Color me not just skeptical, but damn near dismissive:
Reviving The PBY Catalina For Modern Warfare Is This Company’s Goal
I fully support the manufacture of newly designed, modernized PBY “Catalina” flying boats. Damned things were awesome 80 years ago; had I buckets of money, I’d fund the program myself. But *this* program does not inspire a great deal of (i.e “any”) confidence. All they show are a few *very* low re and simplistic CG renders of a modernized PBY… lacking the braces that kept the parasol wing from snapping off during maneuvers. I know materials have advanced a lot since the 1930’s, but come *on,* that design just don’t look right without those braces.
Recall that just over a year ago an Australian company said they were going to remanufacture the Grumman Albatross flying boat. The last “news” update to their website was December of 2022.
6 responses to “New PBYs?”
a modern PBY as a gunship? why?
it’d be almost as easy to make new R3Y-1 and R3Y-2 Tradewinds…if you’re going to get ambitious, why not go whole hog?
a faster solution is the amphibious C-130. it’s a bolt-on solution for an existing aircraft that’s well known.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/mc-130j-seaplane-wont-fly-for-two-to-three-more-years
or an amphibious C-27…no one has proposed this, but it’s an obvious extension of the amphibious C-130 projects…
while digging for the last comment I found this little tidbit…
https://news.usni.org/2023/02/01/darpa-awards-contracts-for-long-range-liberty-lifter-flying-boat-design
so apparently we’re dabbling in ekranoplans now?
They can simply use the Japanese US-2 which is a proven design. They do mention it in the article for training purposes, but it would good for a variety of roles.
CL415MP?
I can see the use of turboprops – modern and low maintenance.
But for cost effectiveness it would probably be easier to buy a few dozen extant Catalina’s and just re-engine and new-avionics them.
The US-2 would be better.
But the USN is totally dysfunctional after 80 years of no existential threat, don’t expect them to buy something that they desperately need ahead of that need, they are too busy buying new LCS’s and concurrently scrapping them…
Why bother with a marginally efficient, highly specialized mid 1930s design when you can just dust off the Grumman G-111/HU-16, or, if you’re going to do that level of archaeology, the Martin P-5