved armor, self-sealing fuel tanks.802PBY-6AJanuary 1945 – May 1945Incorporated changes from PBN-1, including a taller vertical tail, increased wing strength for greater carrying capacity, new electrical system, standardized 'eyeball' turret, and a radome over cockpit for.175USAAF OA-10 United States Army Air Forces designation for PBY-5A, 105 built; 58 aircraft survivors re-designated A-10 in 1948.

OA-10A USAAF designation of Canadian Vickers-built version of the PBV-1A, 230 built. Survivors re-designated A-10A in 1948. Three additional aircraft from Navy in 1949 as A-10As. OA-10B USAAF designation of PBY-6A, 75 built. Re-designated A-10B in 1948. RAF Catalina I, same as the PBY-5 with six 0.303 in guns (one in bow, four in waist blisters and one aft of the hull step) and powered by two 1,200 hp R-1830-S1C3-G engines, 109 built. Catalina IA Operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Canso, 14 built.

Catalina IB Lend-lease PBY-5Bs for the RAF, 225 aircraft built. Catalina II Equipment changes, six built. Catalina IIA Vickers-Canada built Catalina II for the RAF, 50 built. Catalina IIIA Former U.S. Navy PBY-5As used by the RAF on the, 12 aircraft.

These were the only amphibians that saw RAF service. Catalina IVA Lend-lease PBY-5s for the RAF, 93 aircraft. Catalina IVB Lend-lease PB2B-1s for the RAF, some to the Royal Australian Air Force. Catalina VI Lend-lease PB2B-2s for the RAF, some to the RAAF.

RCAF Canso-A RCAF designation for PBV-1A Other Users GST Soviet built version of the PBY-5 ('Gydro Samoliot Transportnyi'). Steward-Davis Super Catalina ('Super Cat') Catalina converted to use 1,700 hp engines, with enlarged rudder and other changes.

Avalon Turbo Canso Proposed turboprop conversion of Canso water bombers, powered by two engines. Operators. Orthographically projected diagram of the PBY Catalina.Data from Encyclopedia of World Air Power Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II Handbook of Erection and Maintenance Instructions for Navy Model PBY-5 and PBY-5A Airplanes. Legg 2002, p. 285.

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The war of cute cats and dogs.The scattered cat heroes gathered to protect their kingdom and fight against the dogs.★ I'm the god of cats, 'Catphinx.'