In August 1998 the Hon Richard Court, Premier of Western Australia, met with the interim board of the Australian American Catalina Memorial Foundation, who had requested government assistance in obtaining a suitable PBY-5A Catalina, of the type flown from the Crawley base in the Second World War.
The Premier requested the Museum to assess the condition of an aeroplane of that type which was located in Hawkins, Texas, USA that was available for restoration and purchase. The plane had seen action in the Atlantic and Pacific regions during the final stages of the Second World War. Ian MacLeod, then head of conservation at the Western Australian Museum, visited the plane in Texas and inspected the restoration facilities and advised the State Government of the bona fides of the operator and his belief that the project was supportable. The government provided a $300,000 grant to the museum to enable the procurement of the Catalina to be effected.
The initial conservation work was inspected once during the term of the contract and a second inspection took place prior to the handover ceremony in March 2000. All the special museum restoration and conservation protocols had been followed and the plane was the most authentically restored aircraft of its kind. The night after the ceremony the hangar caught fire and the plane suffered significant damage. The cost associated with the repairs was covered by insurance, which the proprietor had been obliged to take out under the contract drawn up by the Crown Solicitors Office. The Lotteries Commission of WA provided seed funding for the development of the design of an innovative and exciting new building to be erected at the corner of Australia II Drive and Hackett Drive. All the necessary approvals from the Swan River Management Trust, Subiaco City Council, CALM and University of Western Australia and a Section 18 Permit from the Department of Indigenous Affairs were granted. However, owing to lack of major support by corporate sponsors the project had to be reviewed.
The trustees of the Western Australian Museum authorised a provisional sum of $85,000 to be transferred from the Markham Fund to the Catalina Treasury account, to cover the costs of shrink- wrapping the plane for the road journey from Texas to San Diego in California, from whence it was to be shipped to Australia on board a vessel of the US Navy. It also covered the provisional sum for crating, which included manufacture of a custom built cradle for the fuselage. The sum was also meant to cover the cost of the containers that held the wings and engines and associated fittings and the road haulage to the west coast of the USA. A further $20,037 was transferred from the Markham Fund to cover additional expenditure associated with the above named cover and the cost of ship transport from Darwin. The USS Comstock brought the aeroplane to Darwin and it was directly uplifted onto the "Kimberley" for the journey to Fremantle. Within 24 hours of the uplift, September 11 struck and all US naval vessels were ordered to return to their home ports and the USS Comstock headed back to San Diego. Phew!
The plane was taken off the "Kimberley" in Fremantle and taken to a temporary home at Perth Airport where it was housed in a secure outside store. Owing to the impending collapse of Ansett Airlines the plane was moved to the old flange shed at Midland Railway workshops site where it remained for several years under the care of Ted Karasek, a board member of the AACMF, who has diligently cared for the plane on behalf of the foundation and the museum. In 2006 it was moved to another site in the railway workshops owing to the imminent development of the Police Communications centre at Midland.
During the years following the initial plan for the Crawley site falling into abeyance, several options were considered but the lack of support from the Federal Government meant that the plans for an independently operated memorial and exhibition centre could not be supported. Owing to the generous support from the Burswood Park Board and the Community Trust, sufficient funds were procured to ensure that the aircraft could be relocated and exhibited at the Bull Creek site of the Royal Australian Air Force Memorial Aviation Museum.
On 4 January 2007 the plane fuselage and the three sea-containers were moved by Boom Logistics to the current storage site outside the hangar at the Bull Creek site of the RAAF Aviation Museum. The Australian American Catalina Memorial Foundation (AACMF) plans to bring Bob Schneider and his leading hand to Perth in February/March 2007 to supervise the reassembly of the aircraft and the beginning of the exhibition program.
The Catalina has been accessioned into the Maritime History collection of the Western Australian Museum - registration No HB89 (HB stands for historic boat).
Notes on the restoration of the plane.
Ian MacLeod