Wrong, UP. The engine wouldn’t start when it came to their planned departure. Can’t work out why your posts on the subject are so cynical. At least TGG and I enjoyed tonight’s programme.
C16, I suspect that UP had supped deeply on the contents of Loch Lomond, or, indeed, some finer malt whisky, and that those turbid, fiery waters, had brought down the peaty blackness from the high mountains, as it is said the mountain water does in the case of Loch Ness! Let us hope he awakes, with a happier mien, clear of eye, with hope in his heart, and full of love for Miss Pickup!
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:21 am
by Undried Plum
Correction:
A twin engined landing on a 20 mile piste.
A rejected takeoff from a 20 mile piste.
"Rescue"? It's wot we (some of us, anyway) pay the RNLI to do.
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
"Rescue"? It's wot we (some of us, anyway) pay the RNLI to do.
They rescued the plane (a flying boat of sorts), which is what they do, and I am sure that many folks here support the RNLI. I know I do!
There is even a book about the rescue...
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:01 am
by Undried Plum
Three cheers for the RNLI.
And a cheer for Catalinas generally.
There are a dozen or so aircraft designs which look right because they are so fit for purpose. Perhaps I should start a thread on the topic of which are the most clever and beautiful and fit-for-purpose designs. eg Tiger Moth; Spitfire; DC-3; Hercules; Catalina etc.
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
There are a dozen or so aircraft designs which look right because they are so fit for purpose. Perhaps I should start a thread on the topic of which are the most clever and beautiful and fit-for-purpose designs. eg Tiger Moth; Spitfire; DC-3; Hercules; Catalina etc.
+1
And you must...
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:44 am
by ian16th
English Electric Canberra.
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 4:32 am
by TheGreenGoblin
I was happy to receive The Catalina News ref. Miss Pickup and noticed an advert for this film in the newsletter.
Rescue Squadron.jpg
Has anybody here seen this film?
The Misty Falls Motion Picture Company announces the VOD, DVD and Blu-ray release of the documentary/narrative film hybrid Rescue Squadron: A WWII Rescue Mission.
The unique filmmaking style of Writer-Director Christopher Johnson and Producer Mariana Tosca, p.g.a. blends the final interviews of members of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron with painstakingly produced, historically accurate, dramatic recreations that spotlight not only the embattled South Pacific theatre, but the history of air-sea rescue in military aviation.
This moving tribute to The Greatest Generation comes alive through the voices of veterans who share their first hand accounts of the most pivotal and consequential events of WWII and serves as a reminder of the selflessness that forged an unprecedented unity and won a World War. WWII hero with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron, Lt. Royal Stratton, leads a deadly mission to save the lives of nine downed airmen adrift in enemy waters of a war-torn South Pacific. Immersive cinematography and gripping action, combined with first hand accounts and historical images, showcase the valour of this squadron who faced overwhelming odds to bring their brothers home.
world-catalina-news-nov-21PHOTO-21.jpg (91.66 KiB) Viewed 2486 times
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:41 pm
by TheGreenGoblin
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2022 11:24 am
by TheGreenGoblin
Just received note from the Catalina Society that my membership has automatically been renewed, I was aware anyway, as I saw the funds go out, and I am delighted to renew, and they even kindly sent a laminated membership card, which one can show to go and have a closer look at Miss Pickup when at Duxford, but why oh why did they make it so big. It won't fit into my wallet pockets?
It that a Catalina Society card in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me? - (Miss Pickup Quote)...
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:45 am
by TheGreenGoblin
On the subject of Catalinas, sad news from the USA reference Catalina N85U!
August 2015 - The lead-up to Oshkosh was colored by several events; however, most notable was the loss of veteran PBY-6A N85U. The PBY Catalina is a rare bird, with the one that was at AirVenture last year down with engine problems and few others in the United States capable of flight. The PBY is not a DC-3 and takes a special airframe care that goes beyond simply knowing how to operate its engines and systems. As they will tell you from Lake Winnebago, a seaplane is different.
This aircraft was the last WWII non-transport aircraft in state service as far as I can tell, other than the Mighty Martin Mars, and thus is a bit of a special bird in its own right. N85U was a Super Catalina, equipped with R-2600 engines and propellers from a surplus B-25 back in the day when it was believed Catalinas needed more power. The mod was first showcased on PBY N19Q owned by the Monsanto company back in the 1960s and has been applied to many Catalinas over the years. However, I don’t believe any are flying today for a variety of reasons.
N85U was employed in a movie shoot and was sent to the Florida-Alabama border coastline for a picture about the find of the survivors of the USS Indianapolis, and the tragic losses of sailors aboard the ship that wasn’t supposed to be there. A PBY-6A was lost saving those men, and it was very appropriate to use this aircraft, as it was only a few serials down the list from that valiant plane. It was a PBY-6A, BuNo 64041, ex-N6453C, that flew with Hemet Valley as a tanker before going to Canada as C-GFFI and then returned as N85U.
The pilot of that PBY had loaded his wings with wounded men, damaging his PBY beyond flight, but saving many from the sharks. Somehow during operations the PBY began taking on water and eventually was beached near a restaurant. While the damage to the plane was minimal, the saltwater immersion wasn’t doing it any good. In a pure demonstration of what not to do, somehow a salvage company was contacted with some kind of super crane to lift the waterlogged PBY from the water after it was floated. The salvage company ripped the airplane apart with its crane, and did so in a way completely inconsistent with caring for an aircraft. Destroyed but recovered, the wreck’s eventual disposition is unknown.
The lesson for warbird owners is pretty clear: More planes are destroyed by recovery than you would think. This need not have happened.
This sad tale just goes to show how careful the NSRI folks on Loch Ness were with Miss Pickup, no damage, save for a cracked bubble window after an initial abortive salvage attempt.
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:46 am
by OneHungLow
I see that Duxford based PBY-5A Catalina “Miss Pick Up” is 80 years old this year and is about to rejoin the Air Display circuit after being damaged on the water in France late last year, having "escaped" from Loch Ness after her previous travails there in a previous year..
It is quite some feat to have kept such an elderly aircraft airworthy. I post a guided tour of this aircraft that was filmed in 2013.
Re: Escape from Loch Ness - The Rescue of Catalina Miss Pickup
