This cache is not at the listed coordinates! Solve this puzzle to find the actual coordinates:
PBY-5A Empty weight: 20,91X lb
PBY-5A Max. takeoff weight: 35,Y20 lb
The actual cache location: N41 23.91X W88 36.48Y
This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
PBY Catalina
The PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. In the United States Army Air Forces and later in the United States Air Force their designation was OA-10.
During World War II, PBYs were used in anti-submarine warfare, patrol bombing, convoy escorts, search and rescue missions (especially air-sea rescue), and cargo transport. The PBY was the most successful aircraft of its kind; no other flying boat was produced in greater numbers.
The PBY was originally designed to be a patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in order to compromise enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the Pacific Ocean, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the U.S. Navy in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range flying boats for this purpose. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring runways, in effect having the entire ocean available. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced.
Although slow and ungainly, PBYs distinguished themselves in World War II as exceptionally reliable. Allied armed forces used them successfully in a wide variety of roles that the aircraft was never intended for. They are remembered by many veterans of the war for their role in rescuing downed airmen, in which they saved the lives of thousands of aircrew downed over water. PBY airmen called their aircraft the "cat" on combat missions and "Dumbo" in air-sea rescue service.
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: 8 — pilot, co-pilot, bow turret gunner, flight mechanic, radioman, navigator and two waist gunners
Length: 63 ft 10 7/16 in
Wingspan: 104 ft 0 in
Height: 21 ft 1 in
Wing area: 1,400 ft²
Empty weight: 20,910 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 35,420 lb
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines, 1,200 hp each
Performance-
Maximum speed: 196 mph
Cruise speed: 125 mph
Range: 2,520 mi
Service ceiling: 15,800 ft
Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min
Armament-
3× .30 cal machine guns (two in nose turret, one in ventral hatch at tail)
2× .50 cal machine guns (one in each waist blister)
4,000 lb of bombs or depth charges; torpedo racks were also available
Survivors
Airworthy-
PBY-5A, BuNo. 34027 is owned by Comanche Air Inc in Ephrata, WA.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46522 is owned by the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 46662 is owned by Wilson C Edwards in Big Spring, TX
PBY-5A, BuNo. 48294 is owned by Training Services Inc TA in Virginia Beach, VA.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 48375 is owned by Weeks Air Museum Inc in Tamiami, FL
PBY-5A, BuNo. 48426 is owned by the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 64041 is owned by Flying firemen Inc in Spanaway, WA.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 64072 is owned by American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, NY.
OA-10A, s/n 44-33972 is owned by Flying Cat Aviation LLC in Sanford, ME
Canso A, s/n 11047 is owned by Hans Lauridsen in Glendale, CA.
On Display-
PBY-5, BuNo. 08317 at National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL
PBY-5A, BuNo. 33968 at PBY Memorial Foundation Museum in NAS Whidbey Island, WA.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46457 at the Rescue Memorial Museum in Albuquerque, NM.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46582 at Naval Air station in Jacksonville, FL.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46595 at National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46602 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 48406 at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in San Diego, CA.
Canso A, s/n 9742 at the Lone Star flight Museum in Galveston, TX.
Canso A, s/n 9838 at the historic Aviation Memorial Museum in Tyler, TX.
PBY-5B, s/n FP216 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
Under restoration-
PBY-5A, BuNo. 33993 by McChord Air Museum in McChord AFB, WA.
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46456 by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project in Brooklyn, NY.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 64092 by the Commemorative Air Force in Duluth, MN.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 64097 by the Commemorative Air force in St Paul, MN.
PBY-6A, BuNo. 64107 by Frederick C Peterson in Moses Lake, WA.
OA-10A, s/n 44-33954 by the Alaskan Aviation Heritage Museum in Anchorage, AK.
OA-10A, s/n 44-34037 by Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
Canso A, s/n 9746 by Ron Ruble in Aurora, OR.
Canso A, s/n 9815 by Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR.
In storage-
PBY-5A, BuNo. 33966 by Fantasy of Flight in Polk city, FL
PBY-5A, BuNo. 46590 by Mark Pilkington in Midland, TX.