Warbird Information Exchange

I was just wondering if any one knew about a PBY sunk in Tahiti. My friend is a diver, and said he dove on one. it is a lter model as it did not have the nose gun blister. Sounds like a post WWII aircraft. He said the nose hatch was open. Any one know what the story is.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

This one ?

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Oceani ... 769760.htm

That is it! What is the story about it

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Sorry can't shed any further light on it. Couple of sources I found refer to it as being Pan Am A/C.

Heres another image of it without the engines

http://buddrikerphotography.com/-/buddr ... ID=3927378

it's in better shape in the salt water than that pby in the mid east desert!! go figure!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

A PanAm PBY ?? I don't think so. As the engines are missing it most likely is an artificial reef as previously suggested. My guess is that it is a former French Navy A/C as they operated both Catalinas and Lancasters in their far flung South Pacific possessions (New Caledonia,Tahiti,etc.) thru the mid-60's. Advanced corroson may have not made it a marketable airframe and being so remote it was cheaper to scrap it there.

It is F-OAYD there is info on the link below in French (scroll to the bottom of the page).

http://cansonet.free.fr/Operateurs/Comp ... gnies.html

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Wow, has it really been that long since I last visited?

...no really

It's a PBY-5A, c/n 1689, ex-USN Bu #48327.
Transferred to civil register as N1520V, then to French registration as F-OAYD.
Info on Baugher's website.

Walt

I was beaten to the punch! I was literaly going to come home tonight, and post a new topic about this very subject.

So how did it end up where it is?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

If you babel fish the link I posted above ( http://cansonet.free.fr/Operateurs/Comp ... gnies.html ) you get................................

"The PBY-5A c/n 1689 was built by Consolidated Vultee in San Diego with the profit of US Navy under number 48327, then exploited under civil code N1520V, then under French register, F-OAYD. In October 1960, it is broken at the time of a hard sea landing with Raiatea

It is brought back to PAPEETE. Considered to be irrevocable and déséquipé of all parts being able to be recoverable, it is towed and scuttled in November 1962 in the lagoon in edge of the aerodrome of Faaa, to be used as refuge with fauna under water."

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Wow, has it really been that long since I last visited?

My wife and I dove on it about 10 years ago. It's been stripped out and is used as a dive attraction. The story we were told is that before the big runway was built on Tahiti the only way to get to the main island was to fly in to the US-built strip on Bora Bora, then take the Catalina to Tahiti. The present runway on Tahiti was also built by the US as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle program. The runway is supposed to be extra thick to handle the landing loads, and is quite long. I think the US still has a hand in maintaining the runway at Faaa (Fah-Ah).

I looked for it on Google Earth; didn't spot it. You'd think it would show up. Where is it in the lagoon relative to the runway?

Although the accident occurred in October 1960, it was not scuttled until November 1962 by which time it had been subject to spares recovery and open storage at Raiatea. There is a photo of it in storage, minus engines and floats, on page 114 of the undermentioned book.

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David Legg
Editor, The Catalina News
The Catalina Society
Author: Consolidated PBY Catalina - The Peacetime Record