Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer

I was assistant crew chief on PB4Y-2K, a radio controlled aircraft VU-3 out of Ream Field south of San Diego in 1954. Crew chief was a man named Zigler. Rode around the traffic pattern with aircraft flown by radio control (with safety Pilots). Had one trip to White Sands, N.M. with 12 on board, all enlisted men. Great aircraft with very few maintenance issues.

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I WAS A STARBOARD WAIST GUNNER IN THE PB4Y-2 DURING THE WAR. I DIDN'T SEE COMBAT ONLY PATROLED THE SOUTHERN COASTLINE SEARCHING FOR SUBS. A GREAT PLANE AND GREAT EXPERIENCE. I JOINED AT 17, AM NOW 83. FOR THOSE INTERESTED, PUERTO RICO MANUFACTURES REPLICAS OF THIS PLANE. A CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE WAS KIND ENOUGH TO ORDER ME ONE FOR MY 80th BIRTHDAY. I LOOK AT IT OFTEN, AND BRINGS BACK SO MANY WONDERFUL MEMORIES.

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Hundreds of these came back to the states from the Pacific during 1947-8. Fasron 111 at Miramar did a minimum of work to enable them to go on to Texas where they were restored. They came back to Fasron 111 like new. We checked everything over, put in lastest TO's and flight tested them. Ferry crews flew them back to Kanehoe. I suppose they were dispatched to other Pacific locations.

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I enjoyed my multi-engine training in the P4Y-2 at NAS Hutchinson,Kansas
A total of 162 hours which included cross country and instrument training flights. Sure was a nice big bird.

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My uncle flew on PBY4 Privateer " Little Joe" in 1945 out of IWO. His commander was Merton T Ebright- co pilot was Lawson, John Chambers. My uncle is 89 and we would like to hear from anyone with ties to patrol squadron 108.
thanks, Chuck & Janice Pearson, Libertyville, IL.

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My late dad was a crew member (right waist) on PB4-Y2 in the south pacific in 1944 PATRICK HERNY FARRY if any one knew what unit he was with please let me know. He LOVE THAT AIRPLANE and love to be around them as a ground mashaller E.A.A.

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Anyone have the title of a recent and most interesting new book concerning air crew lost in training withn the U.S. during WWII

The author, a 'wreck hunter' by avocation,has found many B-24 wrecks where the tails had obviously separated prior to impact. Among his statements was that the landing gear upon contact with the ground , created vibrations, harmonics of which ultimately caused deteroriation of the fuselage structure supporting the twin tailed empennage. The knowledge he obtained was obviously derived from military crash analysis studies.

Consolidated~ and the U.S.A.A.C.~ must, then, have known of the problem. Reasonably, the order for the single tail variant as ordered by the U.S. Navy must have taken this design weakness of the dual rudder version into consideration when they specified a single rudder version~

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I hesitate to comment out of respect to the honorable men referrenced above, serving our country. However, I did have the privilage to fly all but 2 of the remaining PB4Y-2's for 8 years out of Greybull, WY, fighting fires. This was, indeed, a fine aircraft. We modified these aircraft with the primary modification being the replacement of the engines to R2600-35. This modification really made this aircraft perform!

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My Dad, CDR. James W. Newhall, flew Privateers out of NAS Agana Guam starting in August 1953, with the primary mission of weather reconnaissance. He was the skipper of VJ-1 squadron (later VW-3), and was lost with his crew of eight on 12-16-53 while chasing Typhoon Doris in aircraft BuNo 59716. The squadron had a 50 year reunion in Oct 2003, including a nice memorial service for their squadron mates, which my wife and I attended. Any info about this squadron or personnel would be much appreciated.

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I have an old picture of my grandfather. He took a pic of the plane. His name was Richard Hinzpeter. If you know anything about him, please respond. Thanks.

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Went through Hutchinson, commissioned with wings. Joined the last navy squadron (VP-24)to fly these birds. Great aircraft, reliable and easy to fly. We flew a few of these to the French in Vietnam (stayed at the Majestic hotel in Saigon, a beautiful city in those days), also deployed to Agentia, NewFoundland and made frequent trips to Thule, Greenland. We converted to P2V-6 aircraft and were given the mission of mining and ASW.

Cheers to fellow "Batmen"

Jim Wise

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I flew with skipper John Muldrow VPB-108 until he was killed on low level raid on Marcus Island. May 1945. I finished the war with another pilot Riffe. I wrote a book called "Crew One," about my service available at Merriam Press Bennington Vermont or on Amazon.com. Christine Stulik, I flew one mission with your Dad training the nav and radioman in the use of both the radar and Loran gear. A handful of us are still around and on email.

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Fascinating airplane. I used to take rides on one when I was stationed at the Coast Guard Air Station, San Francisco, in 1955. The interior of the fuselage was large and roomy, like a single-wide mobile home. Great view from the tail gunner's position, replaced by a large, clear plexiglass bubble with a simple metal bicycle seat in it. The catwalk between the bomb bays was about a foot wide. It was possible to see down through the slight openings directly to the Pacific Ocean some thousands of feet below. Training flights were a little unnerving when the pilot feathered one of the props to get the feel of the airplane functioning on only three engines. But all of it was thrilling.

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MY DAD WAS PILOT /CO-PILOT OF LA CHERIE. #489, HE ALSO
FLEW SEVERAL OTHERS. BUT THIS WAS THE BEST ONE. HE FLEW
A DIFFERENT PALNE BACK HOME, BUT CRASH LANDED AT BARBERS POINT. ALL SURVIVED

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My Dad flew as a starboard waist gunner aboard PB4Y 489 "La Cherie", assigned to squadron 105, flying from Tinian. He was awarded three air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross while assigned to this aircraft.

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I took my multy engine training on this plane in Hutichison, Kansas in 1953 prior to getting my Navy wings.

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My Uncle Robert Bostrom was on a flight in a PB4Y-2 out of Miami 7 /18 /1945 for a training flight that never came back.
Was it typical to have as many as 15 people on a flight like that for training?

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My dad V.H. "Vince" Wesselmann was commander of a FB4Y2 in '44-'45 Pacific Theater. I have his log books and some wonderful silk maps that he was issued. His stories about low level Tsushima Strait patrols and the '45 Okinawa Typhoon (140 knot winds according to the plane's avionics - they had the bird chained down at the time) were riveting. His crew chief was the comedian Georgie Jessel's brother and there are some notes about his anxiety during the hop to Tinian with a "sub-par" navigator. He loved that plane.

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I was second radioman in crew 8 VP 772. We flew patrols from Iwokuni across Korea in the Yellow Sea area and north out of Atami Japan along the Russian coast. Our crew with Lt. Hurley as PIC flew flare drops (Lamplighter)missions. Being the smallest on in the crew I carried the flares from the bomb bay to the afterstation crew who were in charge of dropping the flares.

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Just found out that my Dad, Harvey Dexheimer of Wisonsin, and his buddy, Merthan Ellis of Idaho, flew on Privateers out of Guam in 1944 and 45 as radio operators and top gunners. They were better known as Dex and Lucky. Merthan's last flight overshot the runway and crashed into the baseball backstop. He was slightly injured. Does anyone remember flying with them?

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