This is great if the link works.

www.nxtbook.com/fx/media/ooyala/index.php?w=640&h=360&embedCode=l5cnRrbjoBGoU3i9mNk2WnlSwfvifrlA#ooid=l5cnRrbjoBGoU3i9mNk2WnlSwfvifrlA

Enjoy!!

Worked for me!

Didja know there was a heap of these based on the Swan River during the great unpleasantness of the 1940's?

The yanks operated a bunch near the University, while the RAAF [and Qantas?] were based nearby.
Typically, our blokes had no spares - and no tools, so there was a lot of scrounging, bartering and trading.

Local folklore has it that many parts came from the local "midnight spares" dealership.

One secret unit flew from Perth to Ceylon non stop, seeing 2 sunrises while flying there. [carrying mail and VIP's]

They carried so much fuel, that they had to jury rig dump valves out of plumbing fittings so they could rapidly off load fuel if an engine failed - as on one engine they would glide like a brick.

stephen

Post WW II the international air line industry was built on the back of surplus aircraft such as the Sunderlands flying out of Sydney Harbour, Lake Macquarie, I believe Brisbane and Bowen.

My Dad bought one of the old Sunderland Flying Boats that was no longer airworthy from Brisbane and was having it towed to the Broadwater on the Gold Coast for the purpose of turning it into a floating restaurant. We are talking 1951, so it shows what a very forward thinker he was.

Unfortunately the Sunderland also proved to be unseaworthy as well and sank during rough weather off the Southport Bar while trying to tow it in.

Another more successful post war entrepreneur is Keith Theile who was an Australian Spitfire pilot in the English/European theatre of war. He built the Spit Marina at Middle Harbour Sydney, ran it for some years and can you believe it, sold it for about $750,000.

I think he is still kicking but now blind. He had a lovely Arends 33 yacht aboard which I was privileged to sup several beers and engage in fascinating conversation with Keith on many topics. He is legend and of course the yacht's name was "Spitfire".

The flying boats flew out of Gladstone as well. There is a supposedly prestige council sub division of land there called Catalina Heights. It has magnificent views of the harbour and particularly good views down the smoke stacks of QAL (Queensland Alumina Limited). At the auction it sold out at record prices and I walked out of the auction room stunned that previously assumed sane people could lose their sanity in a moment of monetary egotism.

An unpublished statistic is that Gladstone has something like 19 times the national cancer rate. I would suggest that residents of Catalina Estate, Gladstone would have multiple times that rate of cancer.

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sn said..
Worked for me!


One secret unit flew from Perth to Ceylon non stop, seeing 2 sunrises while flying there. [carrying mail and VIP's]

They carried so much fuel, that they had to jury rig dump valves out of plumbing fittings so they could rapidly off load fuel if an engine failed - as on one engine they would glide like a brick.

stephen

They became famous globally, although right mow I can't recall their name.

Double Sunrise Service

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_Sunrise

The Catalina's are now somewhere off Rotto, scuttled due to the lend lease contracts requiring outright purchase or destruction, shortly after WW2 was over.


stephen

I believe it is why we have so many jelly fish in the Swan, they are imported from Singapore (in Catalina balast water) and they have no natural predator here. Not sure if it is a legend!

Might be urban myth - Catalina's wouldn't intentionally carry extra ballast, unless they had a leaky bilge that picked up a few stray jellyfish during take off and landing.

I think it more likely that they were introduced by commercial shipping dumping ballast water in or near Freo.

That is how sea-lice arrived here years ago.