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More PBY Catalinas were produced than any other patrol plane in aviation history. It all started in 1932, when the US Navy issued a requirement for a new patrol plane with a 3,000-mile range, 100 mph speed and a gross weight of 25,000 pounds. Several aircraft companies competed for the contract. Consolidated, then at Buffalo, N. Y., was the last big winner of the competition with the P2Y series in 1931. On Oct. 28,1933, the Navy ordered one seaplane from Consolidated, the XP3Y-I, or company Model 28. It was a case of being at the right place at the right time. Several hundred were built over the next few years, then World War II broke and the demand for the plane was enormous. Five U.S. and Canadian plants delivered 3,281 of the flying boats. Russia built another 150. The "mother" plant at San Diego produced most of the 2,398 PBYs that carried thousands of aviators on military as well as civilian missions during the war. |
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