Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina

Warbirds in Review is brought to you by ScottsMiracle-Gro, Fagen Fighters WWII Museum, Warbirds of America, and the following media partners. NATA, the North American Trainer Association Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Tuesday, July 21, 2026 , 1 pm Imagine the North Atlantic in 1942—icy seas, relentless fog, and Allied convoys fighting their way to Britain while German U-boats waited below. Watching over them was the PBY-5A Catalina. Slow but capable of flying for hours, the Catalina hunted submarines, escorted convoys, and saved countless lives. Among them was BuNo 2459, now operated by the Collings Foundation and believed to be the oldest flying PBY Catalina in the world. Assigned to VP-73 in Iceland as Aircraft No. 9, it made history on August 20, 1942, when Lt. (jg) R.B. Hopgood and his crew attacked German submarine U-464. Their victory marked the first U-boat sunk by a PBY Catalina. Hopgood's famous radio message summed it up perfectly: "Sunk sub, open club!" More than 80 years later, BuNo 2459 continues to honor the crews who helped win the Battle of the Atlantic.