Consolidated PBY Catalina

what is it?

The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (United States Navy designation), is an American flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA-10 and in Canadian service as the Canso, and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces as well as in the air forces and navies of many other nations.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · parasol wing · 31.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 315 km/htop speed
• range 4,030 kmwithout refuelling
• size 16.1 tmax take-off weight
• built 3,305made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 91 years ago, in 1935.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 31.7 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 4,030 km: 22× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1935-03-28

introduced

1936

retired

1957

status

retired

number built

3,305

role

maritime patrol bomber, search and rescue seaplane

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Canadian Vickers, Consolidated Aircraft, Naval Aircraft Factory, Boeing Canada

engines

2× Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp / R-1830 Twin Wasp

crew

8

length

19.5 m

wingspan

31.7 m

height

6.4 m

max take-off weight

16.1 t

top speed

315 km/h

cruise speed

201 km/h

range

4,030 km

ceiling

4,816 m

wings

parasol wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.