In the early twenties the memories of the famous transatlantic flight of the NC flying boats persisted in the minds of naval aviators. Much of the Navy’s interest was centered in the Pacific, and the vision of flying boats that could quickly link Hawaii to the mainland was an enticing one.
On a trial flight from San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1925, Commander John Rogers, flying a Navy patrol plane, was forced down after twenty-five hours in the air. He was within four hundred miles of Hawaii when he landed on the sea. After drifting for nine days, Rogers was picked up by a submarine. Although the flight had failed, it had established a seaplane record of over 1,800 miles, and the trail was blazed.
It was the development of the famous Consolidated PBY flying boats that eventually put our West Coast within twenty-four hours’ flying distance of Hawaii. You will remember the Army officer who had charge of our first air mail service back in 1918—Major Reuben H. Fleet. Major Fleet resigned from the service in 1922 and in the year following organized the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. His firm manufactured many types of airplanes, including the Army’s PB-2A fighter and the 0-19 observation plane. In 1928 Consolidated built the XBY-1, a flying boat with a wingspan of 100 feet. This was the first Consolidated flying boat purchased by the United States Navy. Following this came the big thirty-two-place Consolidated Commodore flying boat.
The Commodore led to the development of the P2Y type of flying boat. This was a two-engined plane with a wingspan of 100 feet and a length of 62 feet. This was the plane which was to lead to the world-famous PBY Catalina flying boats. In January, 1934, six P2Y’s in the service of the United States Navy made the first successful mass flight from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a distance of 2,414 miles.
First introduced in 1934, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was one of the world’s first all-metal flying boats. Powered with two 600-horsepower radial engines, the PBY was for six years the fastest airplane of its class. In January, 1937, twelve Navy PBY’s flew in nonstop formation from San Diego, California, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a distance of 2,553 miles, in 21 hours and 43 minutes. In June of the same year twelve PBY’s flew in nonstop formation from San Diego to Coco Solo, Canal Zone, or 3,087 miles in 27 hours and 21 minutes. In 1937 Sir Hubert Wilkins flew a commercial version of the PBY over 19,000 miles of Arctic wastes.
