IWM Duxford

G-PBYA was originally ordered for the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Canso A amphibian, basically equivalent to the US Navy PBY-5A. It was built by Canadian Vickers at Cartierville, Quebec and was allocated their constructors number CV-283 before adopting the RCAF serial 11005. It was taken on charge by the air force on 27 October 1943 and initially saw service with 9 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron at Bella Bella on the British Columbia coast between Vancouver and Prince Rupert. After a varied military career lasting some 18 years, in 1961 it entered civilian service. Primarily used for fire fighting and some freight haulage, the aircraft operated for another 30 years. Conversion work was carried out in the late 1990s to make the aircraft suitable for carrying sightseeing passengers and the previously removed side blisters were replaced. The intended work never materialised and the airframe was put up for sale. It was bought by Plane Sailing Air Displays Ltd and after much work it left Canada on 1st March 2004 for the journey to its new home at Duxford, arriving on the 30th March. During May 2005 it went for repaint and on the 4th June it was rolled out in its current magnificent scheme representing a wartime USAAF OA-10A Catalina 44-33915 of the 8th Air Force 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron at Halesworth, Suffolk. G-PBYA

This twin engined airframe is not quite what it appears. It is a Bristol Bolingbroke mk IVT 10201 built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd Canada, the Bolingbroke was a license built version of the Bristol Blenheim mk IV bomber. This airframe has been restored as a Blenheim mkI by a bizarre stroke of good fortune. The nose began life as a Bristol Blenheim Mk1 built under license by AVRO and issued to 23 Squadron on 2nd September 1939, serial number L6739. It served as a night fighter throughout the Battle of Britain before being struck off charge in December 1940 after which it went back to Bristol's and was left in their scrapyard. After the war an employee bought the nose and converted it to an electric car and ran it on the road for some ten years. After a fire destroyed the operating system he stopped using it and donated it to the Blenheim restoration project in 1992 along with most of the original systems such as the control column, rudder pedals, trim system and fittings including the seat and frame. The nose was attached to the fuselage and the Bolingbroke became a Blenheim and it carries the airframe number of the nose. Also as a legacy to the man who bought and drove the nose, the last tax disc is still displayed in one of the windows. Wonderful gesture. G-BPIV

This is a Grumman TBM-3 Avenger torpedo bomber 69327 and bears the pilot's name of Lt George Bush. In June 1943, shortly before his 19th birthday, future-President George H. W. Bush was commissioned as the youngest naval aviator at the time. Later, while flying a TBM with VT-51 (from USS San Jacinto), his Avenger was shot down on 2 September 1944 over the Pacific island of Chichi Jima. However, he released his payload and hit the radio tower target before being forced to bail out over water. Both of his crewmates died. He was rescued at sea by the American submarine USS Finback. He later received the Distinguished Flying Cross.