Our first stop on this trip was the Royal Australian Air Force Association of Western Australia's Aviation Heritage Museum. It was here that my 24 to 105 lens started acting up for the last time, throwing a lot of work on to my extremely underpowered Olympus EP 1.

However it was still working here, though unfortunately a 24 mm lens on a crop body does not give you the sort of wide angle that you really need in an undercover aviation museum. Especially with an aircraft as relatively large as this Consolidated Catalina flying boat. This particular one was delivered to the United States Navy in November 1944. It was placed in storage in 1953 and sold off in 1956. By 2002 it was sitting on the side of a Texas Road being used to promote a local restaurant. After being purchased by the museum it was packed and shipped across the ocean to this, its final resting place. While it appears in immaculate condition, I doubt that it will ever be airworthy again. But it looks damn fine.

I'll go more into the Catalina's history in image 30306.

Addendum: My personal opinion is that Facebook is a sociopathic organisation that steals other peoples' intellectual property (including the images in this gallery) despite being explicitly denied permission to do so.