Click to open image viewer. Radar, twin .50 caliber guns in a power-driven bow turret, tall tail with a taller vertical fin first seen on the PBN-1; outrigger floats from each wingtip, hinged to fold ...

Nathan Gordon stretched his flying boat's capabilities past the limit - saving 15 downed USAAF crew members amid 18 foot swells.

The Catalina, a long-range flying patrol boat developed by Consolidated Aircraft, was notable for its innovative retractable wingtip floats and impressive 4,000-mile range. It played a critical role ...

Gordon was awarded the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism" while serving as commander of a Catalina Patrol Plane that rescued 15 United States Army Fifth Air Force service members shot down in ...