Catalina Aircraft relaunches 'iconic' flying boat, eyes military sales
https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/catalina-aircraft-relaunches-iconic-flying-boat-eyes-military-sales/154255.article
Sounds like a long shot, but it sure surprised me.
I've lived within 3 miles of one of the largest USCG aircraft bases most of my life. PBYs were still here in good numbers until the late 50s-mid 60s. There is one still on display next to the front gate. When they were retired I was told they sold pretty quickly to Caribbean island countries and exclusive resorts. IIRC, Jimmy Buffet has/had one.
I can tell you that when they are maneuvering in the water they are among the loudests thing you've ever heard, even over 2 miles away down-river. And when they take off from the water... well, they probably caused the daily, severe tinnitus I've had since I was about 10 or 11.
I wish we still had the Boeing B-314 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_314_Clipper) in the skies. Or, at least one on display somewhere.
I went diving on a catalina many years ago. i suspect it was this one. My memory was it was off Skye, but I spent a lot of time at Largs, so I suspect it was this one:
http://diveoban.com/flying-boats/
The longest commercial flights ever (in time airborne) were the Qantas 'double sunrise' between Perth and Sri Lanka after the 1942 fall of Singapore made other routes impossible. The 6500km flight took between 27-33 hours. The flights were conducted using stripped out Catalinas, in radio silence.
https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/15970y2/the_longest_commercial_flights_ever_in_time/
I was recently surprised to learn the longest light of any aircraft was 64 days, 22 hours. 2 guys in a cessna 172!