Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

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TheGreenGoblin
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#21 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:00 am

Prompted by this thread I am rereading Alexander Frater's book "Beyond the Blue Horizon" and in it he notes that King Farouk owned a Catalina which was sent to England to be decked out in polar bear fur. Clearly a tasteful and "eco" friendly monarch! Fortunately he was deposed before that order could be fulfilled. The man was a grotesque collector (after his forced abdication he was found to have what looked like the world's biggest collection of pornography). I have been trying to find out what happened to his Catalina, but to no avail at the present moment.

The historynet article mention his Catalina in passing but is very interesting nonetheless.

https://www.historynet.com/cat-tales-co ... g-boat.htm

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/mo ... ing-farouk
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#22 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:58 am

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:00 am
Prompted by this thread I am rereading Alexander Frater's book "Beyond the Blue Horizon" and in it he notes that King Farouk owned a Catalina which was sent to England to be decked out in polar bear fur. Clearly a tasteful and "eco" friendly monarch! Fortunately he was deposed before that order could be fulfilled. The man was a grotesque collector (after his forced abdication he was found to have what looked like the world's biggest collection of pornography). I have been trying to find out what happened to his Catalina, but to no avail at the present moment.

The historynet article mention his Catalina in passing but is very interesting nonetheless.

https://www.historynet.com/cat-tales-co ... g-boat.htm

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/mo ... ing-farouk

GG contact the Catalina Society. https://www.catalina.org.uk/contact/ They have historic inquires on that page.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#23 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:05 am

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:58 am

GG contact the Catalina Society. https://www.catalina.org.uk/contact/ They have historic inquires on that page.
Much obliged for that link. I have taken the liberty of enquiring of the Catalina Society about what happened to King Farouk's Catalina after his forced abdication.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#24 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:59 am

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:58 am
GG contact the Catalina Society. https://www.catalina.org.uk/contact/ They have historic inquires on that page.
I have received a very interesting and detailed response to my question from David Legg at the Catalina Society. I am not at liberty to post the contents here as the material he sent me is intended for use in a forthcoming book but suffice it to say that I don't think I will get a better answer to my question anywhere else.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#25 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:28 pm

Brilliant GG. If you are in contact with David again tell him that I went through JP training with Paul W W.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#26 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:58 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:28 pm
Brilliant GG. If you are in contact with David again tell him that I went through JP training with Paul W W.

David contacted me with some interesting detail of his connection with the BBC Documentary The Last African Flying Boat and some subsequent African adventures.

I passed on your message.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#27 Post by ian16th » Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:10 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:58 pm
David contacted me with some interesting detail of his connection with the BBC Documentary The Last African Flying Boat and some subsequent African adventures.
Would that be the one that was at Rand?
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#28 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:46 pm

ian16th wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:10 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:58 pm
David contacted me with some interesting detail of his connection with the BBC Documentary The Last African Flying Boat and some subsequent African adventures.
Would that be the one that was at Rand?
It was Z-CAT. Registered in Zimbabwe after being flown out (see documentary posted on this thread - The Last African Flying Boat ) from the USA via Egypt etc... Not sure if she was ever based at Rand Airport.

Her history after flying Safari's was still an interesting one...

http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_arti ... r%20scheme.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/catalina.html
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#29 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:24 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:46 pm
ian16th wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:10 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:58 pm
David contacted me with some interesting detail of his connection with the BBC Documentary The Last African Flying Boat and some subsequent African adventures.
Would that be the one that was at Rand?
It was Z-CAT. Registered in Zimbabwe after being flown out (see documentary posted on this thread - The Last African Flying Boat ) from the USA via Egypt etc... Not sure if she was ever based at Rand Airport.

Her history after flying Safari's was still an interesting one...

http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_arti ... r%20scheme.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/catalina.html
Definitely not the Catalina sitting at Rand Airport... here is that aircraft's latter day history...

http://www.pilotspost.com/arn0000205

And this is truly the Last African Catalina to my knowledge...
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#30 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:39 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:24 pm

Definitely not the Catalina sitting at Rand Airport... here is that aircraft's latter day history...

http://www.pilotspost.com/arn0000205

And this is truly the Last African Catalina to my knowledge...
A small diversion to Rand Airport... (I hope the OP will forgive me) but I note that that article was written by Flippie Vermeulen who deserves an article in his own right...

Flippie Vermeulen

If I remember correctly one of the old long lost denizens on this site used to fly the Dakota with Captain Vermeulen. Whatever happened to A Lutra Continua?


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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#31 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:55 pm



DIVERSION OFF
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#32 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Feb 04, 2021 11:49 am

The net result of this thread is that I obtained the information I sought about King Faisal's Catalina and have joined the Catalina Society...

Catalina Society Membership.JPG
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#33 Post by Ex-Ascot » Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:22 pm

Congrats GG. I note the name of the signatory.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#34 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:25 am

An aside but just reading some WWII history of 10 Sqn. We had three Halifax's, consecutively, named Farouk. They do not know why.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#35 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:27 am

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:25 am
An aside but just reading some WWII history of 10 Sqn. We had three Halifax's, consecutively, named Farouk. They do not know why.
I see that your association is looking into why.

https://www.10sqnass.co.uk/research-help.html
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#36 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:01 am

The question was posed three years ago. We do not have a history research group just the occasional project with a group of members getting together. The last work was on the history of the VC10 now published, 'From Brooklands to Brize'.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#37 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:12 am

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:01 am
The question was posed three years ago. We do not have a history research group just the occasional project with a group of members getting together. The last work was on the history of the VC10 now published, 'From Brooklands to Brize'.
Could the answer lie in the National Archives?

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov. ... r/C2784704

It is also possible that the RAF "loaned some aircraft", i.e. flew them themselves, for the flypast associated with Farouk's wedding in 1938...

I belong to the local history society and in normal times would make at least one trip to the National Archive per annum. When this contagion situation is less restrictive I am happy to do some research for you at Kew if you want.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#38 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:58 am

That is very kind GG I am sure that our members would be very interested in any information.

Seems ironic that during WWII we had a Halifax bearing the name of Farouk but each VC10 took on the name of a Royal Air Force VC holder.
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#39 Post by ian16th » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:02 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:58 am
That is very kind GG I am sure that our members would be very interested in any information.

Seems ironic that during WWII we had a Halifax bearing the name of Farouk but each VC10 took on the name of a Royal Air Force VC holder.
Ex A,

As I see it the Halifax's were named Farouk, not King Farouk!

Might have been Tom, Dick or Harry.

Was there ever a reason to connect them to King Farouk?
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Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup

#40 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:43 pm

A very good point Ian. I wonder if I should put your point forward.
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