Loch Ness sighting

There was an unusual sighting reported on Loch Ness last month, but rather than a monster it was actually the seaplane Catalina.
The crew aboard Catalina called for help from the RNLI after they experienced engine issues while attempting to take off from the loch.

With the plane sitting exposed in the middle of Loch Ness and drifting, it was decided the safest way to help would be to establish a tow and move the plane to safety.

With the shelter of Urquhart Bay close by, the lifeboat connected a rope and slowly pulled the plane to safety. With a wingspan of 32m, the WWII flying boat was too wide to recover to a harbour or pontoon, so a mooring buoy was chosen as the best option.

On board the lifeboat was David Ferguson who explained the challenges of towing something as big and unusual as this: “Towing the Catalina would prove to be no easy feat. Fixing points are few and far between on such an aircraft, and the best option was underneath the tail, which barely cleared the bow of the lifeboat. Nevertheless, with some care, we managed to establish a towline.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the plane’s damaged engine and to help fly the aircraft back to Duxford, Cambridge.
uk.gofundme.com/f/misspickup

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