April 2008 Vol2 Issue 3

Priceless Limited Print to be auctioned

Our patron Nancy Bird Walton has kindly donated this limited print by David Marshall of P G Taylor’s Frigate Bird II Catalina taxiing in the open ocean around Easter Island.
This aircraft currently hangs in the Power House Museum in Sydney. The special print was gifted to Nancy by David Marshall because of their joint interests in this remarkable man, this remarkable aircraft and this remarkable feat.
To obtain funds to ferry and operate our own “Frigate Bird II”, we are offering to sell by “Dutch” auction this priceless print to the highest bidder, starting today and finishing at a function at Rathmines on Saturday 7 June 08.
Bids may also be placed by e-mail – just go to The Catalina Flying Memorial Ltd’s website www.catalinaflying.org.au and press the “BID NOW” button – you can’t miss it!

Urgent Assistance required to get VH-CAT out of its holding pattern

As you all may know, the purchase of PBY6A Catalina No. 46665 was all finalised and settled in Portugal last October. The aircraft was transferred to the Australian Register as VH-CAT and issued with a ferry permit by CASA. Our engineers, Geoff Hazelton, Mick O’Grady, Ray Molyneux and Julian Dinsdale spent many days in Seia inspecting and preparing the aircraft for its ferry flight to Australia.

The ferry crew, assisted by experts Edwards Bros of UK and Roger Leeflang of Holland (where they operate their own Cats), conducted a number of local test flights in preparation for the trip to Australia. Unfortunately, or fortunately as some have said, VH-CAT suffered an engine failure at Seia on the last test circuit before departure.

As Seia is at the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, the arrival of winter snows rendered it difficult if not impossible to work on the aircraft. There is no hangar and work in the open in this climate is a problem until about mid-March 2008. In the meantime, we have been trying to purchase a replacement engine - possibly two, as it is just as likely the other engine may suffer the same fate. Both engines have considerable times to run but have been left, unrun and unloved in the open for over six years. The P&W 1830-92 engines and propellers are identical to those used on the DC3 and they are available in various conditions in many countries around the world.

To overhaul our existing engines would cost about $60,000 each and we can buy ones already overhauled for around $75,000. On top of this, we need to have the propellers inspected in an approved propshop (another $7,000 each). So the project to ferry the Cat is on hold until the engines can be purchased, delivered and installed.

To get this project out of its holding pattern, we need money badly! In fact, we need all the help we can get. A corporate sponsor would be a huge help. If you can't help directly with the provision of money, then perhaps you could offer suggestions for or, perhaps even an introduction to a corporate sponsor.

If you can help in any way, please contact The Catalina Flying Memorial by e-mail [email protected] or Philip Dulhunty ((02) 9870-7277, e-mail [email protected]

Remember, all donations are tax-deductible.

Which brings us to our next item……

An idea for raising money – are you willing to participate?

An idea has been put forward to help raise funds to help get VH-CAT on the move. This involves people contributing money to a special account for a period of three years (or any other amount for an alternative period of time). Depending on how much money is raised, it may even be possible to borrow money against the balance of this account after a short period of time to get what we need.

However, before we can progress this idea, we need to get a feel for how many people would be willing to contribute $5 per week for a period of three years (or any other amount for an alternative period of time).

Think about it - 200 people contributing $5 per week means $1,000 per week!

Would you be willing to contribute?

At this stage, we only want to know if you would be interested in participating in such a scheme. If we get sufficient numbers, then we can look at setting things up then inviting you to participate.

If you are interested in participating, please contact The Catalina Flying Memorial by e-mail [email protected] or Philip Dulhunty ((02) 9870-7277, e-mail [email protected]

Again, all donations are tax-deductible.