Foynes Historic Flight

[FiSe]

"Historic Re-enactment Flight - Join us for our celebration of the 70th Anniversary to the day of the first passenger trial flights by Pan American Airways and BOAC. As part of the festivities, Captain Patrick White and his son are flying their vintage aircraft, a PBY Catalina Flying Boat, from Botwood, Newfoundland arriving in Foynes on July 6th. This event will kick off our 3 day festival, July 6th, 7th and 8th."

This is taken from Flying Boat Museum site, but no other info available /as yet ?/ and link on Foynes festival doesn't work...
I am thinking, that would be nice to see Catalina landing on the River Shannon and to visit museum afterwards...

I thought, that maybe some of you will know something more about this event?

Thanks

[Joe McDermott]

Latest is :

ETA 06/07/2007 13:00 local.

Will advise when further info comes in.



 

[Joe McDermott]

The following may be of interest, although a bit dated. The museum @ Foynes have confirmed they expect the PBY there sometime after 13.00H Friday 6th July.

World Catalina News - February 2007
By David Legg
Published: 1 February, 2007

There is still no shortage of news to bring you on the world of surviving Catalinas – indeed, as I put together the items for this latest review, even I was surprised at how much was going on!

There has been some further movement involving two North American PBYs that featured in our last review in September 2006. Firstly, ‘OA-10A’ C-GFFC has been on the move. This had spent some considerable time in storage with the fire fighting company SLAFCO at Moses Lake in Washington State. As reported in September, it had been flown up to Red Deer, Alberta after acquisition by Buffalo Airways although, at present, I do not know the transit date. On October 31st last year, it was cancelled from the Canadian register upon sale to the USA although no US marks or its new owner are yet known. Prior to cancellation, it was ferried to a new home at Sanford, Maine where it will be restored for new owner Jim Knowles. Part of the project will be to re-install blisters and bow turret although the latter is a long-term goal at present. Just after arrival at Sanford, it was hangared and temporarily decked out in Halloween-style trappings at the end of October for the enjoyment of the new owners and their families! The designation OA-10A above is in inverted commas as there is real doubt about this normally quoted identity. It is officially registered with the construction number ‘013’ which is not a ‘real’ Catalina c/n and is usually also quoted as CV-483 which was a Canadian Vickers-built USAAF OA-10A, serial 44-33972, reportedly scrapped. It seems likely that some ‘creative paperwork’ by a post-war conversion company was responsible for the confused pedigree of this Cat and the real identity may never be known!

Former RCAF Canso A C-FPQM Vintage Lady, also reported on in our last issue and another former Buffalo Airways machine, has flown away from its base at Yellowknife, NWT to Gander in Newfoundland. Ron Dawe advises that owner Patrick White currently plans to fly ‘QM from the Bay of Exploits in Newfoundland to Foynes in Southern Ireland over the period 5th-6th July this year. The arrival with due celebration will be on the Shannon River and a ramp is being built to facilitate beaching for display and viewing. Vintage Lady will remain at Foynes for approximately three weeks and then return to Newfoundland for further festivities in Botwood, Norris Arm and Gander. A limited number of aircrew positions will be available on the trans-Atlantic trips on a fee-paying basis. All of these activities are being arranged to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first experimental commercial Atlantic crossing. Further details may be found on the website www.flyingboatfestival.ca

[Irish251]

Website here:

http://www.transatlanticflightpby.com/

[FiSe]

Thanks,
will not make it on Friday unfortunately, but will be there at some stage over the weekend. Hope the weather will be better than currently is.

[FiSe]

So just back after the weekend on the west. Went to the Flying Boat Museum on Sunday, to see Catalina in all her glory... well, there's no Catalina and there was no historic flight.
Catalina never left Newfoundland due to technical difficulties and bad weather conditions over the Atlantic. Her pilots arrived on welcoming party via Shannon airport.
So bit dissapointed, but it's always good to see the museum and view on empty marquee decorated vith Canadian and Irish flags and see all those signposts erected especially for this ocassion was, somehow, funily ironic.
It was nice Sunday after all. '>