![]() By the 1989 she was working as a chartered fire bomber in Portugal for Aerocondor. In July 1988, the aircraft was flown to Spain when ASPAR was awarded an overseas firefighting contract. In this new role, CC-CNP was first given the tanker number ’65’ but later became known as ’35’. In the late 1960s Parrague’s company ASPAR diversified into the fire bombing/fighting business, which then saw CC-CNP sent to Canada to become a firebomber where it was modified with internal water tanks and drop doors located on the lower fuselage. In 1961, CG-CNP was flown to Easter Island and was used mainly to ferry freight and passengers to and from the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. had noticed a derelict Catalina called Manutara marooned on the island but he did not realise the significance of the plane at the time. Taylor had stopped over on Easter Island while flying from Australia to Chile soon after Parrague’s visit in 1951. Manutara means ‘frigate bird’ which by coincidence brings an important Catalina related Australian connection to the event. Parrague also christened the Catalina as “ Manutara II” in honour of a previous Chilean Catalina that he had flown to Easter Island in 1951. At this time the aircraft again obtained a new registration as CC-CNP. Roberto had built a company called ASPAR which used several Cats. Fortunately the sturdy and broad concrete Catalina slips have remained untouched since 1950s In the 1950s, one of the WW2 era large hangars was taken to RAAF Richmond for the C-130 Hercules operations. The main Rathmines base area has lost a large part of the atmosphere of a military base because most of the buildings, once densely packed on the peninsular north and east of the Hospital and Rosemary Row, have now been relocated or demolished. Most of the buildings had by this time been removed from the site or were adapted as community facilities. The based was finally closed in late 1960 and sold off to Lake Macquarie City Council in 1962. Rathmines was kept operational after this but was instead used as a ground training base for the new Officers’ Training School and utilised training facilities for senior non-commissioned officers, physical training instructors and national servicemen. After WW2 the RAAF used Catalina flying boats up until mid 1952 and then withdrew them from service. Passengers on those flights were awarded a certificate affording them membership of “The Secret Order of the Double Sunrise” since the aircraft was inevitably airborne for more than 24 hours.īy the end of the war Catalinas equipped 11, 20, 42, and 43 Sqns, two communications units 6 and 8 and three air-sea rescue flights 111, 112, and 113. This 5,600km Catalina flight maintained a vital mail link between Australia and England from June 1943, departing from the Swan River, Perth heavily laden with fuel and alighting at Lake Koggalla, Ceylon more than 28 hours later. After the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942, QANTAS maintained a secret non-stop air route between Perth and Ceylon. Although slow, the Catalina had tremendous endurance, and could fly very long range sorties. Aircraft departing from Rathmines conducted maritime patrols along the Australian east coast to search for roaming Japanese submarines. RAAF Catalinas more famous missions included the mining of Manila’s Harbour and being involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea. ![]() ![]() These included aerial reconnaissance, coast watch, minelaying, supplying troops, bombing and air sea rescue missions. The Catalina was a very versatile aircraft that could be adapted to a number of mission roles. ![]()
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