[RedBaron]

That moustache on the pilot looks a bit out of regs!

[mustangdriver]

THe early PBY's had the style turret on the RAF Cat. Te gunner was soemwhat exposed to the elements. The later models had that same look to it, but was enclosed. THe late PBY 5A's, and all PBY 6A's had the turret that had an extra little bulge on the top of it. Corgi got it right.

[admin]

The Cutaway PBY Display

On the 28th of May, 1944, a PBY-5B, Number FP-216, was involved in a water-looping accident in East Bay, Pensacola, Florida that resulted in strike damage to the airplane. The historian for the PBY Catalina International Association (PBY CIA), I. James Morrison, was stationed at Pensacola at the time. According to his recollections, the aircraft was parked on the seaplane ramp used by Training Squadron VN8D-8A for some time after the accident. waiting to be stricken, until an enterprising Safety Training Officer convinced his superiors that, rather than scrapping the airplane, it could be turned into a training exhibit. Accordingly, he made arrangements to have the entire hull built into the back wall of what was then Survival Training Unit Building at the Naval Air Station. Half of the hull was inside the building and the other half was outside, with the outer wing panel was removed, leaving the stub wing and starboard engine in place. On the inside, the port wing wing was totally removed. The imaginative Training Officer then arranged for the Naval Air Station Assembly and Repair (A & R) Department to selectively remove the metal skin all along the half of the hull inside the building, exposing to view all the inside compartments and operator stations, including the "tower" which is the flight engineer's station inside the cabane strut between the wing and the hull.

READ THE REST (good pics)

[ZS-VAN]

Very, very site Admin. Great pics.

[butcherbird]

Originally Posted by djjeffhall

Couple of questions.

Does the nose turret rotate?

Do the gun blisters on the waist have guns? Are the blisters removable, or at least openable?

Thanks.

My catalina arrived today.
The nose turret does rotate.
The waist gunners do have guns.
The blisters do seem removable however I haven't tried 'cause I'm
sending the plane back to the retailer for replacement.
Both antenna arrays on the port wing were broken off. The smaller one is not even in the box.
The bottom of the starboard wing is loose at the wing root and sags very noticeably.
The loose antenna's don't really surprise me as they are pretty delicate. Had the other antenna been in the box and the wing been ok,
I would have kept this one and just fixed it. Hopefully the wing issue is a one of and the next one will be ok.
Aside from this ones bugs, this is a pretty awesome plane.

[djjeffhall]

Butcherbird,
Hey there sir.

Thanks for the review. I appreciate you taking the time to write back about it.

I'm glad that Corgi is putting a little more work into the Cats than I expected they would. I was expecting that the nose turret would not rotate and the blisters would be sealed.

Sorry to hear you got a bum plane, I'm sure it was a fluke.

[timbo]

Butcherbird - Mine's just arrived. It also does not have a small antenna on the Port wing, just one on the starboard. No evedence of it in the box or on the floor. All others were intact though.

Checking the photo's in the thread I'm not sure if there should be one. I see a hole, but no evedence of one ever being fitted. The hole is also in a slightly different place to the one attaching the small antenna on the starboard wing. Can anyone confirm??

Overall the best big bird I have yet from the hound(Although I don't have any lanc's). Absolutly love it.

[Old Crow]

I also saw and handled this plane the other day (didn't get it as I'm waiting for the night version, though I may eventually succumb) and it is spectacular, one of the best ever.

I actually saw 2 examples and neither had the smaller antennae on the port wing. I called the store and confirmed that each, in addition to lacking a port wing antennae, did have a small hole on the port side and neither had a loose antennae.

[butcherbird]

Thanks for the info Timbo, O.C.
The thought had crossed my mind that it never had the antenna. But seeing the hole (even though I didn't detect any glue residue) led me to believe it had fallen off before packaging.
The bum wing was the biggest deal to me anyway. At least when I get my replacement I'll know about the antenna.

Were the wings ok on the ones you have/saw?

[JC Woodman]

Just pick up my Catalina yesterday! Super sweet!!!! Another hit for the little dog! Very pleased!