Dutch Catalina for restoration

摘要

On 28 August, the only surviving ex-Royal Netherlands Navy Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina was moved from the Nationaal Militair Museum at Soesterberg to the Nederlands Transport Museum in Nieuw-Vennep, seven miles south-west of Schiphol Airport, for a thorough restoration. The work will be undertaken by members of the Stichting Neptune Association, and is expected to take up to five years, after which the amphibian will return to Soesterberg. The Marine Luchtvaartdienst flew the type from 1941 and used both the flying boat and amphibian versions. During World War Two the Royal Netherlands Navy flew the type from Australia, Ceylon and South Africa on anti-U-boat patrols and rescue missions. After the war PBYs were employed in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Dutch New Guinea and in the Netherlands. The last MLD Catalinas were struck off charge and scrapped in 1957, only BuNo 46521/16-212 being saved. In August 1957 it went on display in a park in Bosbad Hoeven, where it remained until 1984. The stripped-out airframe then went to Valkenburg for restoration before being placed on gate guard duty at the then Military Aviation Museum at Soesterberg. In 1996 the Stichting Neptune Association began another restoration in a hangar at Valkenburg, but after the base closed in 2006 the Catalina was moved to Soesterberg and put into storage.