The Return of the PBY Catalina to Pearl Harbor

PBY CATALINA N24VP

Pearl Harbor PBY – ”La Bruja de La Mancha”. Our mission is to make fully operational, a 1940’s Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina and return it to the Pacific Ocean Area of the world, to honor the legacy of the aircraft and the people who served to make the Catalina a beloved legend in aviation.

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Keep The Legacy Alive

Designated PBY-1 in the beginning production, sixty of the aircraft were initially manufactured. For the PBY designation “PB” means patrol bomber, and “Y” was the code assigned to the manufacturer, Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.Throughout the late 1930s through war years of the 1940s, modifications progressed from strictly a flying boat to the amphibious PBY-5A and 6A used during and after WWII

John Sterling

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Founder

“John, I’m truly proud of the service you have produced and the actions you are taking… “

Admiral Ronald J. Hays, United States Navy (Ret)

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Founder, John Sterling, with Pearl Harbor Survivor and Navy Veteran PBY Beaching Crew Member, Dick Girocco, at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum , showcasing rare PBY beaching gear.

Dick Girocco

Richard (Dick) Girocco was the reason and the drive to really bring a PBY Catalina back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after all these years. When Dick came onto Ford Island and told John Sterling his story of witnessing the first Japanese bomb to actually hit Oahu on December 7, 1941, this impossible connection to the little corner of Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, began a very personal quest to track down a PBY Catalina and bring it to Hawaii.

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Get involved & help us bring her back.

The airplane in its current state in Ocaña, Spain where it worked in its 2nd life as a high visibility firebomber, and the 1st converted PBY Catalina to arrive in Europe to fight fires after its use in the U.S. Navy. We intend to repaint it in a Dec. 7, 1941, United States Navy WWII paint scheme.

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