The "PBY" on display here was built in Canada by the Canadian Vickers company. It had hydraulically actuated tricycle landing gear for amphibious operations. This model had a bow turret with twin 30 caliber machine guns and self sealing fuel tanks. During WWII it was used in anti-submarine patrol, observation, search and rescue. This model of PBY cruised at 125 knots, a ceiling of 15,800 feet with 2 engines rated at 1200 hp each. It carried a crew of 8.

While operating with the 10th Rescue Squadron in 1947 at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the AAM Catalina landed at Dago Lake on the Alaska Peninsula. It was an emergency landing caused by engine failure. The lake was too shallow for the plane to receive repairs and then take off. Declared government surplus, it was purchased by the R.S. Richards family, stripped of parts and left at Dago Lake until 1984.

A gigantic recovery project conducted by the National Guard and the AAM volunteers finally brought the huge amphibian to the museum utilizing two Alaska helicopter operations in 1984 & 1987. This operation was captured in a DVD called "The Queen of Dago Lake".

Kodiak Alaska Military History

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Timeline

1944	Model Name Ser# PBV-1 Canso RCAF Constructor Number: CV465 PBY-5A Catalina US Navy Bureau Number: 67918 OA-10 U.S. Army Air Force Number: 44-33954
1944	It was likely operated by the 10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron which sure sounds like Navy, but was Army Air Force. According to the Heritage of the Combat Search and Rescue Professionals pamphlet: The Alaskan/Aleutian Campaign also involved Air/Sea Rescue in some of the most remote locations and harshest weather ever experienced by USAAF aircrews. Initially, Navy Catalinas provided most of the rescue effort, but as combat with Japanese forces extended down the Aleutian chain of islands and as America supported the Russian war effort with Lend Lease planes being ferried across the Bering Strait, the USAAF built up rescue forces to cover these efforts. The Arctic Training School was activated in the summer of 1943 at Buckley, Colorado. This school produced the 1st Arctic Search and Rescue Squadron, which deployed to Greenland in 1944, the 3d Arctic Search and Rescue Squadron deployed to the North Atlantic Division, and the Alaskan Wing Squadron deployed to Alaska. In addition, the 10th Rescue Boat Squadron deployed to Elmendorf, Alaska. The units in Alaska used a variety of equipment including C-64 Noorduyn Norseman and L-5 Sentential light planes, OA-10s, C-47s equipped with rescue boats, and dogsleds.
1946, March 8	10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron on 3 July 1944, and was inactivated. 10th Air Rescue Squadron (ARS), an active duty squadron organized at Elmendorf Field in 1946 and mostly manned by Alaskans.
1947, September 30	Five months after arriving at Elmendorf Air Force Base, this Catalina made an emergency landing on Dago Lake south of King Salmon, AK on September 30, 1947 because the starboard engine threw a rod. There was some minor hull damage and everyone onboard survived this adventure unscathed. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to recover the plane. Several Noorduyn Norseman aircraft were damaged when they were used as crew ferries. A replacement engine was lost to the lake... The military wrote it off as a loss, after having had guards initially on the site, and rendered it immobile by disabling hydraulic lines and control cables.
	Declared government surplus, R.S. Richards of Anchorage, AK bought the salvage rights for $58 and held them from October 1948-1978. They did not know the plane had been "sabotaged". Discouraged from restoring it, they traded parts of it with Alaska Coastal Ellis Airlines for a Piper floatplane.
1948	USAAF Serial Number 44-33954 Model OA-10. Assigned to the USAAF 10th Rescue Squadron. PBY-5A/6A amphibians for use in by the USAAF for search and rescue duties. This series was redesignated A-10 in 1948. (pacificwrecks.com, (Wikipedia) - Consolidated_PBY_Catalina)
1978	Alaska Historical Aircraft Society, Anchorage, AK
1984, May	Registered with the FAA as N44BY - Model: PBY-5A, 44-33954
1984, September 30	Lifted from Dago Lake by Alaska Army National Guard CH-54 "Penelope", transported to King Salmon. Recovery of PBY USAAF SN 44-33954 Manf 1943 transferred to US Army Air Force Air Sea Rescue, Recovery by 207th Aviation CH-54B Skycrane and Kulis ANGB Sgt Paul Sandhofer using giant airbags to lift aircraft at Dago Lake, Alaska.
1985, May	U.S. Historical Aircraft Preservation Museum, Anchorage, AK
1987	A recovery project conducted by the National Guard with volunteers from the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum salvaged the wreck in 1987, transported from King Salmon to Anchorage and Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum.
-	FAA N57875 - Model: OA-10, 44-33954

It had hydraulically actuated tricycle landing gear for amphibious operations. This model had a bow turret with twin 30 caliber machine guns and self sealing fuel tanks. During WWII it was used in anti-submarine patrol, observation, search and rescue. This model of PBY cruised at 125 knots, a ceiling of 15,800 feet with 2 engines rated at 1200 hp each. It carried a crew of 8.

10th Air Rescue Squadron (ARS), an active duty squadron organized at Elmendorf Field in 1946 and mostly manned by Alaskans.
The 10th had itself inherited the tradition of the 924th Quartermaster Company, Boat (Aviation), a rescue unit which was constituted in Alaska on 14 June 1942, saw action during the Aleutian Island Campaign, was redesigned the 10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron on 3 July 1944, and was inactivated on 8 March 1946.

While operating with the 10th Rescue Squadron in 1947 at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the AAM Catalina landed at Dago Lake on the Alaska Peninsula. It was an emergency landing caused by engine failure. The lake was too shallow for the plane to receive repairs and then take off. Declared government surplus, it was purchased by the R.S. Richards family, stripped of parts and left at Dago Lake until 1984.

A gigantic recovery project conducted by the National Guard and the AAM volunteers finally brought the huge amphibian to the museum utilizing two Alaska helicopter operations in 1984 & 1987. This operation was captured in a film called "The Queen of Dago Lake" and it is for sale in our store.