Canso CV343 destroyed by Monsoon storm, Buckeye, AZ

Matt Gunsch · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 3:05 pm

A major monsoon thunderstorm with 76mph winds flipped the Canso onto it's back, one photo I saw showed buckled lift struts and at least one engine mount broken. CV343 was a WWII combat vet, ex Buffalo Airlines firebomber

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 3:19 pm

Oh no... not another PBY thrown onto her back.

That is just awful to hear.

p51 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:17 pm

Dang, I've seen that plane every time my wife and I have gone to see her parents, as they live at that exit on the other side of I-10...

phil65 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:23 pm

Sad, was it a flyer ?

Phil

Matt Gunsch · **Posted:** Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:58 pm

it was or could have been flown, had not flown since it arrived in Buckeye. It had only flown once in the US, that was from Glendale to Buckeye, about 20 minutes. I did the pre-purchase when it was owned by Buffalo, at Red Deer, Alberta.

I went to look at the damage, the PBY is a total loss, the C-119 had some damage from the PBY hitting it, and a HU-16 had some minor damage. There were about 12 other damaged or destroyed planes on the field.

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 1:33 am

This one:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/pbyregis ... 11047.html

k5083 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:10 am

Any chance of a static resto? At least partial? As an RCAF combat vet it would be worth preserving.

August

Matt Gunsch · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:56 am

it would take a lot to get it to a static display, the wing spars are broke in several places, both nacelles have been pulled from the wing, the vertical fin is flattened and the fuselage has had it's back broken, the only thing holding the fuselage up is the control cables.

quemerford · **Joined:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:19 pm **Posts:** 1657

Relieved to see it's not as bad as described. Maybe not a flyer again (unless someone with deep pockets comes along) but certainly capable of a static restoration, especially given its history.

p51 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 1:33 pm

Matt Gunsch wrote:

I went to look at the damage, the PBY is a total loss, the C-119 had some damage from the PBY hitting it

That's the 119 used in (and still marked for) the "Flight of the Phoenix" remake?

Matt Gunsch · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 2:38 pm

p51 wrote:

Matt Gunsch wrote:

I went to look at the damage, the PBY is a total loss, the C-119 had some damage from the PBY hitting it

That's the 119 used in (and still marked for) the "Flight of the Phoenix" remake?

Yes, that is the Phoenix, it used to be a great shape, I flew it twice, it would take a lot of work to make it fly again. it did get damaged by the PBY, the elevator and right lower fin and the left clam shell all have some damage.

JohnB · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 3:46 pm

quemerford wrote:

Relieved to see it's not as bad as described. Maybe not a flyer again (unless someone with deep pockets comes along) but certainly capable of a static restoration, especially given its history.

And judging from my last visit, Pima has lots of airframe sections left over from its "floating" display PBY project.

So if one wants a 1/1 scale model kit and has a large forklift...

p51 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 4:13 pm

The whole collection is oddly placed at the north end of the airport there, gathered around what looks like an office which didn't look like anyone officially occupied it. My wife and I once drove around the scattered eclectic aircraft sitting there partially under cover, along with other random wheeled vehicles with no rhyme nor reason. That PBY was either moved since I last saw it or it was really tossed by those winds.
I didn't know anything about this wind event until I read about it here, as my in-laws don't really tell my wife much about what's going on there.

Matt Gunsch wrote:

Yes, that is the Phoenix, it used to be a great shape, I flew it twice, it would take a lot of work to make it fly again. it did get damaged by the PBY, the elevator and right lower fin and the left clam shell all have some damage.

Dang, so sorry (though not shocked) to hear that.
My understanding is it hadn't flown in some time. My mother-in-law went to one of the airshows there in the last 2-3 years or so and she showed me photos, one of which showed it sitting in the static area.

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:07 pm

Matt Gunsch wrote:

it would take a lot to get it to a static display, the wing spars are broke in several places, both nacelles have been pulled from the wing, the vertical fin is flattened and the fuselage has had it's back broken, the only thing holding the fuselage up is the control cables.

That just stinks. Wish I had that kind of deep pockets. It would be sweet to have a Catalina.

marine air · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:45 am

It would be nice if a historian or other knowledgeable person would research and list the surviving Catalinas and Cansos. How many are combat veterans and have significant history? Which ones really don't have any history or served stateside. We had an F-4 at a park for about thirty years and it was an ex NASA bird. It was said at the time that they had made a hierarchical list of surviving F-4's and knew all the ones that had Mig kills or flown by famous or important pilots.
There seems to be quite a few PBY airframes still out there but we seem to lose one every year or two. It would be nice to preserve the most historical of those survivors.

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Canso CV343 destroyed by Monsoon storm, Buckeye, AZ

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