Low-flying Catalina

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina PH-PBY (c/n 300) was built in 1941

Some historical background (source):
- BuNo 2459 (c/n 300) credited with sinking of 3 U-boats.
- Sold on civil register in Sept 1946 as NC18446.
- To Canada in 1953 as CF-HHR and later C-FHHR.
- Now flying in Netherlands as PH-PBY. Now painted in Dutch Navy colors with false serial 16-218.

And from http://www.ruudleeuw.com/phpby.htm:

Greetings to my "Old Friend", PBY5A 2459. It is certainly wonderful to see you Airborne once again, and appearing so beautiful and healthy. You probably do not remember me, but I spent over 100 hours in your pilot seat, during your younger days, between 12 January and 8 August 1943 as you carried my crew around the North Atlantic Ocean from Reykjavik. At that time of your life we were either escorting convoys, protecting them from U-Boats, or checking on the Ice Flows as they moved south from the Arctic Ocean into the North Atlantic where they could cause problems in the shipping lanes between New York and Europe during WWII.
It is really a pleasure to see you Flying again.
Cdr. Rodney N. Smith,
U.S. Navy (Retired)