The Consolidated PB2Y"Coronado"

Consolidated PB2Y"Coranado"

The Consolidated XPB2Y-1 made its maden flight on December 17, 1937, It was the largest flying boat in the U.S. Navy and was also the first to be conceived as a "flagship" aircraft, i.e. the one that would carry the Admiral in command of the Aircraft Scouting Force.The production PB2Y-2s were not ordered until 1929, and had a larger hull than the prototype, which increased the gross weight from 49,754 pounds to 60,441 pounds.

The principal production version was the PBY2Y-3, there were 210 built, with ten going to the British as Coronado Mk. I. The British aircraft were used as transatlantic transports, and over 30 of the U.S. Navy's PB2Ys were converted to 44 passenger transports.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 115 ft. 0 in.
Length: 79 ft. 3 in.
Height: 27 ft. 6 in.
Gross Weight: 68,000 lbs.
Empty Weight: 41,031 lbs.
Engine: Four 1,200 h.p. Pratt&Whitney R1830-88 Twin Wasps. Radial engines.Many PB2Y-3s were later retrofitted with R1830-92engines and provisions for rocket assisted take-off, and were redesignated as PB2Y-5.Several were used as 22-stretcher hospital planes and evacuated many troops from Iwo Jima and the Phillippines during WWII. All Coronado's were retired by the end of 1945 and nearly all were scraped

PERFORMANCE
Top speed: 240 mph.
Cruising speed: 140 mph.
Ferry Range: 3,1205 miles, or 1,380 miles with 8000 lbs of payload.
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, San Diego, California