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Whidbey News Times
'Gerral's Girl' greeted warmly by PBY lovers at Seaplane Base
By JUSTIN BURNETT
Whidbey News Times Staff reporter
Jul 13 2010, 3:57 PM
Aviation lovers, veterans, U.S. Navy dignitaries, former newspaper pubishers, even a state representative showed up to Simard Hall on the Seaplane Base Saturday, July 10, to permanently welcome back a PBY 5A Catalina flying boat that once called Whidbey Island home.
PBY Memorial Foundation members Will Stern and Win Stites secure the U.S. Navy flag onto a PBY flying boat while Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s commanding officer, Capt. Gerral David, speaks about the historic aircraft.
The historic aircraft, which was stationed on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in 1943, was recently purchased by the PBY Memorial Foundation and transported to the Seaplane Base. It’s to be restored and put on permanent display just outside the foundation’s museum in Simard Hall.
“I’ve only got one word, ‘awesome,’” said foundation President Win Stites, of Saturday’s dedication ceremony.
A sizable crowd turned out for the event that officially welcomed the PBY home after its 67-year absence. Speakers included Stites, the widow of the one of the aircraft’s first pilots, and base commander Capt. Gerral David.
David commended the foundation for its work to acquire the plane, as it was an effort that spanned about 12 years. It will serve as a unique attraction for the Seaplane Base and is a piece of Whidbey Island’s history, he said.
“This is truly part of the legacy that informs our future,” David said.
Norwood Cole, who died in 2000, was one of the plane’s earliest pilots. He flew the PBY in the Aleutian Island campaign of World War II. David said the families of servicemen, such as Cole’s wife Phillis, also make sacrifices and deserve special recognition.
“She is a patriot that shared her husband and son with the Navy,” David said.
The Coles’ son, Peter, retired as a commander after a 26-year career in the Navy.
Phillis Cole said her husband, along with his fellow pilots and crew, flew their missions in hostile weather and under enemy fire for the preservation of freedom, and that she was honored that their contribution was being memorialized.
“It is exciting to me and our son, Peter, to be able to honor these brave young men after all these years for service to their country,” Phillis Cole said. “May this PBY Catalina always stand as a living reminder of the sacrifices made by our flyers in World War II.”
The foundation is planning an extensive restoration project over the next few years. If it can acquire the funding, it will invest up to $150,000 into the aircraft in several project phases. While the restoration will be extensive, there are no plans to restore the PBY to flight-ready status.
The dedication ceremony was concluded when Phillis and Peter Cole broke a champagne bottle over one of the aircraft’s cleats, officially rechristening it as “Gerral’s Girl.” According to Stites, the foundation may have secured the aircraft, but Capt. David deserves much credit. He has not only made it possible for the foundation to set up its museum in Simard Hall, but he also OK’d the PBY’s return onto base property.
“Capt. David made this possible for us,” Stites said.
The foundation is looking for people to help restore the aircraft. Those interested in volunteering can leave a message at the museum by calling 360-240-9500.
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Northwest Navigator
PBY Catalina returns home permanently after 64 years
By Tony Popp
NAS Public Affairs reporter/photographer
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A sign on the nose of the PBY-5A Catalina says it all.
Members of the PBY Memorial Foundation watched their dream become reality June 25 as a WWII-era PBY Catalina seaplane was brought in to NAS Whidbey Island by Columbia Helicopters at about 9:30 a.m. Some onlookers were quite overwhelmed by the arrival on which they had worked over a decade to achieve
“We had tears in our eyes,” said Win Stites, president of the PBY Memorial Foundation and former VP-91 Catalina aircrew member. “We felt it was worth all the effort.”
The foundation worked with Columbia Helicopters, who used one of their Chinook helicopters to deliver the PBY-5A to Oak Harbor. The seaplane was hoisted and flown from a location near the Skagit Valley Airport to the parking lot next to the PBY Memorial Foundation Museum in Simard Hall.
With the exception of the wingtips that were removed and delivered to the Seaplane Base by ground transport last month, the seaplane remains in its original condition, just as it was when it was in service at NAS Whidbey Island in the early 1940’s. With the wingtips removed, the aircraft weighs approximately 18,000 pounds.
The transport flight took about 30 minutes, and covered 18 nautical miles. Tending lines as the fuselage was lowered down to the parking lot were Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Michael Feliciano, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 2nd Class Brian Deroulet and Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class John Spencer.
This project was organized by the PBY Memorial Foundation and coordinated with Capt. Gerral David, Commanding Officer of NAS Whidbey Island.
“I want to thank the Navy for where we are now,” said Stites, “and military veterans and supporters like Eileen Brown (retired NAS Whidbey base newspaper “Crosswind” editor), the late Dorothy Neil (long-time Oak Harbor resident, author and city historian) and the skippers of the base who had the vision, especially Capt. David, who opened it (space in Simard hall) up to us.”
Stites and his wife Donna had no idea a visit to NAS Whidbey Island to see his “old base” in the summer of 1998 would change their lives and that of many PBY fans forever. They had come to Oak Harbor as a gift from their children when they lived in Yakima, Wash., and dropped by Simard Hall to visit the base newspaper “Crosswind” office. By Sept. 22, 1998, 14 people had come together for lunch, set the wheels in motion and the rest is history.
By late 1999, the group became a foundation and then received permanent status as a non-profit organization in 2004. From 14 members, the group now numbers about 300. For many years, Stites had a standing column in Crosswind entitled “Cat Tales,” depicting harrowing and humorous stories along with his own original artwork of the PBY.
“We were naïve at the time; we thought it would be easy to get a PBY,” said Stites, who now makes his home in Coupeville. “Talking to former crewmen, many of whom are gone now, we wanted to get a Catalina in memory of crews who served at NAS Whidbey.”
Nostalgically speaking, customers of the main Navy Exchange are also walking in history as that structure was once a PBY hangar. With the hard work of so many, there is something tangible today to remind young and old alike of the role of the PBY Catalina in WWII, the history it played at NAS Whidbey Island and the sacrifice and honor of those who flew it.
Official dedication of the static aircraft display is planned for 1 p.m. on July 10 at the PBY Memorial Foundation on the Seaplane Base.
© 2010 Sound Publishing, Inc.
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Colette Weeks | Skagit Valley Herald
June 26, 2010
A World War II-era PBY-5A seaplane
was picked up from a field near Skagit County Regional Airport
Friday morning and flown to the PBY Memorial Foundation museum
display at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor.
It was great news for the foundation,
which has been trying to get a plane since its founding in 1998.
The museum has various items connected to WWII, Korea and Vietnam
war history, but no aircraft, until now.
Everything had been too expensive or
too far away, according to foundation Chairman Richard Rezabek.
This particular seaplane, which happened to be at Skagit Regional
Airport, came available about four months ago, and the foundation
was able to purchase it for the right price—about $60,000,
he said.
Dan Sweet of Columbia Helicopters Inc.
of Portland, Ore., said the seaplane weighed 16,800 pounds. Using
a Chinook helicopter, pilots were able to fly at speeds up to
60 knots during transport, he said.
Some light rain fell as they approached
Oak Harbor, but the seaplane “flew” every bit as well
today as it did years ago, he said.
“Our helicopter pilots had been
slightly concerned it might want to wander as it flew, but it
stayed straight and steady all the way to Oak Harbor. In our
estimation, the process could not have gone any better,”
Sweet said.
The PBY Memorial Foundation was established
in 1998 to preserve NAS Whidbey aviation history, the PBY Catalina
and the Seaplane Base at Oak Harbor, according to its website.
But that mission was expanded. The foundation now aims to preserve
all aircraft that were based and flown from NAS Whidbey since
1942.
The PBY-5A is the amphibious version
of the PBY Catalina and served missions including search and
rescue and as antisubmarine warcraft.
WANT TO GO?
A luncheon and auction will be held at 11:30 a.m. July 9 at the
NAS Whidbey Chief Petty Officer’s Club. For information
and reservations, call 360-240-9500. The plane will be dedicated
on July 10.
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Whidbey
News Times
Whidbey PBY returns to the Seaplane Base
By JUSTIN BURNETT
Whidbey News Times Staff reporter
Jul 01 2010
 After a 67-year absence, a PBY 5A Catalina seaplane
can once again call Whidbey Island Naval Air Station home.
The flying boat, which was stationed
in Oak Harbor in 1945, arrived at the Seaplane Base Friday, June
25, from a location near Skagit County Airport.
The local nonprofit group PBY Memorial
Foundation purchased the plane earlier this year from Spring
Valley Bank in Skagit County, ending a 12-year search for one
of the historic aircraft.
Seeing it land safe and sound at a parking
lot near Simard Hall was for many foundation members, especially
those who served on PBYs during World War II, a deeply personal
and meaningful occasion, said Richard Rezabek, chair of the foundation’s
board of directors.
“We had one of our members kissing
the airplane,” Rezabek said.
Adding to the emotional homecoming was
the perilous journey the aircraft undertook to get to Whidbey
Island. The PBY was not airworthy and had to be transported with
a Chinook heavy-lift helicopter. Thankfully, the transport of
the 16,500 pound seaplane went swimmingly, Rezabek said.
“It was a precision maneuver,”
he said.
 The
flight from Skagit County to Whidbey only took only about 25
minutes but the transport was complicated. A special harness
had to be designed for the aircraft and foundation members had
to arrange for the temporary closure of Highway 20 and another
small farm road in Skagit County.
The entire transport was also a closely
guarded secret, Rezabek said. The foundation had specific instructions
from the Navy not to publicize the airplanes arrival. According
to NAS spokesperson Kimberly Martin, Capt. Gerral David, the
commanding officer of the base, gave specific instructions to
keep the arrival under wraps. The plane was going to be dropped
off on base property and he couldn’t allow the swarms of
people that showed up to see another PBY come in at Oak Harbor
Marina in 2009, Martin said.
According to Jim Siggens, a foundation
member who played a key role in the aircraft’s purchase,
this PBY has an interesting history. Built and then stationed
on Whidbey Island in 1943, the seaplane went on to serve two
tours in the Aleutian Islands campaign of WWII being flown by
Lt. j.g. Norwood Cole.
Where it went and what it’s done
since is still somewhat of a mystery as the plane’s logbook
was confiscated, and lost, by the U.S. Marshal’s office
about 15 years ago. Apparently, one of the previous owners had
been using the aircraft to run drugs.
 Although
the plane was also confiscated in the bust, it ended up in the
hands of an oil company that used it in the Gulf of Mexico. It
was later damaged in an accident in Montana and from there it
was disassembled and trucked to Skagit County, where it has remained
for the past 10 years.
“It’s a convoluted situation
is what it is,” Siggens said.
But whatever its past, the foundation
owns the aircraft free and clear. Over the next few years, the
group hopes to spend about $150,000 on a three-phase restoration.
The first phase will be largely cosmetic work, such as new paint,
tires and the installation of side gunner blisters and a nose
piece.
Phase two will see the restoration of
the cockpit, while phase three would be total refurbishment.
How long it takes could depend largely on the number of volunteers
the foundation gets to help do the work, Rezabek said.
People interested in working on the plane
can leave a message at the PBY Memorial Foundation museum by
calling 240-9500.
A dedication for the plane will be held
Saturday, July 10, at 1 p.m. at Simard Hall on the Seaplane Base.
Speakers will include base commander Capt. Gerral David; Norwood
Cole’s wife, Phyllis Cole; and several foundation members.
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Whidbey
News Times
PBY Seaplane coming back to Oak Harbor for permanent exhibit
By JENNY MANNING
Whidbey News
Times Reporter
 Apr 11 2010
More than 11 years, 136 newsletters and
282 members later, the PBY Memorial Foundation finally achieved
its goal of “Project Seaplane.”
Or as the bright yellow fundraising buttons
proclaim, “The cat came back.” The Catalina PBY, that
is.
On Wednesday, the foundation purchased
a PBY after nearly a dozen years of fundraising and searching
for an available aquatic aircraft. The plane will be transported
to Oak Harbor later this year for a permanent static display
on the Seaplane Base.
Many Whidbey residents saw it in action
last summer when one landed in Crescent Harbor for the first
time in decades.
The historic planes may be one of the
most versatile to ever grace the skies, said PBY Memorial Foundation
member Jim Siggens. The Marine Corps rigged bombs under the PBY’s
wings, converting the seaplanes into bombers for the battle of
Guadalcanal, and the U.S. Army Air Corps used the PBY to ferry
“some of the top brass” from island to island before
the Seebees constructed airstrips.
What began as a small, passionate group
of 14 members who met at the CPO Club for lunch on Sept. 22,
1998 to discuss a PBY purchase, blossomed into the PBY Memorial
Foundation Association and later became the PBY Memorial Foundation,
a nonprofit organization, in 1999.
Since then the group has faced its fair
share of ups and downs.
There’s been four planes within
reach, and all but this last one got away, Siggens said.
They’d been short on funds, out-bid
and even hit with international adversity over a PBY in Canada.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arose
and “this was it,” he said. “We were way short.
There was $8,600 in the bank and we needed to raise $50,000 in
less than a week.”
A bank-owned PBY, near Skagit County
Airport, was up for sale, he said. It seemed like this could
be the foundation’s last shot to acquire one.
The membership met on a Tuesday, he recalled,
and in 50 hours the they gathered $50,000.
“Some of it was outright; some of
it was loans,” Siggens said. “ All of it is from the
membership. I am so proud of this group.”
The private loans will need to be repaid,
so the foundation has a lot of fundraising left to do, but the
payoff is worth it, he said.
“We’re no longer a lunch bunch,”
joked Win Stites, a fellow founding member.
“This day would not have happened
without Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Captain Gerral David,”
Siggens said. “God bless him; he’s bent over backwards
to restore historical importance on base.”
Since the commissioning of the Seaplane
Base on Sept. 21, 1942, which took place on the steps of Building
12—the current home of the PBY Command Display —Whidbey
Island Naval Air Station has undergone major changes to accommodate
the rapid evolution of technology. The goal of the PBY Memorial
Foundation is to preserve the history that made today’s
operations possible.
“The PBY is to this base as the
cannon is to Fort Casey,” said Dolores Meisch, wife of founding
Foundation member Adoph Meisch.
Stites anticipates the plane’s arrival
sometime in May and the group is already planning a dedication
ceremony for June.
The plane is no longer airworthy, so
one option is to airlift it to the Seaplane Base via helicopter,
Siggens said.
The static display will be located on
the former PBY tarmac on the right-hand side of Maui Avenue near
the Seaplane Base gate.
Whidbey News Times Reporter Jenny Manning
can be reached at jmanning@whidbeynewstimes.com.
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HaroldNet
Oak Harbor museum hoping for historic seaplane
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Kristi O'Harran, Herald Columnist
The wartime exhibits in Oak Harbor that
would fit inside a typical three-bedroom rambler may be lean
of space.
But they’re huge of heart.
Veterans, spouses and those interested
in military history are fashioning a place to reminisce about
combat from World War II through Iraq.
When you walk into the historic building
on the Naval Station Whidbey seaplane base, there is a USO-type
canteen. A Nat King Cole tune played on a 1940 Wurlitzer jukebox.
Joyce Tighe greeted visitors at the front
door like cherished uncles at Thanksgiving. The widow’s
husband, Don Tighe, was a radioman in Korea and Vietnam.
She guided folks past a replica of the
USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii.
“Come into World War II,” she
beckoned.
Tighe knew all the wonders at the PBY
Memorial Foundation Historical Display in Oak Harbor.
The display features information on the
PBY, an amphibian aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy, Army and Coast
Guard in the 1940s. It was known as “Dumbo,” and served
as a rescue craft, anti-submarine weapon, minelayer and transport
for people and materials.
The first PBY came to the seaplane base
on Whidbey Island in 1942, piloted by Lt. J.A. Morrison. He made
several sweeps before landing because there were too many logs
in the harbor.
There is a picture at the Oak Harbor
display of that first crew and pilot. Visitors can also see rooms
dedicated to eras in history, a PBY nose turret and wing, flight
goggles, vintage crew clothing, aircraft models, a flight simulator,
library and gift shop.
Visitors can even take some time to listen
to oral histories on tape.
It seemed odd there was no PBY hanging
from the rafters or tethered in the parking lot. Acquiring a
PBY is all part of a dream for the foundation.
The hold up?
They need about $250,000 to make a purchase.
Members hope to surround a plane in a memorial hangar with dioramas,
crew documentaries, a video theater, lecture hall and children’s
center.
To become a member, mail $25 to PBY Memorial
Foundation, Box 941, Oak Harbor, WA, 98277-0941.
In celebration of the 67th anniversary
of the seaplane base, a PBY flew in Friday and folks may see
it today and Thursday. Drop by the seaplane base during daylight
hours. It might leave at noon Friday, but the time isn’t
firm, said Richard Rezabek, who served in the Navy for 33 years
and is chairman of the board of directors for the PBY group.
Rezabek said he enjoys putting exhibits
together at the display on Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor.
If you make a visit, any of the volunteers
will be fine guides. You’ll hear personal stories from warm
hearts that admire those who served our country and the equipment
they favored.
“I think it’s important to
keep the history of every airplane alive,” Tighe said. “People
who flew the PBY are getting fewer and fewer.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451,
oharran@heraldnet.com
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Oct 06 2009, 2:02 PM
The PBY Catalina fly-in to the Naval
Air Station Whidbey Island Seaplane Base on Friday, Sept. 18,
was a thrill to many who had never seen such an aircraft fly
except in movies or on the History Channel. This plane and the
crews that served her are the stuff of history.
The PBY Memorial Foundation required
a great deal of effort to bring this plane to Whidbey Island.
With gratitude the PBYMF thanks the U.S. Navy Command at Naval
Air Station Whidbey Island for all of the help and cooperation
given by the Navy as well as naval contractors who made this
fly-in possible.
Of special note is the herculean effort
given by the firefighters of Oak Harbor and NAS Whidbey. Their
contributions were many, including site preparation, displays
of equipment, wash-down of the aircraft (salt water corrodes
aluminum), locational and advertising signage and a great deal
more.
Our local firefighters volunteer to put
their health and lives on the line to protect us and the things
we value. Many people do not think about them until they need
them … and then, they really need them!
We hated to see the PBY leave, but it
has places to go and things to do while the fire season continues.
We hope to see it back here soon.
The firefighters will not be leaving,
and we can thank God for that. They are such an invisible (usually)
part of our community that we often take them for granted.
The PBYMF and the City of Oak Harbor
owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
Jim Siggens
Oak Harbor
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