Upcycled and away

Owning a piece of aviation history is easier than ever before

The Catalina PlaneTags are manufactured from the aluminium skin of a PBY-5A Catalina, Serial number Bu.46590 manufactured for the US Navy in 1944 at the Consolidated factory in New Orleans. It saw active USN service on patrol over the Atlantic and training missions over the Pacific. It then served with the US Coast Guard in Florida, Washington state and Alaska.

After many years in private hands, it was acquired 1979 by the Commemorative Air Force of Harlingen, Texas, which flies WW2 aircraft in airshows. The CAF then put it in Royal Australian Air Force colours as Catalina NB-N, the “Sea Bitch”. It flew the 9700 miles and 55 hours flying time from Monterey, California to Brisbane, Australia in January 1981 for an Australian tour celebrating the 60th anniversary of the RAAF.