PBY Catalina / World War Two Plane

  The Legendary PBY Catalina

There was a great need for aircraft that could take off and land on water. This was especially needed for the Pacific Ocean region for transport  between Pacific Ocean islands.

In the early 1930's it became quite apparent that the Japanese were expanding their empire in both Asia and the Pacific and a modernized sea based aircraft would be needed. They were correct. it would be needed and probably sooner than they thought.

The answer for the U.S. government was the legendary PBY Catalina aircraft.



Advantages of the PBY Catalina

It's obvious that an aircraft that can take off and land on water offers a big strategic advantage. These aircraft were designed and manufactured back in 1931 such as the PBY pictured at left.

The problem with these earlier versions was that the range was too short and the capacity and weaponry capabilities had to be improved. Another strategic reason for water based craft was that back in the 1930's and 1940's there wasn't an overabundance of concrete runways and when you consider that much of their use would be on or adjacent to oceans, a dependable and capable long range water based patrol bomber was much needed. The development of the large Pan Am Clippers that operated in the Pacific and South America during this era attests to the practicality of sea based aviation. The PBY Catalina was developed along the same years as the Pan Am Martin Flying Boats.

Designing the PBY

The government asked for competing prototypes from both Consolidated Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft. The prototype adopted was the Consolidated XP3Y which had it's maiden flight in March 1935. After it's maiden flight the plane was turned over to the Navy for their trials. In October 1935 the Navy returned the plane to Consolidated with a list of desired enhancements including more powerful engines. Even though the Navy asked for enhancements, the Consolidated plane was superior to any current flying boat in use.

Interestingly enough, the somewhat redesigned and enhanced XPBY-1 had it's maiden flight in May 1936 and during this flight a new long distance record of 3,443 miles was achieved. This was certainly an aircraft capable of operating over vast oceans. The PBY in various models were flown by several allied governments including Australia and Great Britain. In fact, restored PBY's are even flown today.


PBY Specs



The Consolidated PBY Catalina did much of it's work at speeds of 100-125 MPH and with full fuel tanks and efficiently tuned engines the aircraft could stay airborne for about 30 hours. This allowed the PBY to have a remarkable service range.

The photo at right is a PBY-5A equipped with radar flying over Greenland in 1945. The planes dimensions were 63 ft 10 in length, 104 ft wingspan, 20 ft. 2 in height and powered by two Pratt and Whitney Radial Engines each with 1,200 horsepower. Maximum speed was 196 MPH with a cruising speed of 125 MPH. It's offocial range was 2,520 miles with a service ceiling of 15,800 ft.

PBY World War Two Service

The wartime service of this most versatile aircraft was legendary. With it's superior range and ability to land on the ocean, the aircraft was an efficient rescue vehicle for downed fliers. There were many TBM-Avenger torpedo bomber pilots successfully picked up from the ocean by PBY rescue aircraft during World War Two. With it's range, the PBY's patrolling capabilities were superior.

The aircraft was constantly used to search for enemy warships as well as enemy submarines operating right off our U.S. coastline. The PBY was one of the aircraft used to search for German U-Boats operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The U-Boats had good success sinking allied oil tankers off Louisiana and Texas during 1942-43 and the PBY's were used extensively. The PBY's virtually saw service in every World War Two theater of conflict. From Greenland to Alaska to the South Pacific..the PBY's were involved. This multi-role aircraft served with every arm of the military. The Navy, the Army Air Forces and then with the United States Air Force.

You will also find interesting our Western Trips article and photos of the UH-1 Huey helicopter with "Lucy in the Skies" detailing.


While the PBY was probably the most resourceful aircraft aloft, it did have one flaw. Flying during the daylight hours in the South Pacific, the plane was a good target for the fast and highly maneuverable Japanese Zero fighters. While the PBY certainly had range and superior load capacity, it lacked the measure of maneuverability needed to effectively dodge enemy fighters.

 
The PBY was designed with a retractable landing gear which added greatly to it's versatility. When World War Two began Consolidated Aircraft became much more busy with a government contract for 782 additional PBY-5's. The planes were constructed in New Orleans and Canada.

After Pearl Harbor, PBY's were stationed out of Alameda California for the purpose of patrolling 800 miles off the U.S. west coast searching for any possible Japanese submarines and surface vessels.

Additionally, the PBY was used for mapping in Alaska and for establishing the LORAN navigation system throughout the Pacific theater. Add to that the fact that PBY's were employed to rescue downed airmen in the Pacific Ocean such as during the crucial Battle of Midway. Likewise the PBY was used extensively on both rescue missions and recon patrol during campaigns in the Solomon and Mariana Islands.

This was one magnificent wartime aircraft and one of the very best places to see the PBY on display is at the Seaplane Base at Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, Washington. Prior to and during the war PBY pilots trained off Whidbey Island. At the onset of the war there was real concern about the security of both the Pacific northwest and Alaska.

The photo above left is a PBY flying over the Aleutian Islands during 1943. A seaplane base was established at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians to help protect Alaska. The PBY on display at Whidbey Island was once stationed there. Currently there are plans to put upwards of $150,000 into it's restoration depending mostly on donations. The naval aircraft memorial was established in 1998 and the acquisition of the PBY aircraft spanned some twelve years. The plane was received in 2010. The Seaplane Base will also have Naval aircraft from 1942 and later on display. If all of this isn't enough, the Whidbey Island Washington museum also has a flight simulator you can try out. A visit to the Naval Aviation Memorial at Whidbey Island is a fun and educational trip for the whole family.

You will also enjoy our photo article on the Beechcraft 18 which is in flying condition andon display at the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum.

See the PBY on Display


If you're on a western U.S. road trip there are a few additional sites to see the PBY on display. A good vacation stopover is the San Diego Air and Space Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego California. Many World War Two aircraft are on display including the PBY Catalina and a restored Japanese Zero.


Another growing aircraft museum which has a PBY on display is the Minnesota Wing Confederate Air Force at Fleming Field, Hangar 3 in South St. Paul Minnesota.

A road trip to see and photograph the amazing PBY could be a fun and educational addition to your vacation or weekend getaway.

Another very interesting aviation story is that of Wiley Post and his record setting Lockheed Vega. 

(Photos from the public domain)

John Sutter's New Helvetia And How It Ended With The California Gold Rush

If you're exploring early California history and the 1849 Gold Rush in particular there is no other way to do it than to learn about a remarkable man by the name of John Sutter. For Californians Sutter's name is directly connected with the fabulous Gold Rush years and that connection couldn't be any more direct because the Gold Rush first began at John Sutter's new sawmill in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The Sierra Nevada Foothills

The area where this story occurred is in the Sierra Nevada foothills along the American River. This is east of present day Sacramento California.

The Sierra foothills region is a beautiful area with gradually rolling hills extending eastward all the way to the top of the mountain chain. The trail at the summit in this part of the Sierra's is called Donner Pass and was the area involved in the Donner Party tragedy that happened in the mid 1840's. Any California vacation itinerary should include this history rich area including Sutter's Fort, Pollock Pines and to the south Angels Camp and Sonora which were bustling gold mining towns.

It's a magnificent area to tour and you'll learn much about California's gold mining era and the people who took part in it. Another fun educational and low cost family road trip.

John Sutter

John Sutter was a Swiss-American who migrated to California in 1840 with a 12 league land grant from the Mexican government. Alta California was originally ruled by Spain with their building of twenty-one missions. During the 1820's Spain was ejected by the Mexicans and Mexico offered land grants to settlers.

Sutter's intentions were simple. He wanted to cultivate his land to the highest degree and at the same time add to his holdings when the opportunity arose. Eventually he acquired the area of Bodega Bay, just north of San Francisco and also Fort Ross, built by the Russians during their fur trapping explorations. The Russians having tired of their North American exploits seemed more than willing to sell their parcels especially in light of both the Mexicans and newly arriving Americans approaching their doorstep.

The result of all this was that John Sutter virtually created a country within a country. He named his vast holdings New Helvetia. An interesting fact about John Sutter is that with his vast accumulation of land and his extensive enterprises on that land including agriculture and cattle raising, his desire for accumulating money in itself was not a top priority. History books point out that Sutter was just as happy with achieving success working the land to it's potential as he was with the resultant accumulation of wealth. A money hoarder he was not. The fact stands out because in that era most pioneers were obsessed with wealth. Sutter was ambitious in a way that other Californians were not. He was always looking for opportunities to get more land and to employ more Indians and add to the tremendous municipality that was his.


On a small rise of land on the American River he built a fort. The fort served as the center for all activities related to his holdings. While Sutter employed Indians to work his land holdings there were also a number of hostiles in the area so the fort served as protection as well.

Inside the fort was a blacksmith shop, his granaries, his store rooms and his arsenals. Everyone knew where Sutter's Fort was and travelers used it as a stopping off point and immigrants aimed for it. Sutter named his empire New Helvetia in honor of the ancient Roman title of his fatherland. John Sutter did not exaggerate. His crude stockade became the heart of the entire region. Down by the river was a small pier where boats from San Francisco discharged and stowed their cargoes.


Sutters next plan for expansion involved lumber. He wanted good pine and cedar. The plains of the Sacramento Valley were great for growing wheat and peas and for cattle pastures but they didn't grow the kind of timber he so badly needed. The foothills had the type of trees required and Sutter decided to send his best carpenter, John Marshall, up into the hills to find the ideal spot to erect his sawmill.

A sawmill needed water for power and Marshall finally found just the right place on the American Fork. Up to this point, everything appears to be going Sutter's way once again, but who would ever expect that the very spot that John Marshall chose to build the sawmill that would expand Sutter's grand empire, would in reality mark the beginning of John Sutter's eventual downfall. Ironic but true.



While Marshall was supervising the sawmill construction he just happened to spot gleaming yellow flakes in the nearby water. Not entirely sure whether this was gold he was looking at or perhaps merely fools gold, Marshall decided to keep his discovery silent until he could ascertain what it was he found.

Marshall unexpectedly paid a visit to John Sutter back at the fort and asked to meet with him privately. Sutter was filled in on what Marshall found and the two men tested the samples brought in by Marshall. By all available tests they determined that what Marshall had found in the river truly was gold.

Gold was the last thing on Sutter's mind. His goals involved agriculture, livestock and lumbering...not gold mining. He never tried to accumulate gold. In fact, the gold he did own, mostly old Spanish pieces, he often times gave out to needy travelers who stopped by Sutter's Fort. California gold was not a preoccupation for John Sutter


At this point Sutter envisioned what would happen to his New Helvetia empire if word got out that vast amounts of gold were to be found in the Sierras. There would be no practical way to keep the gold seekers out of the area. His agricultural business would be ruined by the onslaught of outsiders as well as by the desertion of his workers in their quest for riches in the mountains. There would be nobody left to harvest the grain or cut down the timber. How do you keep something like this a secret? The answer is simply that you can't. The other question was..who's gold was this?

Who Had the Rights to Sutters Gold?

Sutter built a sawmill in the hills but that didn't give him legal claim to the land and it's gold deposits. Keep in mind that the year all of this drama played out was a transition time for California. The U.S. acquired the territory as spoils of the Mexican-American War. Nobody was giving out free land grants at the time and the territory was administered by a military governor in Monterey California. Sutter made an attempt to have the military governor grant him this land in the foothills but he was denied. There would be no further granting of land without proper surveys.  Sutter clearly understood that this denial from the military authorities meant the eventual downfall of his New Helvetia. There was no way that he could keep things together once word of the gold discovery got out.

Word of Gold Slips Out

At first word did get out slowly but it did get out. After a very short while it got out rapidly. The California Gold Rush was on. But what was the California Gold Rush? At first it was Californians who dropped what they were doing and rushed to the foothills. The San Francisco Californian newspaper shut down after both readers and advertisers dashed off to find their riches. Sailors deserted their ships in San Francisco Bay. Of course word eventually reached the east coast of America and then another California stampede began. Some went by ship which meant either around Cape Horn or through the Panama Isthmus and others traveled overland either along the Platte Road and Oregon Trail or if in winter most likely along the Santa Fe Trail. Emigrants to California didn't just include Americans. Upon receiving word of the gold finds, people from all over the world descended upon northern California. The gold hysteria was on.

The gold rush of California was now in full swing. When prospectors reached California they wasted no time. With tremendous energy they pushed their way up the rivers and creeks and dug into every nook and cranny of the hills. This same scenario played out some years later when silver was discovered near Virginia City Nevada. Some of the early diggings were amazingly rich. One prospector reported that one spoonful of the red earth at his particular find yielded about $8.00 worth of gold. Further south on the Stanislaus River a miner took out a whopping $26,000 of gold from his small claim before he moved on to other areas.

 This was typical about the California Gold Rush. Many prospectors would take in a bit of gold in one area and then move on. They never knew if just around the next bend lay a much larger lode. The key was to arrive there before others did. The photo below left were the ruins of Sutter Fort circa 1900 before it's restoration.

John Sutter's Downfall Begins

All of the concerns and fears that John Sutter had about the influx of thousands upon thousands of gold seekers can best be described in an editorial published by the editor of San Francisco's Alta newspaper in the early 1850's.

 He wrote, "Men come to California in the hope of speedily becoming rich. Bright visions of big lumps of gold and large quantities of them, to be gathered without any severe labor, haunt them night and day before they reach here. Here they hope to find a land where the inevitable law of God that man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow has been repealed, or at least for a time suspended. They come here with this hope, and it takes but a few short weeks to dispel it. They are disappointed; their impatient desire for the attainment of speedy wealth seems to have no prospect of gratification. Temptations are about them on every hand. They drink and they gamble. They associate with men who, in their eastern homes, would be shunned by them as the worst of their kind. They forget the admonitions of their mothers and sisters, given them at parting. They forget the purity of their early youth, the hopes of their riper manhood. They sink lower and lower, until they become thieves, robbers and desperadoes". This bit of editorializing describes fairly well what John Sutter's New Helvetia turned into.

As for John Sutter...through all this craze he tried to continue his ranching. His diary entries at that time were filled with comments about loaning livestock and saddles to those heading to the hills in search of gold. Nothing from that point onward would be the same for John Sutter. There was no bucking the tide and his New Helvetia was disappearing rapidly.

While his attempts to legitimize his land holdings continued, they were not successful and they were further challenged by the Squatters Rights laws at the time. In 1858 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the squatters which of course was another blow to Sutter's campaign for reimbursement. Sutter and his wife relocated to Pennsylvania and he was able to acquire a $250 per month pension but not the $50,000 lump sum reimbursement he was seeking. His struggle for payment from the U.S. Government continued up until 1880 when Congress adjourned again without taking any action. The same year John Sutter died in Washington D.C. His wife died months later and both are buried in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

You'll also enjoy our Western Trips article about a self guided tour of the old Central Pacific Railroad sites between Auburn California and Donner Pass. This was part of the western link of the first transcontinental railroad. See Rails, Tails and Trails. 

John Sutter's Fortune Was Lost Due to the California Gold Rush


One of the things of course that makes the story of John Sutter so unique is that he almost appears to be the only man who lost a fortune because of the gold rush in California. Certainly many others failed to find their El Dorado but they didn't start out with a fortune in the first place. In Sutters case he amassed a fortune by working the land to it's fullest potential and other men's quest for sudden wealth caused him to lose his.

You will be quite pleased by adding this region to your California vacation itinerary. Sutters Fort is now a state historic park and visits to such nearby towns as Placerville, Angels Camp, Murphys and Sonora offer the tourist many ways to learn more about California's gold mining era.

 In all of these towns you will find excellent museums, restored structures from the 1800's as well as opportunities to pan for gold yourself. There is still gold to be found along the rivers and streams of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Another related story is the Argonaut Mine Disaster in Jackson California. The websites below will give you much more information to help plan your California vacation.

Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is located in midtown Sacramento between K and L Streets and 26th and 28th Streets, Sacramento, CA.

Sutters Fort State Historic Park 

Angels Camp 

Murphys California 

Sonora California