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History

"Produced from the 1930's to the 1940's by Consolidated Aircraft, the PBY-5 was one of the most widely produced (a total of 3,282 were built) and used seaplanes of World War II. During its service lifetime, it was found and operated in every branch of the United States Armed Forces.

Before the start of the war many aviation critics and engineers considered the flying boat obsolete due to its slow speed, its max being 189, but despite this its two big selling points were its amazing range about 2,990 miles (4811.939 kilometres) and durability. Earlier versions of the Catalina were true flying boats and could only land on water. Pilots needing to ground their plane in emergencies could land on water and beach the aircraft. To prevent this unnecessary damage, Consolidated designed and first flew the PBY-5a in 1939 with a retractable landing gear mounted directly between the 2 support beams underneath the wings. With this new ability to land on land it allowed the Catalina to become ERS or Emergency Rescue Squadrons with the role of airlifting stranded bomber crews such as those from a downed B-29-A-BN.

After the war, peacetime Catalina's were converted to civilian use whether it be casual flying or emergency duties such as firefighting. It lives on in game the same as it did in battle, being very slow but carrying a great number of armaments which represents its many roles it played in World War II and at its Battle Rating able to take a great number of hits before finally getting shot down."

PBY-5

"Although technically a medium bomber, the PBY-5's strategies are much like that of heavy bombers in higher tiers such as the B-17. It is best to fly high, as flying low will make you an easy target for fighters and AA. The best tactic for fending off enemy fighters is to use the rudders to direct one of the side gunners towards the attacking plane. It is also smart to use the guns manually in this situation, as the AI is often very inaccurate and will refuse to fire beyond a certain distance. In the worst case scenarios, a dive can be used to greatly increase the plane's speed to get to attack a ground target before a pursuing enemy fighter shoots it down.

The plane is quite unmanageable, and its wings are very weak, being able to snap just by turning just a little too tight at higher speeds in a Realistic Battle. It's also a huge target. Its lack of landing gear means that extra caution should be taken when landing, as it must land on its belly to rearm in a Realistic Battle.

Although the PBY-5 Catalina is slow and clunky, it offers a heavy payload that is sure to be a game changer if used properly. One of the bomber's biggest cons is its lack of landing gear, although it can still belly land onto airstrips. It also has a very good defensive armament for its tier, which can occasionally be a saviour against an enemy fighter.

The armament on the PBY-5 Catalina is what makes up for its clunky movement. The plane is capable of carrying a heavy payload of bombs or torpedos and has defensive gunners on all sides. The two side gunners have .50 calibre machine guns,making it more than capable of destroying enemy aircraft that stay within their range."

General Characteristic

Role:

Maritime patrol, bomber, torpedo bomber, hydroplane

Crew:

9

Powerplant:

2 x Pratt & Whitney R1830-92

Weapons

1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, 2 x beam turrets (478 rpg)

1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose turret (1,000 rpg)

1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)

2 x Mk.13-1 torpedo

Controls

Roll: Roll

Pitch: Pitch

Yaw: Yaw

Wing float: Gear

Nose turret: AG4

beam turret: AG3

Ventral turret: AG2

Turret control: Pitch and Roll

Special thanks to Quackie to let me share his Mk 13 torpedo from his Douglas TBD Devastator