Catalina will fly if restaurant gets punt

Kyt · Oct 23, 2007

This story is a couple of weeks old. Andy, had you heard about this? Any updates?

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22531273-23349,00.html

A FORMER restaurant at Sydney's Rose Bay may provide a significant boost to plans to bring a historic Catalina flying boat from Portugal.

The Rose Bay Afloat restaurant could soon find a new mooring and fetch up to $95,000 - if it escapes removal and dismantling by NSW Maritime.

The government authority recently served a final notice to the vessel's owners and threatened to seize the Sydney landmark by the end of last month.

But the restaurant remained moored at Rose Bay yesterday and NSW Maritime said it still had to finalise its removal.

"The owners will be provided as much time as possible to sell the vessel, as it is appreciated they have a very important goal in mind," a NSW Maritime spokesperson said.

The restaurant's owner, Catalina Flying Memorial Ltd, will use the proceeds from the sale to bring an original PBY6 Catalina flying boat from Portugal to aplanned permanent Cats exhibition at Rathmines, near Newcastle.

Original plans to transform the floating structure into a museum were knocked back, to the disappointment of the Catalina Association's Philip Dulhunty, who had hoped to commemorate the site's historic value.

Mr Dulhunty said the charity had already bought the amphibious plane in Portugal and was raising the money for its transfer to Australia.

"We'd like to get a major sponsor," he said yesterday.

"We're looking at $250,000 to get it ferried over."

Mr Dulhunty put the total cost of the plane's purchase, transfer and restoration at $1 million.

The PBY6 Catalina is a slightly modified version of the PBY5 used in World War II and started its life in New Orleans, shortly before the end of the war.

It was subsequently transformed into a waterbomber and moved between the US, Chile, Canada and, finally, the Sierra Mountains of Portugal.

Its proposed new home, the Rathmines RAAF seaplane base, is undergoing assessment for a national heritage listing.

If approved, a new hangar-like museum to house the operational seaplane at Lake Macquarie near Newcastle could be built in a matter of months. Provided Rose Bay Afloat sold before Christmas and the extra money was raised, Mr Dulhunty said it would be realistic to complete the project within two years.
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Antipodean Andy · Oct 23, 2007

Yep, I did know about it but only in passing. I knew there were plans to acquire one of the Portuguese 'boats but didn't know they had managed to buy one or about the restaurant link. There's been some comment down here about the Oz airshow scene not being able to "handle" two Cats but to those people I, and a few other people, say "get stuffed"!

To have one flying from Rathmines again will be great. I'm not sure if the HARS Cat is seaworthy yet but I think they were planning on making her so. The likelihood of having two Cats land at Rathmines for something like a splash-in is rather exciting!

Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

She's arrived!

Flying war memorial nears end of epic journey - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A World War II flying boat is making a sentimental journey down the east coast of Australia as it comes to the end of what has been an epic trip, stretching across a dozen countries.

For the 24th day in a row, Jim Hazelton will climb into the cockpit of the old Catalina and start one of the final legs of the journey.

At 77 he admits to being a little weary after flying the plane from Portugal, but his admiration for this wartime relic keeps him going.

"It just was the most amazing aeroplane. I'd rank it with the Lancaster and the Spitfire, those would be the three airplanes that come to mind that saved us in World War II," he said.

The Catalinas ware called the 'black cats' of the war, and their exploits were legendary.

Neville Kennard, the chairman of the Catalina Memorial Project, says most of them flew out of Darwin where they laid mines in Japanese occupied territory.

"The strategy was always to fly so low that the [Japanese] Zero fighters had a difficult job, firstly picking them up and secondly attacking them because they were so close to the surface," he said.

"It's very slow. It can fly for almost 24 hours, stay in the air for almost 24 hours, when it's fully fuelled.

"The fact that it's an amphibian - can land on water and can land on the land - makes it very unusual.

Three-hundred-and-twenty Australians died flying the Catalinas. This plane will become a memorial to them - the only one in Australia that will still be able to fly on land and sea.

This particular plane started life in the US, flew during the war, and ended up in Portugal, where for the past 10 years it has sat in the open, slowly deteriorating.

Getting it back to Australia has taken huge amounts of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. The crew of the Catalina has also battled weather and bureaucratic delays.

"Well, we tried to get it back last year, this time last year, and I'm afraid we've suffered a catastrophic engine failure after we started flying it," Mr Hazelton said.

"We were doing some test flying in Portugal before we left and it all went bad on us. And then we had to look around and try to find two new engines for it."

With a top speed of about 200 kilometres per hour it is a little faster than Mr Hazleton expected, but it is still 60 years old and the technology is a little crude.

There are perhaps fewer than 20 of the distinctive planes left in the world. This one will be based near Lake Macquarie in New South Wales after it finishes its coastal run.

"They're terrific. They're a very charismatic aircraft. If you see one you can't help but feel a bit nostalgic," Mr Kennard said.
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There's a few more than 20 left - I can think of eight in Australia off the top of my head (three here in Victoria - Lake Boga, Point Cook RAAFM and Moorabbin air museum) - and there are many more around the world.

Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

Wonderful video here. Watch the floats come down!

Flying boat returns home - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

Apparently, she did a touch and go on Sunday at Rathmines!

Typical government:

Catalina crew hit with $15k tax bill - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The charity group which has brought a World War II flying boat to Darwin has to pay Australian authorities $15,000 in taxes.

The Catalina arrived in Darwin late yesterday afternoon as part of its journey from Portugual to a New South Wales museum where it will be a permanent reminder of the aircraft's role in defending Australia.

About 170 Catalinas flew behind enemy lines during the war to lay mines, undertake bombing runs, and do reconnaissance against the Japanese.

Most of them were based in Northern Australia and more than 300 airmen were killed flying them.

The charity group, volunteers, and museum have spent $350,000 restoring the aircraft and bringing it from Europe to Australia.

The charity's spokesman Phillip Dulhunty says raising the funds was an epic struggle that the group only just managed.

He says he is "shocked" to find out Australian customs want $15,000.

"It's another expense we hadn't allowed for and which we haven't got," he said.

"We hope that we might apply and try and get that back, but that's a bit doubtful I'm told."

The crew plans to fly to Cairns next and visit several WWII bases before reaching the museum.
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Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

The touch and go:
Catalina returns to Lake Macquarie - Local News - News - General - The Herald

http://www.theherald.com.au/multimedia/images/full/414019.jpg

WITH eyes skyward and smiling, 1000 Catalina enthusiasts gathered on the shores of Lake Macquarie to witness the first trip since 1981 of a Catalina to a former home of the flying boats.

Secretive Catalina flying missions launched from Rathmines in World War II caused significant delays to the Japanese assault on Darwin and put all involved into the history books.

Rathmines Catalina Flying Club organised a fitting welcome for the craft which it bought two years ago, as it circled the former RAAF base at Rathmines yesterday on its way to Sydney for further restoration.

"It's not just the plane, it's what the plane represents to the region," Catalina festival organiser Mike Usher said.

The Catalina completed several circuits over Rathmines base, causing rapture on shore as it touched the surface of the lake before taking off again.

"It put on a show and there were cheers, claps, shouts and screams, it was an absolute magic day," Mr Usher said.

"She'll now be converted to her WWII glory and then we'll start pressure for a museum and hangar."

It will go to Bankstown, where it will be modified before returning to its new home on Lake Macquarie.

The plane is the second working Catalina in Australia, but the only one that can operate from land and water. The Catalina has passed through 12 countries, refuelling at each stop, since leaving Portugal last month.

It uses 400 litres of fuel an hour and it has cost at least $350,000 so far to restore and bring to Australia.
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Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

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Catalina will fly if restaurant gets punt

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