Consolidated PBY Catalina

Specifications

• Crew: 8 people (commander, pilot, flight mechanic, navigator, scorer, two side arrows and bow shooter)
• Length: 19.46 m
• Wing Span : 31.70 m
• Height: 6.15 m
• Wing area: 130 m²
• Wing extension ratio: 7.73
• Weight empty: 9485 kg
• Weight curb: 16066 kg
• Engines: 2 × piston radial Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92, 1200 l each. with. (895 kW) each
• The drag coefficient at zero lifting force: 0.0309
• Equivalent area of ​​resistance: 4.02 m²

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed : 314 km / h
• Cruising speed : 201 km / h
• Distance: 4030 km
• Practical ceiling : 4000 m
• Rate of climb: 5.1 m / s
• Wing load: 123.6 kg / m²
• Thrust: 0.112 kW / kg
• The aerodynamic quality of the aircraft : 11.9

Armament

• Machine gun armament:
  • 7.62 mm machine gun (in the nose turret)
  • 3 × 12.7 mm machine gun (one on each side of the fuselage, one in a tunnel installation in the lower rear of the fuselage)
• Bomb load: up to 1814 kg of depth charges, torpedoes

A licensed copy called GTS (Hydro Aircraft Transport) was produced in Taganrog from January 1939 and until October 1941 27 aircraft were produced, 11 of which were based in Sevastopol until the end of the defense ^[1] . According to the Northern Fleet torpedo sailors, the “Catalina” (unknown number) served in the Northern Fleet aviation during the Great Patriotic War and were used, in particular, to select ships and aircraft of the Northern Fleet from the German fleet in the Barents Sea. a special hitch was installed. Also, the "Catalina" was used for some time by the Soviet Navy in the Pacific : during the landing of Soviet troops in Port Arthur (Lüshun) and the Far (Dalian), 17 such aircraft splashed down in Port Arthur Bay ^[2] . At least one of the Lend-Lease aircraft in the summer of 1945 crashed in the Primorye Territory; the machine belonged to a separate naval intelligence regiment of the Pacific Fleet, and found it in May 2018 ^[3] .

"Catalina" used in the Black Sea Fleet of the USSR until 1955-56. consisting of 30 ODRAP at Saki airfield. The pilots who flew them, spoke about the technique very well. Subsequently, the aircraft were written off and dismantled.

• A member of the royal family of Tonga, Baron Vaea, served as a pilot on this plane during World War II.
• On the Catalina patrol bomber G. Hopkins ( Roosevelt’s personal representative for the talks from July 29 to August 1, 1941 with the Soviet leader Stalin) made a heroic flight from Scottish Invergordon to Murmansk and back to Scapa Flow ^[4] . The flight took place at a low altitude near the coast of Norway through the territory controlled by the Luftwaffe. When approaching Scapa Flow was fired upon by an unidentified destroyer.
• “Catalina” PBY-5A was used by the team of Jacques-Yves Cousteau . On this plane in 1979, his son Philip crashed, piloting the plane ^[5] .
• On March 22, 1960, the family of American businessman Thomas Kendall landed on the Catalina in the Tiran Strait, Saudi Arabia . They wanted to eat dinner and then spend the night on the Red Sea . The next morning, they were attacked by local Bedouins . About 300 bullets hit the plane. Thomas Kendall and his secretary were injured. They tried to start the engines and take off, but after sailing 800 meters, the plane hit a coral reef and ran aground. Captive Americans were taken to Jeddah , where the ambassador for several months sought their release. Subsequently, when the formalities were settled, the Saudi authorities did not apologize and refused to pay compensation to Kendall. The PBY-5A Catalina seaplane is still lying on the shores of the Red Sea. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

• Present in the game War Thunder as a bomber of the first rank of US aircraft, as well as in the premium form in the aircraft of the USSR and the UK.
• In Call of Duty: World at War, one of the missions of the Pacific Campaign is on board the Black Cat's Catalina. The game also includes two 20-mm cannons in the nose.
• Present in the game Heroes of the Pacific as a bomber. The game also includes a 75-mm cannon in the nose.
• Present in the game Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault .
• Present in the game Enigma: Rising Tide .
• Present in the game: Battlestations Pacific

In Russian

• Kotelnikov V.R. Aviation Lend-Lease. - M .: The Russian Knights Foundation, 2015. - 368 p. - 1000 copies - ISBN 985-5-9906036-3-9.

In English

• (eng.) Creed, Roscoe. PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1986. ISBN 0-87021-526-4 .
• Crocker, Mel. Black Cats and Dumbos: WW II's Fighting PBYs. Crocker Media Expressions, 2002. ISBN 0-9712901-0-5 .
• (eng.) Dorney, Louis B. US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-84176-911-8 .
• (eng.) Hendrie, Andrew. Flying Cats: The Catalina Aircraft in World War II. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0-87021-213-3 .
• (eng.) Kinzey, Bert. PBY Catalina in Detail & Scale. Carrollton, TX: Squadron / Signal Publications, Inc., 2000. ISBN 1-888974-19-2 .
• (eng.) Knott, Richard C. Black Cat Raiders of World War II. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55750-471-7 .
• (eng.) Legg, David. Consolidated PBY Catalina: The Peacetime Record. Annapolis, MD: US Naval Institute Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55750-245-5 .
• (eng.) (eng.) Ragnarsson, Ragnar. US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Atlantic War. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-84176-910-X .
• (eng.) Scarborough, William E. PBY Catalina in Action (Aircraft number 62). Carrollton, TX: Squadron / Signal Publications, Inc., 1983. ISBN 0-89747-149-0 .
• (eng.) Scarborough, William E. PBY Catalina - Walk Around. Carrollton, TX: Squadron / Signal Publications, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0-89747-357-4 .
• (eng.) Wagner, Ray. The Story of the PBY Catalina (Aero Biographies Volume 1). San Diego, CA: Flight Classics, 1972.

• PBY Catalina on the site "Corner of the sky"