Martin Mariner PBM

Great painting. I love flying boats, and amphibians from that period. My Father, Chief/M-Sgt. William Henry York USAF Retired, was crew chief of a PBY-5A. That plane, operating out of England during WW2, was a Canadian built Catalina with USAAF markings and a RAF Coastal Command livery. It was used by the Air Force for ASR ops, and worked in conjunction with an RAF Air-Sea Rescue launch (the Thorny croft 67' Whale-back I think). The plane picked up aviators from both sides of the war. If memory serves, the rescue launch was radio call signed Eagle, while the Catalina was Albatross. I have several pictures of it including one taken by her relief crew from the life rafts as she was sinking in the far North Atlantic Ocean after ditching. He paid a fellow airman two bottle's of scotch whiskey to paint a Vargasesque reclining blond, with the name "Miss Pick Up" on the nose. I also have a picture of him and his crew squatting around a map in front of the nose art. (A typical official photographer posing of air crews at the time) Best of luck in your future endeavors.