Originally Posted by
RogerRB
I am researching and writing about a late friend of mine who, in 1943 - 1944, went to the Pensacola Naval Base and did flight training on the Catalina flying boat and subsequently flew Catalina's in the middle east in the last years of the war.
Can anyone tell me anything about Catalina flight training; I have contacted the Pensacola Naval Base archives but they cannot help.
My father also went to Pensacola. All of his training was on the PBY5a, the flying boat (without wheels) , not the b which was amphibious and he never flew. As far as I am aware there is only one complete 'a' in existence, it is in the museum at Pensacola and in my father's log book. It was spooky to stand near the only example and the actual aircraft my father flew. Pensacola is quite a set up.