I would doubt this is the last PBY flying, but it may well be the only one that has been restored to original condition. But I could be wrong.
A well produced 7 minute video.
http://www.nxtbook.com/fx/media/ooyala/index.php?w=640&h=360&embedCode=l5cnRrbjoBGoU3i9mNk2WnlSwfvifrlA#ooiAnd for some more PBY history:
Japanese force approaching Midway is spotted and attacked by PBYs - 1942
June 3, 1942. The Japanese force approaching Midway is spotted by the crew of a VP-23 PBY-5A Catalina on patrol.
From USNHC: Forewarned by Pacific Fleet codebreaking, Midway's patrol planes searched out hundreds of miles along probable Japanese approach routes. First contact was made with a pair of minesweepers some 470 miles to the west southwest at about 0900 on 3 June 1942. Within a half-hour, another PBY spotted the enemy's transport group, heading east about 700 miles west of Midway. Later that day, six Army B-17s bombed the transports, the Battle of Midway's first combat action, but only achieved near-misses. The Japanese were undeterred.
During the evening, four PBY-5A amphibians took off to make a night torpedo strike. Encountering the Japanese transport force in the early hours of 4 June, the slow patrol planes hit the oiler Akebono Maru with one torpedo, the only successful U.S. aerial torpedo attack of the entire battle. However, the damaged Japanese ship was able to keep up as the formation continued on.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/g10000/g19974.jpgPhoto #: 80-G-19974 (Complete Caption). Battle of Midway, June 1942. Crew of the Patrol Squadron 23 (VP-23) PBY-5A "Catalina" patrol bomber that found the approaching Japanese fleet's Midway Occupation Force on the morning of 3 June 1942. Those present are (standing, left to right): Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class R.J. Derouin; Chief Aviation Radioman Francis Musser; Ensign Hardeman (Copilot); Ensign J. H. Reid (Pilot)--on wheel—and Ensign R.A. Swan (Navigator). Kneeling are (left to right): Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class J.F. Gammell (Naval Aviation Pilot); Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class J. Goovers and Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class P.A. Fitzpatrick. Names are as given on the original photographic mount card, in the custody of the National Archives. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives.
PBYs at Corpus Christi - August of 1942
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34800/1a34894v.jpgAviation Ordnanceman Jesse R. Waller installing a 30-calibre machine gun in a PBY Catalina, August of 1942. (Library of Congress LC-USW36-85)
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34900/1a34916v.jpghttp://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34900/1a34926r.jpgSailors checking PBY Cat, August of 1942. (Library of Congress LC-USW36-970, LC-USW36-1086
http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34900/1a34914v.jpgLaunching (Recovering?) PBY at the Naval Air Base, Corpus Christi, Texas, August 1942. (Library of Congress LC-USW36-968,)
Sinking U-Boats in 1942
August 20, 1942. PBY-5A (VP 73) sinks German submarine U-464, North Atlantic Area, 61°25'N, 14°40'W. Later HMS Castleton (ex-USS Aaron Ward, DD-132) and another former American destroyer HMS Newark (ex-USS Ringgold, DD-89) took custody of 51 of the U-464’s 53-man crew who had been picked up by an Icelandic trawler. Details at
http://www.uboat.net/boats/u464.htm.
August 28, 1942. PBY (VP 92) and Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville sink German submarine U-94 at 17°54'N, 74°36'W. Destroyer Lea (DD-118) and Oakville pick up survivors. Details and photos at
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-94.htm Cuban Navy in 1957
Cuban Navy was still operating the PBYs during the late 50s.
From a Foreign Service Dispatch, American Embassy, Habana, 3 April 1957
(UNCLASSIFIED) CUBAN PBY LOST. On 1 April 1957 a Cuban Navy PBY crashed into the sea near Cabanas, Pinar del Rio Province. The aircraft took off from the Naval Air Station, Mariel, at 1515 on a routine patrol flight and reportedly fell at 1530. The reason for the accident is not known at this time. Of the crew of seven, only one enlisted man survived. He was picked up by a fishing vessel. The Cuban navy has dispatched vessels and aircraft to search for the wreckage and other survivors but as of this date the search has not been successful. The aircraft which was lost was a PBY-5A No. 70. This aircraft was the best of the four PBY's belonging to the Cuban Naval Air Arm. Under MAP this aircraft was provided in August 1956 from U. S. Navy "mothball" storage to replace a Cuban PBY that was beyond economic repair.
Hope you enjoyed the rainy day interlude. :)
bob
