The PBY Catalina was the US Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. PB stands for Patrol Bomber, with Y being Consolidated's manufacturer identification. It could be equipped with depth charges, bombs, torpedoes, and .50 caliber machine guns and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the US military and in the air forces and navies of many other nations.

In World War II, PBYs were used as anti-submarine warfare aircraft, patrol bombers, convoy escorts, search and rescue aircraft, and transports. The Catalina can be considered the most successful aircraft of its kind, as no other flying boat was produced in greater numbers. The last active military Catalinas were not retired from service until the 1980s. Even today, over seventy years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as an airtanker in aerial firefighting operations all over the world.

The Catalina 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 compromise enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the Pacific Ocean, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the US 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 to take off and land, in effect having the entire ocean available as its runway. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY Catalina was the most widely used and produced.

Although slow and ungainly, Catalinas distinguished themselves in World War II as exceptionally reliable aircraft. Allied armed forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles that the aircraft was never intended for. They are remembered most by veterans of the war for their role as rescuing aircraft, where they saved the lives of thousands of aircrewmen shot down over the Pacific Ocean.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a USN Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina flying boat that was piloted by Otto F Meyer Jr, who was attached to Patrol Squadron 14, then deployed to Kaneohe Bay, Pearl Harbor, on December 7th, 1941. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 17-1/4-inches
Length: 10-3/4-inches

Release Date: March 2017

Historical Account: "On Patrol" - On the morning of December 7th, 1941, Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina 14-P-2 was undertaking a patrol off the coast of Hawaii, when Ensign Otto F. Meyer Jr. and his crew became aware of the Japanese attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. At around 10am a formation of nine enemy aircraft passed directly in front of his aircraft, before turning in to attack. In the ensuing melee, Meyer skillfully flew his large flying boat to evade each enemy attack, whilst his gunners returned fire, inflicting damage on a number of the enemy aircraft. Running low on fuel and ammunition, the Japanese aircraft flew off in the direction of their carriers, leaving the bullet ridden Catalina to search for the Japanese Task Force.

Back at the Catalina's home base at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, the Japanese attack had left a scene of absolute devastation, with many aircraft destroyed, or seriously damaged. Of the sixty-one Catalinas available on the island of Oahu that fateful morning, all but eleven aircraft were destroyed or severely damaged by the Japanese attack - all remaining serviceable Catalinas were ordered into the air to search for the Japanese Fleet.