Consolidated Aircraft

The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York. The result of a merger between Gallaudet Aircraft Company and Dayton-Wright Company, Consolidated became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for its line of flying boats. The most prolific of the Consolidated patrol boats was the PBY Catalina, which was produced throughout World War II and used extensively by the Allies. Equally famous is the B-24 Liberator, a heavy bomber which, like the Catalina, saw action in both the Pacific and European theaters. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_Aircraft

Consolidated PBY Catalina

Click for Consolidated PBY Catalina sound recordings page

The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the US military 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. So successful was the type that the last active military PBYs were not retired from service until the 1980s. Even today, over 70 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as an airtanker in aerial firefighting operations all over the world.

PBY Catalina, May 2009

Sound recording of a Consolidated Aircraft PBY Catalina, May 2009, Old Warden Aerodrome.

Click for PBY Catalina, May 2009 sound recording page

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  • I flew in the PBY5-A in the Aleutians, in Squadron VPB-61, dependable plane, always brought us home. Palm Springs Air Museum has a plane I flew in.

    Posted by Ken Claypool, 10/08/2011 10:44pm (6 months ago)

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