Seaplanes and their history

Consolidated made the PBY Catalina from 1936 to 1945.      PB stands for Patrol Boat. The Y stands for the manufacturer.   It had 1200hp engines with a length of 63ft and wingspan of 104ft 20,000 lbs unloaded with a range of 2500 miles. It held 1750 gallons of fuel and the plane could be run on only one engine to conserve.  The Consolidated plant for the PBY was located in San Diego and the British named the planes they purchased for the Island of Catalina near San Diego.   An intersting thing about the PBY is it had no Flaps. The wings were made of honeycombed metal and covered with shellacked canvas to keep the weight down. The 1750 gallons of fuel were in the 104 ft wing.    Consolidated also made the B24 Liberator bomber during WW2.