September 24, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Two Catalina flying boats are returning to a former RAF base in Fermanagh where they played a crucial role in the Second World War.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15028085
Northern Ireland / 23 September 2011
By: PaulR - 25th September 2011 at 00:57
Cheers, hiflyer, enjoyed the report. A little searching, and Voila!.
My Dad may have been one of the builders of the Sunderland the American (89? Wow, he looks much younger!) flew in.
By: hiflyer - 24th September 2011 at 23:45
I was the cameraman for BBC News channel report and yes the two vets really were enjoying themselves and were flying several times during the day. Chuck the American was an air gunner on Sunderlands and the previous day had visited the site where he had crashed during the war with the loss of several crew members. At the site he found a spend .303 casing from a bullet from one of the guns. He and his son who was with him were amazed. Ted who was a very sprightly 89 years young said it wasn’t a proper Catalina because it had wheels, the ones he flew were pure flying boats and only flew off water.
Dan Snow was also there and he was making a documentary for tranmission next year. There will be lots more great shots of the catalinas in that and long interviews with the veterans.
By: stangman - 24th September 2011 at 17:03
Yep saw this too on BBC Breakfast. Nice shots of G-PBYA both inside and out. The two vet seemed to enjoy the trip immensly.
By: PaulR - 24th September 2011 at 16:25
There’s a nice long report on two vets getting a jolly in one of them running this afternoon on the BBC News channel. Includes plenty of inside and out Cat pr0n.