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Whidbey News Times Island Heritage Network studies PBY history By EILEEN BROWN Whidbey News Times Columnist Sep 20 2008 The Island Heritage Network will tour the PBY Memorial Foundation facility in Building 12 on the Seaplane Base starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24. The mission of the Island County Heritage Network is to encourage and support individuals, organizations and groups that collect and preserve the unique and vibrant history of Island County. Membership is open to individuals, organizations and institutions associated with or actively involved in the cultivation, preservation and conservation of Island County heritage and history. Meetings are open to the public. PBY Chairman Rick Rezabek said progress made at the new site is largely thanks to the Navy; Whidbey Moving and Storage who picked up display cases and tables donated by Paul Allen in Seattle; city and Navy firefighters who came in after hours to help them move from the old gas station; the Whidbey Cruzers; and the VQ-1 World Watchers, led by PBY member Navy Chief Craig Olson, who washed the windows. Did you know the PBY Catalina was the first airplane flown from the naval air station during World War II? The PBY Memorial Foundation was organized to document the impact of this aircraft and to educate the people of Oak Harbor about its history. It was from the steps of Building 12, the original Administration building, that Capt. Cyril Simard read the orders on commissioning day, Sept. 21, 1942, thus setting the watch. Original aircraft parts, such as a Pratt and Whitney 1830 engine, a wing tip float and the skeleton of a rear half of a wing section are in the foyer. A few steps up is a canteen with tables and chairs, a 1940 Wurlitzer jukebox and a 1930 Sparton radio. The business office combines the ship’s store and library. The Island Heritage Association will present a program, including a 30-minute DVD, “In Defense of Our Nation,” take questions and give visitors a complete tour. Displays are planned for individual rooms marked WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired Gunner’s Mate Larry Blake saw service in Korea. He started a Challenge Coin collection by donating his own coin inscribed with, “But for freedom, not for freedom alone.” NAS commanding officer Capt. Gerral David added his own coin to several on display. For information, call Ron or Ruth Hancock at 675-4086 or email randr.hancock@verizon.net. Anyone visiting the PBY office should have their driver’s license, proof of insurance and registration handy to show the sentry at the gate. Visit www.islandhistory.org listed under “links.” Whidbey News Times Columnist Eileen Brown can be reached at lifeonwhidbey@yahoo.com or 360-675-6611. NAS Whidbey Island Northwest Navigator Navy mechanics volunteer to restore PBY Catalina engine By Tony Popp NAS Public Affairs reporter Thursday, July 24, 2008 How did an old PBY Catalina engine found in Alabama end up at the Fleet Readiness Center Northwest Support Equipment Division? It came by way of the PBY Memorial Foundation in Oak Harbor. “Alan Hodgkins, a local aircraft restorer, had found the engine on eBay for us back in October 2006,” said Win Stites, president of the foundation. “It was located in Alabama and owned by a man and wife who run a motorcycle business.” The foundation paid $1,100 for the cutaway engine. The engine had been on public display since April 2007 at the PBY Memorial Foundation’s office at the old downtown Oak Harbor gas station on Pioneer Way until the doors closed in December 2007 because of planned development of the site. Stites described the cutaway training aid as a Pratt and Whitney 1830-92 engine, saying it was probably used by the Naval Air Technical Training Center Memphis to teach new Navy mechanics during WWII. In anticipation of the PBY Memorial Foundation re-opening its historical display at a new location later this summer on the Seaplane Base, the engine is getting a “makeover” by FRC Navy volunteers. “It was a pile of rust when we got it,” said Aviation Support Equipment Technician (AS) 2nd Class Alberto Leonardomercedes. AS1 Samnang Loeum, AS2 Terry Carmeans, AS2 Michael Harless and Leonardomercedes have been working on the engine since last November as time permits. “We have done lots of sanding, rust removal, corrosion control, priming and painting,” said Leonardomercedes. Even the roll-away stand it sits on will be sanded, primed and repainted. These Sailors are doing their part to preserve air station history. “It is gratifying to see the interest today’s Sailors have in WWII aviation history,” said Stites. “I truly feel that this history will be preserved long after our generation is gone as exemplified by the dedication of these Sailors.” The first Patrol Bomber Consolidated Aircraft landed at the Seaplane Base in December 1942. PBY aircrews trained here to fly in the Aleutian Islands campaign, part of Alaska, during World War II. A small Japanese force had occupied the islands to prevent possible U.S. attack across the Northern Pacific. Likewise, the U.S. feared the islands would be used as Japanese bases to launch aerial assaults along the West Coast. Stites, himself a VP-91 PBY veteran, once flew from Crescent Harbor in 1945. Having NAS Whidbey’s Sailors get involved in the PBY Catalina makes him proud. “I feel that NAS Whidbey’s aviation history is in good hands,” said Stites. “With this kind of involvement by our current Navy, this historical memorial can be perpetually maintained and some day gain national recognition.” Photo by Tony Popp page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. ................

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