Post by flyjoe180 on Aug 5, 2007 11:56:00 GMT 12
Flying boat lands as latest project
03.08.2007
By ELOISE GIBSON
She was once the saviour of downed World War 2 airmen - now this flying boat which rescued men from the sea needs some help of her own.
The fuselage of a Catalina flying boat arrived in Tauranga this week from Auckland's Ardmore Airport.
It will be restored over the coming months by volunteers at the Classic Flyers aviation museum and will then go on display there.
Grayson Ottaway, who will help with the restoration project, said the Catalina was the museum's "pride and joy".
"She doesn't look a hell of a lot but we've got a lot there - a complete cockpit, a hull, and other parts," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The planes were used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1943-1951 because they could land on water as well as land.
The parts, which arrived this week, were from a Catalina built in Canada in 1944 which flew anti-submarine patrols until the end of the war.
It was brought to New Zealand in 1994 and was owned and operated by the Catalina Club.
The club brought the fuselage for spare parts but after five years there isn't a lot left to salvage for the airworthy plane, so it was donated to Classic Flyers.
"The Catalinas were never really armed but they were the saviour of downed airmen in World War 2," said Mr Ottaway. "I've been told there was nothing sweeter than the sound of the radial engines coming towards you if you were in the sea."
All 56 of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's Catalinas have since been crashed, sunk, scrapped or sent overseas.
Volunteers at the Classic Flyers Museum, on Jean Batten Drive, are planning to turn the fuselage into a visitor display.
The restoration would take about 18 months, Mr Ottaway said. The plane would never fly again as the parts do not include wings.
"The wingspan is 33m, so we'd never fit it in the museum anyway," Mr Ottaway said.
The fuselage would be stripped, waterproofed and painted to look as it would have during the war.
A colour scheme was still being decided on but Mr Ottaway said it was likely to be all black, like the stealth colours used during the war.
About 30 or 40 of the museum's 200 or so active volunteers would take part in the restoration. Most have been pilots or aircraft engineers in the past.
www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3743736&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
03.08.2007
By ELOISE GIBSON
She was once the saviour of downed World War 2 airmen - now this flying boat which rescued men from the sea needs some help of her own.
The fuselage of a Catalina flying boat arrived in Tauranga this week from Auckland's Ardmore Airport.
It will be restored over the coming months by volunteers at the Classic Flyers aviation museum and will then go on display there.
Grayson Ottaway, who will help with the restoration project, said the Catalina was the museum's "pride and joy".
"She doesn't look a hell of a lot but we've got a lot there - a complete cockpit, a hull, and other parts," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The planes were used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1943-1951 because they could land on water as well as land.
The parts, which arrived this week, were from a Catalina built in Canada in 1944 which flew anti-submarine patrols until the end of the war.
It was brought to New Zealand in 1994 and was owned and operated by the Catalina Club.
The club brought the fuselage for spare parts but after five years there isn't a lot left to salvage for the airworthy plane, so it was donated to Classic Flyers.
"The Catalinas were never really armed but they were the saviour of downed airmen in World War 2," said Mr Ottaway. "I've been told there was nothing sweeter than the sound of the radial engines coming towards you if you were in the sea."
All 56 of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's Catalinas have since been crashed, sunk, scrapped or sent overseas.
Volunteers at the Classic Flyers Museum, on Jean Batten Drive, are planning to turn the fuselage into a visitor display.
The restoration would take about 18 months, Mr Ottaway said. The plane would never fly again as the parts do not include wings.
"The wingspan is 33m, so we'd never fit it in the museum anyway," Mr Ottaway said.
The fuselage would be stripped, waterproofed and painted to look as it would have during the war.
A colour scheme was still being decided on but Mr Ottaway said it was likely to be all black, like the stealth colours used during the war.
About 30 or 40 of the museum's 200 or so active volunteers would take part in the restoration. Most have been pilots or aircraft engineers in the past.
www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3743736&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
