The War Boats - flying boats

[Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] it is the end of 1941 a squadron of Japanese pilots is launched from an aircraft carrier with the command climb mountain Ataka [Music] Sunday December 7th the infamous day that will drag the United States into World War two the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor will present a devastating example of carrier air power and foreshadow the future of modern naval warfare ironically the surprise attack of these advanced fighter aircraft was almost thwarted by an old mainstay of Naval Aviation a PBY patrol flying boat spotted a Japanese submarine less than two miles off the entrance to Pearl Harbor one hour and 24 minutes before the attack acting in accordance with Standing Orders the pilot dropped a depth charge on the intruder and reported his actions to base commanders unfortunately it was the old story of the boy who cried wolf the message was skeptically received and seen as the latest of many false alarms the rest of course is history [Music] nevertheless this incident is testimony to the unforgettable role flying boats would play throughout World War two for anti-submarine warfare long-range transport and air sea rescue these water birds were indispensable from twin-engine patrol planes to giant six engine bombers they offered versatility and mobility to combatants on both sides of the war [Music] and to its crew the flying boat offered a distinct way of life and duty unmatched by any other type of aircraft [Music] although the war's great naval battles would be won by the smaller carrier aircraft ultimate victory hung in the balance of all naval air operations a partnership that oded success to the first days of naval aviation long before a carrier had even been built [Music] in 1911 Glenn Curtis had perfected his hydro aeroplane at North Island Naval Base in San Diego California and delivered the US Navy its first aircraft [Music] but it was the flying boat developed soon after that gave the Navy the weapon it needed to cope with the changing face of modern warfare these larger seaplanes could hold more fuel for extended flights and carry sizeable bomb loads when world war one introduced aerial combat the flying boat distinguished itself as an aircraft that could patrol vast coastlines and fly far out to sea to attack submarines the other new weapon of modern warfare a capability that would prove essential in the next world war this is the u.s. Coast Guard Air Station in San Diego California just prior to world war ii over the last 30 years the flying boat has become the mainstay of both Coast Guard and Navy patrol this halt ph3 has served the Navy and Coast Guard extremely well throughout the 1930s with its short takeoff capability and superior rough sea handling it is ideally suited for air sea rescue operations but as a biplane its days are numbered just blocks away from the Coast Guard Station the consolidated aircraft corporation is busy building the latest and greatest addition to the Navy's air patrol wing the PBY Catalina nothing short of right is right the slogan at the consolidated plant in San Diego was taken to heart when they built the PBY with bulkhead compartments the hull of the PBY resembled a ship more so than an aircraft fuselage all metal in construction the PBY was the first of the Navy sea planes not to be designed with wires fabric and glue it sported too high and very large monoplane wing spanning 104 feet that was supported on a pylon like structure and its floats were electrically retracted to become wingtips after takeoff offering an additional streamlined feature the first production PBY one was accepted in 1936 more than 3300 PB wise would eventually be produced the largest number of a single flying boat type ever built the PB wise maximum range far exceeded that of any other Navy plane nearly 4,000 miles for the first time the Navy had an aircraft that could link the u.s. with its Pacific Holdings and extend the defense perimeter far out to sea those who foresaw the coming of war considered this capability vital to America's security [Music] and as war approached the Navy began taking its new aircraft straight from the consolidated plant for evaluation soon San Diego Bay was teeming with Phoebe wise [Music] today San Diego Bay is still teeming with boats but none have wings in fact today there is not one flying boat serving in the US Navy or Coast Guard San Diego Bay has changed in 60 years the old consolidated CRM facility is now a vacant lot North Island Navy base has evolved substantially since Glenn Curtis first developed the flying boat across the bay the US Coast Guard Air Station is still in operation semper paratus always prepared when America entered World War two the Coast Guard had been prepared to do its part as a component of the US Navy Stan Mahoney remembers using its seaplane facility for testing PB wise mr. taxi or PB wise which were built right over here consolidated tax him right down here over this ramp and into the water because they were amphibious then we would test the PB wise by ticking off San Diego Bay here and we would probably test about two or three PB wise a day well they got through it one we'd go back and get another one taxi it down do it all over again that's a kind of a nice remembrance looking at the ramp there it's kind of fun taxiing a PBY across that Harbor Drive and look down and wave at the people as you were trying them kind of brings back memories the amphibian version of the PBY was delivered to the Navy in 1941 with tricycle landing gear it could operate from land as well as water [Music] these later models were also configured with transparent waste blisters housing gunner stations with 50 caliber machine guns with increased production the PBY set the standard for the Navy's long-range patrol as it could remain aloft for over 18 hours meanwhile consolidated had been producing its next aircraft for the Navy the pv2 y coronado this four engine flying boat was designed to meet the Navy's newest requirement for a large long-range patrol bomber while it provided greater cargo space than that of the PBY the Coronado's deep Hollow was in fact necessary to facilitate a water takeoff for such a large aircraft a lot of speed but unless you can get it to rocking and break the suction between the hull and the water you're just boss along like a good boat and what's when you get it broken loose that's when you start picking up speed and get airborne that's where the Coronado had it over the PBY because they had this big square tube that went down invented the step in the hull and give a little air in there to break the suction that was a big help hydro dynamics were as important as aerodynamics and in designing flying boats many thought bigger was better the four engine Coronado must have been an intimidating sight on San Diego Bay it was kind of a of a worry to the people on the sailboats if they ever got behind us it was bad news I remember one day was a couple of young girls owned in a sailboat they taxied up they sailed their boat right up near us and as we turned to the Coronado or around and to take off we blow them over and of course that was kind of fun because we had to go and us and to get these two young girls out of the water and hauling the Lord the Coronado and let them get dried off and write their boat and the cake came out from North Island and picked him up we're taking them along with us but that wasn't allowed by the end of the 1930s war was imminent on both sides of the globe in the middle stood an isolationist America adamantly opposed to any foreign entanglements as the coronado went into production and the PBY promised a reliable patrol bomber US defense planners did the best they could to prepare for war despite America's isolationist mood [Music] and when war finally came the flying vote proved both stalwart defender and ferocious attack [Music] after Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939 it was not long before Hitler would overrun northern Europe in less than one year England would stand alone against Hitler's Luftwaffe but with England came the entire British Commonwealth of Nations Canadians Australians New Zealanders and South Africans all comprised a fighting force capable of withstanding six years of warfare on both sides of the globe from the beginning only the British Navy key to England's survival stood in the way of German naval control of the North Atlantic to keep German Raiders from attacking Allied shipping the Royal Navy would now need the help of reconnaissance aircraft more than ever impressed with the PB wise performance the British had ordered 50 pby-5 s in 1939 and named them Catalina's the US Navy liked the name and officially adopted it in 1941 in the spring of that year Catalina's of the Royal Air Force's Coastal Command would deliver the British Navy a decisive victory in the North Atlantic it is the end of May the British Navy has been desperately searching for the 45,000 ton German battleship Bismarck now at large in the North Atlantic the Bismarck has already demolished one British battle cruiser and poses a serious threat to vital British convoys RAF Catalina's joined the hunt and on May 26th a PBY pilot sights the elusive Bismarck [Music] as the Catalina's tracked the German Raider the British Navy closes in for the kill [Music] [Music] while a formidable warship a Bismarck is no match for Britain's numerical superiority as she sinks to the bottom so does Germany's hopes for maintaining a threatening surface Navy thanks to the vigilance of the Catalina British Coastal Command we'll continue to protect England supply line and thereby frustrate Germany's attempts to strangle the British Isles into submission [Music] one of three major RAF operational commands Coastal Command was charged with maritime reconnaissance perhaps no other aircraft epitomized Coastal Command during World War two more so than the short Sunderland built by the short brothers Aircraft Company the Sunderland was an anti-submarine and long-range patrol bomber [Music] the Sunderland's design benefited from the success of its commercial predecessor the short s23 c-class called Empire flying boats they had enabled Imperial Airways to establish vital air links throughout the British Empire serving mostly on anti-submarine and long-range reconnaissance patrols the four-engine Sunderland was a sturdy and dependable workhorse for its 10-man crew vic Hodgkinson a Sunderland skipper of the Royal Australian Air Force served in the North Atlantic the Sumner was a very good aircraft it took a lot of punishment like we didn't didn't have any armor plate and later on this month later in that run the skipper and it wasn't a fast aircraft but it had an endurance event was it say about 12 hours the early ones it was a good sea boat it was fairly been the rule for slow airplane that was quite maneuverable maneuverable and considerably armed the Sunderland could withstand heavy on slots from German fighter aircraft such that the Luftwaffe nicknamed it the flying porcupine it was the first flying boat to be equipped with power operated bow and tail gun turrets eight 303 caliber machine guns and all two at the front four in the rear and two at the midsection there they called the porcupines because the amount of armament we had onboard the aircraft which is I suppose quite a large amount for an aircraft in those days but really it was very primitive and the Germans thought we had cannon on board thank heavens because they go nobody gave us a my dad goes a wide berth and that the 303 as I mentioned had a very poor range against the cannon but close in of course you had the concentration of fire if you've ever been close enough then you had a chance of doing some damage time was spent avoiding rather than attacking German aircraft instead Sunderland's pursued a more stealthy quarry the u-boat armed with mines bombs and depth charges a Sunderland could be a deadly opponent but more often than not the German u-boat outpaced the lumbering Sunderland stealing below the ocean's surface before damage could be done this outcome was not entirely unsatisfactory submarine work of course we flew patterns over an area where the submarines were expected to be mainly on the ground about between the hundred southern line off the coast of France and ensure we didn't fly much closer than about 50 miles off of the French coast and the idea there was to keep the submarines under the water until they reached the fact hundred Featherman which meant that they had to use their batteries and but Tom they got 100,000 on that the surface anyhow to charge them again so that was the reason for that that exercise and puts other times that you've met them further out to sea because although the element of surprise was the u-boats strong point it operated best not beneath but above the water's surface it could move faster and destroy ships with greater accuracy and firepower British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once stated that the only thing that ever frightened him during the war was the u-boat threat with France Norway and the Low Countries lost to Hitler's war machine by 1940 the entire Atlantic seaboard from Norway to the Spanish border lay at Germany's disposal [Music] u-boats ranged freely from french atlantic bases out of the bay of biscay and wreaked havoc on British merchant shipping convoy escorts and their airborne Guardians were needed more than ever as the Atlantic lifeline was stretched dangerously thin [Music] in August of 1941 just prior to America's entry into the war President Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet secretly on the USS Augusta to sign the Atlantic Charter setting forth the aims of the war against Germany a peculiar meeting between an active belligerent and a technically neutral country under the lend-lease act the United States has agreed to extend Britain's credit for war supplies practically committing America's industrial resources to the defeat of Germany the neutral US was teetering on the edge of war all that was needed was one final push the surprise was complete America's Pacific Fleet had been caught sleeping the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought World War two finally to America's doorstep all of America was in shock in San Diego one naval officer like all Americans felt barely prepared captain Frank delorenzo most everybody remembers where they were on day of Pearl Harbor I was in applied for the Navy out of San Diego and a bunch of other bachelors and I had a house right in Coronado California and we were just sitting around at Sunday morning drinking Bloody Marys and we got a telephone call hello said he was the duty officer and said for us to get down to the squadron right away the chaps had just bombed Pearl Harbor we thought it was a gag and hung up the phone and the phone rang back immediately it said get your butts down in the spot and right now we're at war and we turned the radio on and of course it was all full of the day of infamy and we went down to the squadron and mass confusion we knew we were war we didn't know where the enemy was but we knew we had to fly immediately attention focuses on America's first line of defense the coast line how far off the western coast have the Japanese come heavy patrol is imperative the Coronado is one of the first long-range patrol planes the Navy deploys to guard the vast Pacific coastline and they put me in one of these corn otters and told me to go down and search the coast of Mexico there was a probability or at least there was a rumor that the Japanese had a an amphibious invasion force and we're going to invade the coast of Mexico and then come on up into California we took off as we were instructed and flew down the coast of Mexico all the way down past Guadalupe Island and almost down to Baja California and we didn't see a thing there are no Japs there was no nothing although there never would be a Japanese invasion of America's coastline the threat was there and the fear genuine these large sentinels and other flying boats of World War two became the eyes and ears of the fleet the Coronado could cover 2,300 miles non-stop to look for enemy activity keeping the Navy alert and ready for mobilization at a moment's notice also its great size could hold a 12,000 pound bomb load for an immediate attack if necessary [Music] additional duties included Navy personnel transport captain D Lorenzo once had the honor of flying Admiral Chester Nimitz to Pearl Harbor soon after the attack in order to take command of what was left of the Pacific Fleet over Pearl Harbor we invited the Admiral up to the flight deck and asked him if he would like to look at the site of what the Japanese had done to our fleet and of course he eagerly accepted and we flew around and made two or three turns around Pearl Harbor in a round Hickam Field so he could survey all of the damage and it he shook his head and plucked his tongue it was really a sickening sight the California was sunk the Utah had completely turned turtle her keel was sticking right straight up in the air the Arizona's settlement where she is today and there was oil all over Pearl Harbor and round floored Island a couple of inches thick it was one of the most sickening sights that I have ever seen and and it's been indelible i's din in my mind the losses suffered were enormous except for the three aircraft carriers that were luckily out at sea the entire Pacific Fleet was damaged or destroyed all eight battleships were put out of action almost all of the aircraft were destroyed more than 2,400 Americans were killed the Vice Admiral bull Halsey commander of the Pacific carrier task force launches air raids of his own on enemy shore bases to let the Japanese know that America is still a force to be reckoned with the enemy counter-attacks with superior aircraft piloted by more experienced fighters the Japanese zero although lightly armored is faster and more maneuverable than the American Wildcat but with time and training American carrier fighters will gain the experience needed to eventually beat the Japanese at their own game [Music] the age of the carrier aircraft has arrived meanwhile Midway Island stands alone as America's outpost in the Central Pacific its continued survival depends largely on flying boats like the PBY US carrier aircraft will win the epic Battle of Midway but before that battle begins PB wise will report the advance of Japanese vessels and make the first torpedo attacks before the carrier even launches its first aircraft [Music] not only military flying boats entered wartime service the famous Pan Am flippers that had pioneered the trans-pacific air routes in the 1930s were caught in mid-flight when Japan turned their Pacific island bases into a battleground the Philippine clipper sistership of the famous China clipper evacuated Pan Am personnel and passengers from Wake Island and brought the first eyewitness reports of the Japanese attack the Pacific clipper a Boeing 314 stationed in New Zealand was literally cut off from its specific route to San Francisco crossing deserts and mountains through three continents it took the long way home 23,000 miles westward to New York this first commercial airliner to fly around the world was a superb example of the range and capacity of large flying boats safe and sound the Pan Am clipper soon were given their new Warpaint the elegant Clippers became sturdy war boats fulfilling the military need for long-range transport aircraft [Music] new naval recruits received special flying boat training from Pan Am cruise celestial navigation and other skills were passed on by men who had over five years experience at crossing oceans with flying boats [Music] PanAm crews themselves took on military status often they flew Navy flying boats as well as their familiar Clippers their contribution would become an integral part of the naval air transport service bringing precious supplies overseas with the speed of air power [Music] another two-engine patrol bomber played an important part in guarding America's coastlines from the factory of Glenelg Martin who had built the famous China clipper came the PBM Mariner this flying boat was more advanced than the older PBY Catalina its distinctive gull wing and more powerful engines produced a faster stronger aircraft the popular PBM 3 version joined the US Navy in the spring of 1942 and served exclusively in the Atlantic against German submarines until late 1943 the PBM 3d patrol bomber was equipped with eight fifty caliber machine guns in power turrets at the nose dorsal and tail positions and doubt with airborne radar it had impressive search capabilities with an 8,000 pound bomb load capacity the Mariner effectively and consistently intercepted German u-boats preparing to raid America's Atlantic seaboard [Music] on the other side of the Atlantic the Sunderland was doing its best to counter the u-boat menace sometimes however the greatest menace was not met at sea but upon returning to base captain you birch of the Royal Australian Air Force the worst thing about flying in out of England was the weather because you know coming back to particularly place like urban in Scotland we were operating for what one said it was like flying up a tunnel at night and the weather was shocking you know very very strong winds and rain snow I think a lot of the younger Australian parts lost their lives coming back to their base in England because they'd all been trained in very good weather here I'll say you know on some in Rhodesia and some in Canada where the weather was good and a lot of them lost their lives before they even got onto a enemy rain in the war between submarine and airplane direct confrontation was more the exception than the rule the greatest contribution maritime patrol gave to anti-submarine warfare was air deterrence the number of u-boats actually sunk or damaged during the war is not high they were however frequently forced to submerge far beneath the ocean's surface and thereby effectively deterred from attacking Allied shipping when a direct attack could be made as with this RAF Catalina the effects were often lethal the Catalina could hold for 650 pound depth charge bombs and with a good hit could seriously [ __ ] or destroy an unlucky u-boat [Music] [Music] on one routine u-boat patrol captain Huber chand his Sunderland crew suffered an unexpected hit of their own we had one occasion when I was flying in the Bay of Biscay looking for a submarine and we started dawnia flying boat and either silently looked fairly slow be a good idea to attack this which we did but suddenly there was a terrible explosion in our aircraft and I asked the copilot to go down and see what was happy because the fan gunner had stopped firing and we'd been hit by two twenty millimeter cannon shells one which blew the front off the front Terrace and another one which caused a tear in the side of the Stabbin side of the aircraft about twelve feet long so the whole airplane became very very drafty the front gunner was very badly wounded and fell back inside the aircraft and we gave him morphia and there was a happy ending to the story and thus he he married the nurse who was looking after him in hospital like the Sunderland this German Dornier flying boat was used for maritime reconnaissance it's regular duties included reporting the locations of Allied shipping to German air bases on the mainland from their land-based torpedo bombers would be sent to attack the convoy at sea [Music] of all of Germany's World War two flying boats the most impressive was the Blohm & Voss BV 238 flying boats are traditionally known for their great size in this the BV 238 clearly excel an engineer could easily fit inside its massive engine nacelles designed for long-range reconnaissance bomber and armed transport roles the BV 238 was the largest flying boat ever built during the war this prototype did not appear for flight tests until the spring of 1944 before it could take on its bomber form it was destroyed in a strafing attack by American Mustang fighters with its long-range capability the b v2 38 could have easily carried its massive bomb load across the atlantic ocean had it appeared earlier in the war imagine bringing the war in Europe to American soil the psychological impact to America's morale could have been as damaging as the physical impact to its war industry World War two might have seen a different outcome [Music] one giant flying boat that the Luftwaffe did have at its disposal was the bloom and Voss BV 222 Viking originally built for transatlantic commercial air service the Viking was adapted for wartime use as a long-range maritime reconnaissance and transport vehicle although smaller than the BV 238 the six engine Viking was the largest flying boat in production and service during World War two in fact flying boats like the Viking continued to be the largest type of aircraft in production until the logistical demands of the war finally produced air strips capable of supporting large land planes here water offers a virtually unlimited runway for the giant Vikings takeoff 13 Vikings were built and served the Germans especially well flying supplies and troops for use in North Africa [Music] in British Africa crude air strips were hacked out of the thick jungle so that Allied land planes could maintain supply lines across the continent while in West Africa a flying boat base had been built with arguably less effort Sunderland's operated off coastal waters in part for anti-submarine patrol but they also flew huge shipments of supplies to East Africa including Alexandria and other British seaports the versatile Sunderland was not alone in this air transport role the US Navy used its large flying boats like this PBM Mariner for specific duty under the naval air transport service every war has been influenced by logistics success in the battlefield always depends on the strength of supply lines although the majority of allied war supplies were carried in ships a small but vital portion was flown in aircraft many Coronado's and PBM mariners were configured for transporting high-priority items from manufacturers in the United States to needy forces overseas from propeller blades to band-aids or just mail from home these big flying boats could carry it all to the most remote parts of the world and men perhaps the most important cargo battle-weary soldiers and sailors going home in a matter of hours rather than days these long-range flying boats carried men back to their families across the oceans that had separated them for so long [Music] by the end of 1942 u.s. General Joseph Stilwell was busy combating the Japanese army in Southeast Asia under his command US and Chinese nationalist forces fought to keep the Japanese from controlling all of Burma a country wedged between China and India the thick jungle terrain was a logistical nightmare huge amounts of machinery and manpower were required to carve out roads and airfields which were essential to keeping China well supplied but if both the Japanese and the jungle were not enough of an obstacle the weather was the rainy season brought heavy monsoons that flooded rivers rendering freshly built roads and airfields practically useless under these conditions the air supplied to China became extremely difficult these land-based planes were virtually immobilized in the war effort against Japan not so for their waterborne cousins [Music] by mid 1943 the Allies had stemmed the Japanese tide in the Pacific and with the air support of pby catalina x' they began taking back the islands they had lost the nights were soon filled with the growl of black cats a legendary pBYs painted cold black for camouflage in nighttime raids as Allied forces chipped away at Japan's Empire by day the Black Cats moved with them knocking out enemy airfields and supply lines by night operating from hastily prepared bases in hidden lagoons these cats highlighted the merit of flying boats especially as the island-hopping campaign toward Japan progressed the battles were long and hard it took months of bloody fighting through the Solomon Islands before the Japanese were finally forced out of Guadalcanal US naval and marine forces fought for every island inch but the Japanese continued to be resupplied by the infamous Tokyo Express a supply line of warships and cargo vessels that stole through the night and refreshed beleaguered Japanese defenses this is where the blackcats made their mark as daylight faded the cats took off into the night armed with fresh rounds of ammunition and 4,000 pounds of torpedoes bombs were depth charges they faced a little opposition under the shroud of darkness the slow-moving Catalina's were vulnerable to anti-aircraft and fighter attack during the day but at night fitted with airborne radar they were stealthy and aggressive hunters the Japanese who did not have radar were often unaware of a black cat approach before it was too late hunting in packs the Black Cats pounced on exposed enemy ships often with devastating results constant nighttime attacks like this left little room for reinforcements to Japanese troops throughout 1943 and 1944 the cat's help neutralize counter-attacks against the gradual advance of Allied forces [Applause] [Music] many Marines owed much of their success to black cat operations and the cat crews knew who to thank the old reliable PBY it's ruggedness and durability could absorb heavy anti-aircraft fire and still win home sometimes with only one engine running and if necessary it could always make a safe water landing the versatile cats clearly earn their keep [Music] one of the most remarkable flying boats of the war was Japan's Kawanishi h8 k2 codenamed Emily by the Allies little the film record still exists but this whole movie offers a glimpse of the fastest flying boat in service during World War two armed with 5 20 millimeter cannons the Emily was greatly respected by Allied fighter pilots and with their long-range capability these heavy bombers were once sent to attack Pearl Harbor in March of 1942 the mission was called off however due to thick cloud cover over Hawaii three months following that abortive attack Japan's chances for any further advance in the Central Pacific were destroyed at the Battle of Midway [Music] before the first shot was fired US fleet commanders had known that the battle would be won in the sky not on the sea [Music] in the end the US Navy won its first decisive victory in which the aircraft carrier was the essential instrument over the next three years the carrier task force would lead the Allies to victory in the Pacific War the writing was on the wall the future of Naval Aviation laid with carrier air power when these air battles were over the less glamorous aircraft the pioneers of Naval Aviation had one last duty to perform scour the watery battlefield for the hopeful survivor gone down in his plane [Music] for air sea rescue the flying boat was hard to beat hundreds of downed pilots escaped a watery death thanks to the reliable PBY and perhaps hundreds more oh there thanks because these patrol planes better prepared the fleet for battle with advanced reconnaissance [Music] flying boats would slowly fade away from naval aviation [Music] but many live to remember those ungainly water birds long after progress would forget them [Music] stan mahoney does more than remember as a flight engineer on both the PBY and Coronado during the war his affection for the flying boat surfaces in a variety of ways when he's not revisiting his old stomping grounds at San Diego Bay he indulges in his favorite hobby I always did like to draw pictures of airplanes even when I was a kid in school back I even got in trouble for drawing pictures and so when I was in PSA they used to tell me why don't you draw those pictures when you retire and take them sell them to the airlines at the air shows so that's how come I started drawing these airplane pictures and and they do they sell them at the air shows and it's been very enjoyable hobby and I also like to write I write all kinds of stories and even wrote a book called I'm an aviation no get the whole story about all this kind of flying illustrated by myself this is a drawing I did of sort of an exploded view of showing the interior of a PBY starting off with your gun station up in the bow and then the Bombardier station you can see there and that pilot stations in inside then you come to the radio men on the right-hand side of the of the hull and on this side in this picture is the Navigator station and then you go through a bulkhead into the next compartment and the flight engineer is up in his little cubicle above the hull clear up above it with a window on each side that was really neat yeah the window on the right right next to your shoulder and then went on the left next year left shoulder you could look out either way but you couldn't look forward because all your instruments were right forward after that is the bunk room and then after that there's another bulkhead there after that is the two blisters where the Gunners were stationed with the 50 caliber guns then after that was another bulkhead after that is a tunnel hatch which could be opened and there was a 30 caliber gun back there as well [Music] as with all flying boats PBY crews shared a special affection for their aircraft [Music] part plane part boat it's missions took them where no other aircraft could go and life on board brought a feeling of being part of something unique all flying back pilots regarded themselves as a race apart and we used to develop the myth of the flying boat cruise and if somebody went straight to its cruise the sunburn was much more than just a good machine it represented a wholly distinct way of life as with no other aircraft used by the Royal Air Force it became war chariot home been and bored to the mental unas a unique relationship between man and machine firmly established from the very beginning with its highly esoteric way of life and attitudes the near naval terminology in everyday speech and by no means least an extraordinary close comradeship once they had bought someone was literally a self-contained war unit a milling machine with a breadth of possible situations and actions unknown to any land plane so I think it's a really good description of the flag red Union [Music] all crew members were just like a family they they all knew one another they knew their families they knew what their families at home were and each member of the crew had specific duties and some could do some things better than others like one guy could be a better cook another could be better at grabbing the buoy maybe he could hang out there and grab the buoy better than someone else and we all work together with the Japanese surrendered in 1945 a war ends in which the flying boat faces an uncertain future the aircraft carrier has succeeded the battleship as the primary naval attack ship and has become the new champion of naval aviation while world war ii was the flying boats finest hour it was also the beginning of the end the increasing availability of fixed air strips built for use in the war and the advantages of operating aircraft from such facilities signaled the demise of both the military and commercial flying boat fifty years later the flying war boats are still flying through the spirit and in the memories of the men who flew them when Stan Mahoney flips through his old logbook a flying boat is alive once again if this goes back to the first flights I made in a you're looking here and seeing where you did something but brings the story back so then I turn around and write the story in the book that it kind of helps you to enjoy life after all you know I'm I'm getting up there I'm 82 so trying to keep me going [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: sphaera

Views: 909,836

Rating: 4.796854 out of 5

Keywords: airplane, sea plane, flying boat, Aircraft (Invention), history, propeller, hydroplane, dornier, boeing, martin, mars, clipper, princess, short

Id: -ImwN-WDTmc

Length: 55min 19sec (3319 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 18 2012