PBY super-long-range patrol book?
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PBY super-long-range patrol book?
Years ago, I vaguely remember--yeah, I know, I'm not being much help--a book about some epic PBY Catalina flight that I think was from somewhere in the South Pacific to the west coast of South America.
Does this ring any bells?
Any information on it or on other epic PBY missions will be appreciated. I'm writing about the little-known Qantas nonstop route between Perth and Ceylon in 1943-'45, and the longest-duration unrefueled flight they made was 32 hours. I'd like to find out if other PBYs flew anything even slightly comparable.
It's funny that most aviation enthusiasts will confidently tell you that the longest-duration airline flight is Singapore's current 18.5-hours legs, or if they're really smart that a Lockheed Constellation once flew a 22-something-hour passenger leg. Qantas beat them all soundly, but surprisingly few remember it.
I certainly didn't, and published the Constellation "record" in an Aviation History article last year. An ex-Qantas gent named Alan Cairncross politely corrected me recently.
Does this ring any bells?
Any information on it or on other epic PBY missions will be appreciated. I'm writing about the little-known Qantas nonstop route between Perth and Ceylon in 1943-'45, and the longest-duration unrefueled flight they made was 32 hours. I'd like to find out if other PBYs flew anything even slightly comparable.
It's funny that most aviation enthusiasts will confidently tell you that the longest-duration airline flight is Singapore's current 18.5-hours legs, or if they're really smart that a Lockheed Constellation once flew a 22-something-hour passenger leg. Qantas beat them all soundly, but surprisingly few remember it.
I certainly didn't, and published the Constellation "record" in an Aviation History article last year. An ex-Qantas gent named Alan Cairncross politely corrected me recently.
An air traffic controller I used to work with had been a ferry pilot during the war. Some of his deliveries were Catalinas from Bermuda to either Largs in SW Scotland or Beaumaris on the Menai Strait in North Wales. He told me the average flight time was 24 hours so that's getting close!
Ted Hawkins, then Flt Lt, now a retired AVM, won a DFC (one of his two) for some very long flight, 24hrs+, in a Catalina, which involved flying to Russia. It was written up briefly in Flypast a few years back, and I enlarged the print so that Ted could read it for himself.
Could it be one of the Sir Gordon Taylor autobios ?
Sounds like 'Frigate Bird' (PBY)...interesting read
but my fave was 'Bird of the Islands' (Sandringham).
But he wrote quite a few books ...so worth checking out !
Sounds like 'Frigate Bird' (PBY)...interesting read
but my fave was 'Bird of the Islands' (Sandringham).
But he wrote quite a few books ...so worth checking out !
P G Taylor = Sir Gordon Taylor
list of autobios
Pacific Flight (1935)
VH-UXX (1937)
Call to the Winds (1944)
Forgotten Island (1948)
Frigate Bird (1953)
The Sky Beyond (1963)
Bird of the Islands (1964)
Sopwith Scout 7309 (1968)
list of autobios
Pacific Flight (1935)
VH-UXX (1937)
Call to the Winds (1944)
Forgotten Island (1948)
Frigate Bird (1953)
The Sky Beyond (1963)
Bird of the Islands (1964)
Sopwith Scout 7309 (1968)
"After Flight Lieutenant D. E. Hawkins of No. 240 Squadron had made the initial reconnaissance on 4th-5th April, 1942, carrying as observers Major Sverdrup, the leader of the projected Norwegian expedition, and the Arctic explorer Lieutenant A. R. Glen, R.N.V.R., the task of visiting Spitsbergen and tracking the ice-edge along the convoy route had fallen largely to Healy. Hawkins' flight from Sullom Voe, a matter of some 2,500 miles and twenty-six hours out and home, had been undertaken exceptionally early in the year for high latitude flying"
From The RAF 1939-45 Vol II
From The RAF 1939-45 Vol II
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"Frigate bird" was the book about the Catalina flight from Australia to Chile.
Aircraft nearly destroyed at Easter island in both directions!
They used JATO rockets for ocean take-offs.
Fantastic read!
Aircraft nearly destroyed at Easter island in both directions!
They used JATO rockets for ocean take-offs.
Fantastic read!
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That sounds like it--an Australia-to-Chile flight, thank you all. Now to see if I can find the book, which seems to be way out of print.
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
I've got "The Sky Beyond" and "Bird of the Islands", and thoroughly recommend them.
Sir G has a slightly... dry, perhaps understated, style of writing, but that does not in any way detract from his achievements or the enjoyment of reading about them. Great man, great aviator. Makes me wish I'd been born 60 years earlier!
SD
Hmmm, must get hold of his other books! Birthday coming up...
Sir G has a slightly... dry, perhaps understated, style of writing, but that does not in any way detract from his achievements or the enjoyment of reading about them. Great man, great aviator. Makes me wish I'd been born 60 years earlier!
SD
Hmmm, must get hold of his other books! Birthday coming up...
Qantas at war by Sir Hudson Fysh has the full story of the Perth-Ceylon flights.
Merchant Airmen,the British Govt. history of wartime civil aviation also has some information.
It should be noted that these Catalinas were British registered BOAC aircraft on loan to Qantas.
Merchant Airmen,the British Govt. history of wartime civil aviation also has some information.
It should be noted that these Catalinas were British registered BOAC aircraft on loan to Qantas.
