Consolidated Catalina........SCRAPPED!

[Zaxxon]

Just reading this months Aeroplane Monthly and I feel sick.

The Consolidated PB-5Y Catalina that had the accident at Southampton in 1998 was scrapped on June 27th

It was siezed along with the airport it eas located at by the Irish National Asset Management Agency, who sold it for scrap!

It's disgusting, just disgusting.
The pics pre scrapping show a fuselage in good condition that is in far better condition than many restoration projects.

How this has been allowed is beyond me.


http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com/news/latest-news/4...

[dudleybloke]

things like this realy piss me off.

[Simpo Two]

If the objective of the bailiffs etc was to get max returns, wouldn't it have been worth much more as a Catalina than a small cube of metal?

[paulrussell]

Simpo Two said:

If the objective of the bailiffs etc was to get max returns, wouldn't it have been worth much more as a Catalina than a small cube of metal?

Maybe the offers were less than the scrap value?

[fatboy69]

The wanton destruction of a classic aircraft such as this makes my piss boil.

[mrloudly]

Isn't this one the mayor died in?

[Streps]

What a waste

[Eric Mc]

Verry sad to hear this. I am sure that it was offered to collectors but no one came forward. It was more or less a hulk so would have cost millions to restore to flying condition.

[IforB]

That is very sad, but if no-one would come forward to purchase it or store it, then you can see why it happened. Still annoys the hell out of me though.

[Eric Mc]

I think the fact that it had ended up in Ireland didn't help either. If it had been stored in the UK I think perhaps the costs of just rescuing it and storing it somewhere else might have been less prohibitive and there might have been more offers coming forward.

[Brigand]

Terrible demise, the Catalina is a beautiful aircraft, such a shame it was destroyed in those circumstances.

[LotusOmega375D]

I remember seeing it perform at the Southend Airshow in May 1997. It was the first and last time I can remember seeing a flying boat actually land and take-off on the sea (just to the West of the Pier). For some reason it wasn't allowed to repeat that party trick when it returned for the last time in May 1998.

[Huntsman]

I happened to witness the crash on Southampton water which sadly killed someone, the plane was recovered up a slipway just a few yards from my house, I'm not sure if I'm sad under the circumstances.

[jamieduff1981]

It's difficult to imagine this being the best option available. It's positively unlikely that it would've been scrapped under these circumstances in the UK, USA or Canada or even most of western Europe.

[Eric Mc]

The fact that no one in the UK was interested in it is why it ended up in Ireland in the first place.

Don't forget that there is a currently airworthy and active Catalina flying in the UK at the moment. and you can buy a piece of it if you want.