Oak Harbor, WA – To minimize disturbances to traffic flow and local business, a midnight move is being planned this month to wheel a World War II–era aircraft through the heart of downtown Oak Harbor.
The move of the PBY-5A Catalina will take place over two days, Jan. 24-25, with the bulk of the seaplane’s journey happening in the wee hours of the morning before the city wakes up.
If all goes according to plan, the PBY Catalina will arrive at about 5 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, at its destination across Pioneer Way from the PBY-Naval Air Museum.
The aircraft is traveling about two miles from the Seaplane Base at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, where it’s rested near the museum’s former location since June of 2010, when it was transported by helicopter from Skagit County Airport.
This time, the 15,000-pound aircraft is being towed by a farm tractor.
“Hey, we’re in Oak Harbor,” said George Love, a board member with the PBY Memorial Foundation and retired navy chief petty officer who’s supervising the move.
The PBY-Naval Air Museum moved into the building that once housed Whidbey Furniture in June, leaving behind the iconic aircraft the museum is named after.
Wil Shellenberger, president of the PBY Memorial Foundation, secured a lease to display the aircraft outdoors at the former site of Boyer Chevrolet and worked out the necessary arrangements with the City of Oak Harbor, Navy and Skagit Valley College, among others, to ensure safe passage during the move.
Love, who works at the museum, said the seaplane is the constant topic of conversation among guests and can’t wait for its arrival.
The aircraft was built in 1943 and was once based at the Seaplane Base in Oak Harbor.
“It should help out our museum a lot,” Love said. “There’s a lot of people who want to touch and feel and see that airplane. It’s a piece of history. It used to be based here. It will probably increase the number of people who visit the museum.”
Getting the PBY downtown will involve a “multi-organizational effort” with support coming from many sources, Shellenberger said.
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