Legends of Warfare
PBY Catalina
by David Doyle


 
 Reviewed by Martin J Quinn
March 2023

David Doyle Books has released a new title.  This one covers the famous Consolidated PBY Catalina, which, along with being the most widely produced flying boat ever made, found both the Bismarck and the Japanese fleet off Midway.   This book is 144 pages long, and includes a history of the Catalina.  The book traces the history of the aircraft, from the development of the earliest versions, through the final variants, and has over 300 photos, some of which are in original, vintage color. 
This book is laid out with an introduction and three  subsequent chapters. 
  • Chapter 1 The Flying Boats
  • Chapter 2 The Amphibians
  • Chapter 3 Other Catalina Variants
The early portions of the book discuss various flying boats like the XPY-1 and the P2Y-1 "Ranger", which led to the development of the XP3Y-1.  The XP3Y-1 was born out of a Navy requirement for a patrol flying boat with a range of 3,000 miles and a cruising speed of 100 mph.  Consolidated won a production contract over rival Douglas's XP3D-1 flying boat, mostly based on price.   Before the aircraft entered production, the Navy changed the designation to PBY-1, to reflect the aircrafts role as a patrol bomber. 

What I didn't know was how quickly the variants changes after the first production model PBY-1 was delivered in September, 1936.   The Navy ordered improved PBY-2s and PBY-3s, both in 1936, and PBY-4s were ordered in 1937.  Finally, in 1939, the Navy ordered over 200 of the latest version, the PBY-5.  Britain, Canada and France also ordered the dash 5 version from Consolidated, with the French order being diverted to the British after the fall on France in 1940.  It was Great Britain that bestowed the name "Catalina" on the aircraft, a name that was formally adopted by the US Navy in October, 1941.

The book contains lots of photos (many in color, as mentioned previously), as well as color profiles and black and white drawings that depict differences in the various models.  Differences depicted in these drawings include changes to the propeller hub spinners, the waist gunner positions and engine/cowling development. 

 click to
enlarge images

Conclusions:

Another well written, high quality, hardcover book from David Doyle.  It has lots of info and many great photos, including pictures of existing static displays and airworthy airframes, as well as the color profiles and drawings.  Looking through this book brings back memories of that old Revell box art of the "Black Cat" PBYs!  As with many of David's titles, I think both aviation history buffs and modelers will like this book.   Highly recommended. 

The book retails for $24.99, and is available to order directly from David's website.   Thanks to David Doyle Books for the review sample. 
 


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