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For a long time I have dreamed of someone finding a broadly complete Bristol Bombay out there, but I somehow think it may be just that, a dream.

I seem to remember someone mentioning something about one (or at least the fuselage of one) in East Africa on the WW forum way back when.

There is a Catalina in British Columbia (perhaps the one mentioned above) that has a wonderfully intact nose turret. However, it’s on park land and recovery is not possible.
That’s unfortunate because nose turrets are in demand fior restoring former fire bombers to military appearance.

I notice that the nose turret and side blisters have now even been stripped from the Catalina derelict in Saudi Arabia

Yes, I agree it should be left alone though perhaps replace the vandalised perspex panels. I sincerely hope they won’t do what they are doing with the Hampden or what the IWM did with the 109 and do a ‘half and half’. I hope they use the photos that are available and display it as it was genuinely found, and indeed left, by the poor pilot.

I believe that the idea of a “half and half” Hampden restoration was quietly dropped when the new RAF Museum Director came into post

Just heard it on the BBC Radio 2 news as well when I was working in the garage.

Two and a half went to Italy, one in the Caproni Museum, one at Vigne di Valle, and a spare fuselage is still in storage I believe.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=29443

Pictures of the third survivor on show at the Volandia aviation museum in Italy

http://www.volandia.it/en/velivoli/velivoli.htm

http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/

is always a useful port of call for questions like this….

Three of the (four?) Lebanese SM79s have survived – although the third is in skeletal form.

I believe there are also other examples in the Sahara……