PBY Catalina

the pby catalina was a metal amphibious aircraft used in the pacific theatre as a reconaissance/bomber.

Role flying boat patrol bomber Manufacturer Consolidated Aircraft Designed by Isaac M. Laddon First flight 28 March 1935 Introduced October 1936, USN Retired January 1957, USNR Primary users United States Navy United States Army Air Forces Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Produced 1936-1945 Number built 4,051 (est.) Unit cost $90,000 as of 1935 Variants Bird Innovator The PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It could be equipped with depth charges, bombs, torpedoes, and .50 Browning machineguns and was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the US military and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. In the United States Army Air Forces and later in the USAF their designation was the OA-10, while Canadian-built PBYs were known as Cansos.

In World War II, PBYs were used as anti-submarine warfare aircraft, patrol bombers, convoy escorts, search and rescue aircraft, and transports. The PBY was the most successful aircraft of its kind, as no other flying boat was produced in greater numbers. The last active military PBYs were not retired from service until the 1980s. Even today, over seventy years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as an airtanker in aerial firefighting operations all over the world.

In the acronym PBY, "PB" stands for "Patrol Bomber", and "Y" is the code for "Consolidated Aircraft", as designated in the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system.

1 Development 1.1 Background 1.2 Prototyping 1.3 Mass-produced U.S. Navy* variants 1.4 Naval Aircraft Factory production 2 Operational history 2.1 Roles in World War II 2.1.1 Anti-submarine warfare 2.1.2 Maritime patrol 2.1.3 Night attack and naval interdiction 2.1.4 Search and rescue 2.1.5 Early commercial use 2.2 Post-WWII employment 2.2.1 Catalina affair 3 Variants 4 Operators 5 Survivors 6 Specifications (PBY-5A) 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Bibliography 9 External links, it was also armed with 50's,bombs,and torpedos.