Catalina 9767.MPG

Consolidated PBY-5A Canso series n° 21996 was delivered to Royal
Canadian Air Force with the serial number RCAF 9767, on March 4,
1943. Allocated to Squadron 162 in Reykjavik, the crew commanded by
the Captain Tom Cooke sank the U-Boot U-342 on April 17, 1944. The
amphibian was removed from the military service two years later, on
April 1-st, 1946. Registered CF-CRR, it then passed from 1950 till 1959
in the hands of Canadian Pacific Airlines in Vancouver, then Northland
Airlines Ltd. in Winnipeg in 1960, and Midwest Airlines Ltd, in the
same place in 1970. The civil registration was changed to C-FCRR in
the name of Avalon Aviation Ltd, who used it as water bomber in Red
Deer and Pary Sound, up to its retirement. In October 1995, after a long maintenance prg in France, it departed for Africa equipped as a flying TV studio for use in a French TV natural history series called Operation Okavango. Its initial destination was Djibouti, followed by the Comoro Islands, then Kenya and Ethiopia. After a period at Harare in Zimbabwe, C-FCRR returned to France, and by mid-1997 was at Arcachon / La Teste de Buch minus its Okavango titles but named Capt Tom Cooke, after its illustrious wartime captain. It was later repainted in an Air France colour scheme with the name Princesse des Etoiles and flown to Le Bourget, Paris, on 23 August 1998, where it was dismantled by the British firm Edwards Brothers Aviation, previously involved in the African filming, and trucked to the Place de la Concorde on the Champs Elysées. There, it was placed on public display during September, along with a great number of other vintage aeroplanes, to celebrate 100 years of Aéroclub de France.
With its Parisian appearance over, it was taken back to Le Bourget and flown south again ready for its next adventure a transatlantic flight to Chile and Brazil via West Africa! The main reason for this epic flight was to commemorate the Aéropostal mail flights flown by Jean Mermoz between France and Dakar, Sénégal, instigated in 1930. The Catalina left Toulouse on 14 October, and by 28 November 1998, C-FCRR had arrived in Santiago of Chile, a follow on flight to Brazil being made on the 3rd of that month. For these flights, many sponsorship logos adorned the Catalina's hull and tail, including that of the Brazilian airline TAM, which was taking delivery of new airbus aircraft, the PBY being involved in the handover ceremony. At the completion of the ceremonies, C-FCRR flew north and spent some time at Oshawa, Ontario, where maintenance was carried out before leaving on 8 june 1999, crossing the Northern Atlantic via Reykjavik and Shannon, before arriving at Dinard in Brittany. A few weeks later, it was being kept busy as an aerial camera platform for the 11 August total eclipse of the sun. Shes actually based at Orly-Airport in south of Paris

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Consolidated
• Catalina
• 9767

[fredericsidler]

On ne sait pas s'il va se poser sur le Rhône, mais en tous les cas il sera à Sion en septembre 2011 pour le Breitling Sion Air Show

[Catalina9767]

@fredericsidler Nous y serons... et si par hasard on trouve un lac pas trop haut et bien long (avec autorisations, il va sans dire) nous irons "mouiller la coque"... pour ce qui est du Rhône... idem : long et autorisations !!!!!!

Quoi qu'il arrive : rendez-vous les 16, 17 & 18 septembre en Valais !

[knightrider600]

. . beautiful footage, love seaplanes . .

[willyp51]

Merci de nous avoir faire revivre ce fabuleux appareil, mythique, historique et fabuleux !!!!

Jespère le revoir bientôt et quil continue à voler longtemps.

Amicalement

Willy

[mabroussardii]

too cool!

[ericgoujon]

Mon Dieu.... La grande classe... que de souvenirs.... Super top avec cette musique...!

[albatrosvolant2]

Many thanks for the video!!!

I wish to view Op.Okavango-DVDs a new time.

Nice to see her flying and in hope to see her soon again after a long grounded rest.

So many years... but ready to fly. (JC)

[SPangTomcat]

Great news for the future of this beautiful Cat.

[CansoCRR]

Fantastic! CRR is back...