Historic flight of the PBY delayed

The planned airlift of a World War II-era amphibious patrol bomber on Tuesday morning was postponed.

A Chinook helicopter from the Washington Army National Guard was supposed to airlift the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum’s approximately 83-year-old PBY-5a Catalina, in the museum’s possession since 2010, from downtown Oak Harbor to its new home on Ault Field Road.

Fog at Joint Base Lewis McChord pushed the Chinook’s arrival Tuesday morning, although the weather in Oak Harbor remained clear. Spectators gathered downtown to watch the takeoff, first attempted shortly after 10 a.m. The PBY just began to lift off the ground before the flight crew and mechanical team paused the operation.

Barry Meldrum, the museum’s executive director, shared in a statement that a warning light indicating an issue with the helicopter’s grapple system turned on inside the cockpit which could not be ignored. Further, the PBY “began to level out and lift in a way that made it unsafe to proceed” when the helicopter did pick it up, the statement read.

“Safety is always the top priority, and continuing under those conditions was not an option,” Meldrum said. “The team has determined that adjustments are needed, including adding additional line length and re-centering the load, to ensure everything remains stable and secure before attempting this again.”

Despite the hiccup, at least six months of preparation had gone into planning the airlift, according to Chief Warrant Officer Four Crosby Olsen. But the question of how to move it lingered in the minds of museum officials since early 2025, Meldrum explained in an interview, long before the museum’s grand reopening in August. The PBY had not been moved for more than a decade, towed to its former location in a lot on Pioneer Way.

Airlifting the PBY initially seemed “ridiculous,” Meldrum explained, but alternatives presented their own challenges. If the PBY were to be floated on a barge, how would it be loaded and unloaded? If it were to be towed, what route could it take that could account for its size?

Care must be taken in preserving this piece of Oak Harbor’s history.

Squadrons of PBYs began flying out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in 1942, according to the museum. Equipped with wings and wheels, and sporting a rounded underbelly, the PBY is suited for land, water and sky. Win Stites, a founder of the museum, explained in an article for the October Whidbey Crosswind that he and other members won the PBY in an auction in 2010 for $6,000.

“It’s our history, and our heritage is all based around the PBY,” Meldrum said.

Mike Bobeck, now a museum board member, suggested tapping the Washington Army National Guard for assistance, Meldrum explained. Bobeck maintained his connections with the guard since working for them as a helicopter pilot, and explained that they use opportunities like this as training.

“I said, ‘Is that a real possibility?’” Meldrum recalled. “And he said, ‘You know what, it never hurts to ask.’”

The possibility of an airlift seemed to bode well when Olsen and the Washington Army National Guard conducted a test lift of the PBY in August, suspending the aircraft with a large crane to see whether it would hold. Despite what Meldrum described as the PBY’s “less than ideal” static condition, affected by external corrosion, it passed with flying colors.

“You could hear a pin drop,” Meldrum said. “It was quiet, a little bit of wind and the PBY was holding perfectly. They were expecting, you know, creaks and bolts to be flying off, and piles of rust and a bunch of other things. But surprisingly, everything seemed to be more or less intact.”

Olsen explained that while the Washington Army National Guard has not airlifted anything as old and fragile, they transport helicopters and other equipment often.

What makes airlifting the PBY difficult is working through “a lot of complex details,” Olsen said, like the fact that the airlift would not occur on a military installation and thus would require coordination with civilian authorities, the museum and the Navy. Further, the Washington Army National Guard needed the Department of Defense’s approval to move forward with the airlift.

Olsen and Meldrum confirmed the airlift will be conducted as a training assignment, to the benefit of the Washington Army National Guard and at no cost to the museum. When the PBY is eventually moved, it will be carried over the Puget Sound and over North Whidbey, a distance of about 3.4 miles to the museum’s new location.

Crew members are looking forward to when that happens.

“It’s a cool opportunity,” Olsen said. “I’ve been doing this for 18-and-a-half years and this is the first time something like this has come across for me to fly.”

Meldrum added in his statement that updates are to come regarding a new airlift timeline.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. These decisions are made carefully and intentionally to protect the crew, equipment and our community,” Meldrum added in his statement.

(Photo by David Welton) A crew from the Washington Army National Guard arrived just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday for the airlift, prior to its postponement.