In Gregorian year 1987, an Alaskan Army National Guard Sikorsky CH-54B Tahre (aka Skycrane) was used to recover a World War Two era (built in 1943) OA-10 PBY Catalina, which had been abandoned on Dago Lake in 1947, and sold as scrap for a whopping $58!
The Canadian Vickers built Catalina was abandoned due to engine problems. While rotting near Dago Lake it got the nickname Queen of Dago Lake, while Dago Lake got the nickname PBY Lake. In the 1980s, the members of the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum decided to fund a recovery operation with the help of the Army National Guard. The original hope was to restore the flying boat to operational condition.
Two moves by helicopter were made in 1984 and 1987.
The first try failed after a strap broke, forcing the Catalina to be abandoned again, this time on Lake Clark Pass.
The photos in this article are from the 1987 move.
Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum video from 2020, revealing that the Catalina is still languishing. About seven minutes into the video you can see it is actually being used as an awning for benches for tourists:
Click here to listen to Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum audio narrative of the sage of Queen of Dago Lake.
Read more about Queen of Dago Lake: PBY Recovery
How a World War II seaplane earned the title ‘Queen of Dago Lake’
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