The only Sunderland story I have is that I was hitchiking in New Zealand in 1985/86 and they have (had) one in a small outdoor museum. Previous to seeing this one, I had only ever seen pictures in books. She was certainly impressive close up, but you could already see that she wasn't happy living outside.
A couple of days later I got a ride and we got talking about the museum. It turned out the guy who had picked me up had ferried that aircraft [boat?] over to NZ, on a trip that IIRC had laster for three months
To say the least, he was not happy about the state she was in now, having sat outside for several years.
I wonder if he's reading this thread.