Flightpath - May 2018

44 |FLIGHTPATH

Cats in Colour

H

ansWiesman,wellknownas‘The Dakota
Hunter’, needs little introduction. His love for
theDouglasDC-3/C-47familystemsfrom
spending part of his childhood in Dutch New
Guinea in the early fifties. Regular air travel there
largelycameintwoforms–DouglasorConsolidated.
Hanswasveryyoungwhenheexperiencedhisfirst
watertake-offinaCatalinaandhe’sbeenobsessed
withthetypeeversince.Hewasanintegralpartofthe
famedCatalinaOdysseysoftheearly1990sandhas
justreleasedacoffeetablebookfeaturingmanyimag-
es from those epic journeys. The book,80 Years, A
TributetothePBYCatalina, as the title suggests, is
also heavily illustrated with wartime and post-war im-
agesandtheauthorhasbeenkindenoughtoallow
Flightpathtofeatureaselectionfromthecolourcata-
logue.Someoftheaircraftfeaturedwill be familiar to
readers while others may be less so.
Andy Wright

CLOCKWISEFROM MAIN:

NewZealandishometothewell-known

ZK-PBY,aformerRCAFCansoA,andfamous

for the Catalina Safari Company trans-African

lightandtheCatalinaOdysseyin1993

featured in great detail in Hans Wiesman’s

newbook.Nowusedforairshowappearances

and passenger lights on both the North and

SouthIslands,itliesinRNZAFcolours,but

masqueraded as a French Navy Catalina

forawhilein2005.

AUSAAFOA-10A,commandedbyFlight

Oicer Jack Leonard, returning from a search

mission in 1945. A wounded crewmember on

boardwasevacuatedviatheportsideblister.

This aircraft (serial 44-33883) served with the

2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron in the Far

East and was condemned in June 1945 in

Manila, Philippines.

[All images via Hans Wiesman unless stated]

Isaac Laddon, who worked as Chief Engineer

for Consolidated Aircraft Corporation from

the early 1930s, was the man behind the PBY.

Note the early PBY-1s of VP 51 behind him.

This photo was probably taken in late 1939.

[Consolidated Aircraft Corporation]

An excellent image of VH-SBV in October

1962. Trans Australian Airways operated this
      aircraft in New Guinea between 1962 and
      1966.Itslastlightin1966wastoPort
      Moresby where it went into storage, minus its
      engines,andwasusedforairportirebrigade
      training. This Catalina is now under
      restorationattheAirForceMuseum of New
      Zealand, Wigram.[Eric Allen]