Catalina Restoration

摘要

The restoration of Consolidated Catalina VH-CAT is well under way at Bankstown, Sydney, Australia, with the Catalina Flying Memorial Group. Two engineers are now working to keep the airframe stable while a third is fixing hull sections that are badly corroded. VH-CAT served the US Navy in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands before flying antisubmarine trials in Florida. Repaired after an accident in 1951, it was subsequently stored and withdrawn from naval service in 1956. It reappeared on the US civil register as N9555C, then passed through two Chilean owners, the second of whom registered it as CC-CNP and used it to fly passengers and cargo before converting it as a firebomber.