Quote:
Originally Posted by spidge  |
And a PBY in the sky.............
The shores of Lake Boga are generally pretty quiet - but recently, the lake was busier than it usually is on a Monday morning. The Australian Airshow at Avalon had been host to a Catalina PBY-6A and, on its way home, it detoured to make several low passes over Lake Boga before flying on to Swan Hill. The passes were in recognition of Lake Boga's history during and just after World War 2, when it was home to a secret flying boat repair depot.
Lake Boga was chosen for several reasons. First, it was to the south - out of range of Japanese attacks like the one in March of 1941 that killed 70 people and destroyed 16 flying boats (24 planes in total, including B-24 Liberator bombers, and B-17 Flying Fortresses) in Broome. Second, the lake is roughly round in shape, meaning planes could safely approach from almost any direction, allowing for smooth operations in most weather conditions. Thirdly, there was already infrastructure in place in the form of nearby rail lines, and the town of Swan Hill. During its years of operation, the base served Australian, US and Netherlands planes.
The repair base was abandoned in 1948, with most of the infrastructure removed: only a few elements like the communications bunkers and some concrete pads were left in place, until restoration efforts that began in the 80s and culminated in 1988. Massive concrete mooring blocks were recovered from the lake bottom a few years later: there is one cluster of them in trees near the museum, and two more are on display along with the gutted shell of a Catalina.
The plane that overflew Lake Boga was a post-war PBY-6A, instead of the PBY-5As the lake would most commonly have seen during the war years ('PB' indicates that the plane was classified as a 'patrol' and 'bomber' type - though slow-moving, the Catalina had tremendous range, one of its advantages - and the 'Y' indicated its manufacturer, Consolidated). Earlier models were only able to land on water (though they could be beached in a time-consuming, tedious procedure), but Consolidated flew a 5A with retractable undercarriage in 1939, and the amendment was judged a considerable success, giving the Catalina much more flexibility. The -6A, the last development in the line, also had a taller tail fin, new radar, and .50 calibre guns.
The Cat (or Canso, as it was also nicknamed) was used in several modes: because it was capable of flying well over 4,000 kilometres without refuelling, it was in high demand as a reconnaissance aircraft, but it also proved its worth in combat in both the European and Pacific theatres, despite it being relatively slow, and hardly armoured at all. Night 'Black Cat' raids in the Pacific theatre were particularly effective, with black-painted Cats being highly successful at ambushing ships. Where the Cat truly showed its colours, though, was in emergency rescue: it could land near planes downed in the water and take airmen on board, often doing so under enemy fire. Cats are credited with saving thousands of Allied lives in this fashion.
After the war, the Catalina continued a career of service, with many of the ex-war bombers being converted to water bombers to fight fires, or to passenger planes. The Catalina that flew over Lake Boga was recovered from Europe, and purchased and restored by HARS (Historical Aviation Restoration Society).