Consolidated PBY Catalina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PBY_Catalina

The Consolidated PBY Catalina, also known as the Canso in Canadian service, is
an American flying boat, and later an amphibious aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s
produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes
of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed
Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations.

During World War II, PBYs were used in anti-submarine warfare, patrol bombing,
convoy escorts, search and rescue missions (especially air-sea rescue), and
cargo transport. The PBY was the most numerous aircraft of its kind and the last
active military PBYs were not retired from service until the 1980s. In 2014,
nearly 80 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as a
waterbomber (or airtanker) in aerial firefighting operations all over the world.

The PBY was originally designed to be a patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long
operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in
order to disrupt enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the
Pacific Ocean, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the
U.S. Navy in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range
flying boats for this purpose. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring
runways, 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.

Although slow and ungainly, Catalinas distinguished themselves in World War II.
Allied forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles for which the
aircraft was never intended. They 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 "Dumbo" in air-sea rescue
service.


Role
Maritime patrol and search-and-rescue seaplane

Manufacturer
Consolidated Aircraft

First flight
28 March 1935

Introduction
October 1936, United States Navy

Retired
January 1957 (United States Navy Reserve)
1979 (Brazilian Air Force)

Primary users
United States Navy
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force

Produced
1936–1945

Number built
3,305 (2,661 US-built, 620 Canadian-built, 24 Soviet-built)

Unit cost

US$90,000 (as of 1935)
Adjusted for inflation: US$1606456


Variants
Bird Innovator

Around 3,300 aircraft were built, and these operated in nearly all operational
theatres of World War II. The Catalina served with distinction and played a
prominent and invaluable role against the Japanese. This was especially true
during the first year of the war in the Pacific, because the PBY and the Boeing
B-17 Flying Fortress were the only aircraft available with the range to be
effective in the Pacific.

Catalinas were the most extensively used anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft
in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of World War II, and were also used in
the Indian Ocean, flying from the Seychelles and from Ceylon. Their duties
included escorting convoys to Murmansk. By 1943, U-boats were well-armed with
anti-aircraft guns and two Victoria Crosses were won by Catalina pilots pressing
home their attacks on U-boats in the face of heavy fi Flying Officer John
Cruickshank of the RAF, in 1944, for sinking U-347 (although the submarine is
now known to have been U-361) and in the same year Flight Lieutenant David
Hornell of the Royal Canadian Air Force (posthumously) against U-1225. Catalinas
destroyed 40 U-boats, but not without losses of their own. A Brazilian Catalina
attacked and sank U-199 in Brazilian waters on 31 July 1943. Later, the aircraft
was baptized as “Arará”, in memory of the merchant ship of that name which was
sunk by another U-boat.

Specifications (PBY-5A)

General characteristics
Crew: 10 – pilot, co-pilot, bow turret gunner, flight engineer, radio operator,
navigator, radar operator, two waist gunners, ventral gunner
Length: 63 ft 10 7/16 in (19.46 m)
Wingspan: 104 ft 0 in (31.70 m)
Height: 21 ft 1 in (6.15 m)
Wing area: 1,400 ft² (130 m²)
Empty weight: 20,910 lb (9,485 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 35,420 lb (16,066 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0309
Drag area: 43.26 ft² (4.02 m²)
Aspect ratio: 7.73
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines, 1,200 hp
(895 kW) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 196 mph (314 km/h)
Cruise speed: 125 mph (201 km/h)
Range: 2,520 mi (4,030 km)
Service ceiling: 15,800 ft (4,000 m)
Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 25.3 lb/ft² (123.6 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.034 hp/lb (0.056 kW/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 11.9

Armament

3 .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine guns (two in nose turret, one in ventral hatch at
tail)
2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns (one in each waist blister)
4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of bombs or depth charges; torpedo racks were also available



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