PBY Catalina Cutaway

This exhibit includes the fuselage of a PBY damaged in an accident at Naval Air Station Pensacola during World War II and displayed on the base for decades afterward.  It provides a close-up look at the interior layout of the venerable flying boat and the various positions where crewmen worked to enable the airplane to fly its multi-hour missions.  A healthy supply of pencils was always a necessity on board the airplane; when rivets popped in the hull during hard landings, the crew jammed pencils into the holes until permanent repairs were made.