Firstly, that's a great photo - thanks for sharing.
Water operations. In 1996 one of two US operated PBY's commemorating the USN 'Nancy Boat' crossings of the Atlantic, lost a wingtip and was partly sunk as a result of hitting a buoy in Plymouth Harbour. It was beached, repaired and flew back that year.
A Super Catalina had a major landing accident in the UK on the water in 1998, with two killed. The full accident report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is here, and as Canso 42 said, the problem originated from the nose door tubes.
AAIB Report on Catalina VP-BPS
An
extract of the conclusions of the AAIB report are:
Quote:
Because the nosegear doors were not recovered, it is not possible to exclude the possibility that the aircraft encountered a significant piece of flotsam which caused the doors to collapse inwards.
Regardless of this, the presence of the severe corrosion in the nosegear operating mechanism torque tube can only have served to compromise the ability of the left door to resist the range of loads which might have been imposed during a water landing. The corrosion found in the torque tube had clearly developed over a long time but it went undetected because it was inside a closed area and no specific inspection of the inside of the tubes was called for.
...
The Maintenance Manual and Schedule for the Catalina were developed and written in a different age when these aircraft were very differently utilised. Although both the Manual and Schedule have been developed as a result of the Catalina's continued amphibious operation, for probably much longer than originally envisaged, there are now likely to be some time related maintenance considerations which did not previously exist.
It is, therefore, recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration that:-
98-66 The nosegear bay door torque tubes of amphibious models of Catalina aircraft are examined and the bungs, if fitted, are permanently removed to facilitate inspection of the inside of the tube and to allow it to "breathe".
98-67 An inspection technique for the inside of the torque tube assemblies is developed and included into the Maintenance Manual and Schedule for amphibious models of Catalina aircraft.
98-68 Specific dimensional requirements are developed for the rigging of the nosegear bay doors and their latching system.
As far as I understand it, the UK CAA will also not allow a nose-turret equipped PBY / Catalina to operate from water if under its jurisdiction in the UK.
Seaplane operations encounter a range of risks and challenges different to land operations; some authorities and all marine aircraft operators have to consider those factors when deciding to undertake water operations, or not. That is not helped by assuming that someone's preventing our freedoms. Nor do accidents and or blame help the case for safe, continued operations.
Nose 'eyeball' turrets. The RAAF Museum's Catalina (an ex-Canso machine) has been restored with one of these turrets.
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