Warbird Information Exchange

I guess the fatal crashes of the PBY's in England and Italy didn't help much either in regard to the insurance costs!
Wasn't that 2nd a/c also American? Owned by a Bob Franks or something like that from California?



Think that is (as SPang says) the old Doug Arnold machine sitting in Beauvais at present. Remember that plane well from being a fire bomber based out of Norway for a couple of seasons 20+ years ago!

T J

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Hi Guys,

from what little I know of the PBY's and their water landing capabilities, the restored ones and perhaps even some of the still working aircraft as firebombers. The story goes that the main reason that for the most part they don't make a whole lot of water landings is due to the hull integrity with regards to water entrance into the main hull. Mainly, again from what I have been told, is that only a very few ARE capable of water landings because their respective hulls have been sufficiently sealed and repaired to allow them to make water landings. But for the most part not many are capable of that type of landing due to their relative condition and I think hull joint corrosion is yet another issue with respect to water landings. Pilot currency may also play a major role in why many PBY's that are active do not make water landings as well.

Just my two cents worth,

Paul