PBY Loch Ness Appeal
 

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INVERNESS | The operators UK’s only flying PBY-5 Catalina are asking for £20,000 to rescue their aircraft from Loch Ness, after it became stranded due to engine problems.

More info on the PBY incident here:-

https://www.pprune.org/accidents-clo...l#post10906879

Safely lifted ashore today....


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f2224f033a.jpg

Shouldn't the numerous people who own shares in this aircraft be stumping up for the cost of repair?

Is that how it works? Once you own shares, you're obligated to pay for whatever unplanned mishap occurs? The fact that the aircraft got stuck on a loch without a slipway or handy beach is not really something that they were planning for.

Fortunately, a lot of people have been generous and they are close to reaching their goal. Any extra funds will go towards overhauling the engine that didn't want to go anymore. See here: https://gf.me/u/y5mf94

And fingers crossed that the problem (something that was preventing the starter turning the crankshaft over) will turn out to be something that doesn't require a full overhaul.

Presume this might of been the last resort, using an airframe mounted crane. Floating on water might have been interesting but presume it will have been done somewhere. And finding one of the cranes serviceable might also have been an issue.

http://www.aviationcorner.net/public...c_00009560.jpg

I'm sure that many engines were changed that way during the Cat's career, and many spanners will have fallen into the water while doing this. You'd also need a vessel to transport the spare engine, move the engines on and off that vessel, and everything would be moving on the water while the whole process is going on. Much easier to do it on land.
The current suspect is the accessory drive shaft. I don't know enough about R-1830s to know whether that's a big or a small job. I suspect it's a big one though.

I don't know enough either, but this, courtesy of the US Navy, makes it sound like there's not a huge amount of disassembly involved in replacing the accessory drive:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d5819e8fa7.jpg

I hope I'm right.

This is worth a peek:

https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/847...MG_0009.jpg/:/

Stunning................

A great photo, although I would have preferred it without the feathered prop...;)

There are still some funds needed, especially as the first part of the operation's costs came out over budget. See the updates here: https://gf.me/u/y5mf94

She flies! I can confirm that the Cat has just flown over Inverness enroute Dalcross. I understand it will be further checked over there before heading home.

Very good news. Thanks for the update.

This BBC Alba programme covers the story of the Catalina flying boat and its rescue/recovery from Loch ness after engine failure.

In Gaelic with English subtitles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...from-loch-ness

Apologies if the link has already been posted.

Well worth a watch!

BBC, with my emphasis