The day started out blue skies, hot & sunny... ended with a storm, rain and muggy! Newcastle Harbour is a great place to be on any beautiful day especially on the day Australians celebrate "their day!" This year I was keen to see the PBY-6A Catalina doing "touch and go passes" on the harbour... and to see the guy in the fantastic little red, white & blue biplane doing his aerobatics like he was part of the aircraft!! Both pilots were brilliant in their own right. The Catalina has been lovingly and expertly restored and she was indeed beautiful to behold! During WWII the RAAF Catalina’s were used for long range maritime patrols in the defence of Australia – The RAAF purchased 168 of them and used their Catalina’s for bombing missions, mine laying and they even tried torpedo bombing. Flying Crews were trained at Rathmines Air Base on Lake Macquarie, the largest flying boat base in the southern hemisphere. The aircraft is 63 feet long, has a wingspan of 104 feet, a cruising speed of 200 km per hour and an all up weight of 34000 lbs. Its twin Pratt and Whitney engines emit a brute sound of power.
I chose to go flying in a biplane for my 60th Birthday, but didn't ask the pilot to do aerobatics because apart from believing my tummy wouldn't cope, I wanted to take photos which would have been pretty difficult in a tailspin!! Flying is one of the most awesome experiences and something everyone should aspire to somewhere along their timeline. Apart from photographing both aircraft it was a smorgasboard for street photography... heaps of people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities.. all enjoying Australia Day 2013!