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Another War Bird


That man at the Temora aviation museum told us about the Catalina museum at Lake Boga near Swan Hill. I had to go see it because my Dad was an engineer on Catalina's during the war. We were disappointed to find the museum closed for renovations (Government stimulus spending at work) but they let us in anyway to see the aircraft.

Catalina's are flying boats. I checked my Dad's Flight Log Book and while he did over 3,000 hours in Catalinas there were just a few hours in the A24-30. As it is today Lake Boga would not a be a lot of use for Flying Boats! But at least they could land on dry land so not as useless as the Yacht Club, Sea Scouts and other aquatic activities I saw a signposted at the Lake.

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Comments

  1. JulieFebruary 13, 2010 at 11:48 AM

    Seems a funny place to have a museum for water planes. The base down here at Rose Bay is called the Catalina.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joan ElizabethFebruary 13, 2010 at 12:35 PM

    Yes there was Catalina base at Rose Bay .. Dad was often there. Lake Boga was actually a Lake before the drought so quite a suitable place too ... it was the Flying Boat Repair and Service Depot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MavisFebruary 13, 2010 at 4:10 PM

    Very interesting Joan Elizabeth, A new piece of history for me

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 14, 2010 at 4:26 AM

    Interesting history. There is no head room to spare in the hanger where it is parked. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. myletterstoemilyFebruary 14, 2010 at 6:34 AM

    love those old planes. must have been fun
    for you to see the ones your dad used to
    fly!

    ReplyDelete
  6. PJFebruary 15, 2010 at 5:02 PM

    He must have loved flying those, they look sturdy but maybe tricky to fly.

    ReplyDelete

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