Item Number: 2004

Flown by most Allied Forces in World War 2, the PBY Catalina
became the most successful wartime flying boat because of its
flight range, carrying capacity and ability to land on any
reasonable body of calm water. From the attack on Pearl Harbor
thru war?s end, the PBY saw service in nearly every combat
theater around the globe-from icy Greenland and Alaska to the
steaming tropics of the South Pacific where many personnel of
downed bombers owed their lives to at-sea rescues by PBY?s. When
the war terminated in 1945, many surviving Catalina?s began new
careers as cargo transports, forest fire water bombers and
members of geophysical survey teams. In these and other civilian
roles, a number of PBY?s continued to successfully operate until
the early 1980?s.