PBY-5A Catalina

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Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
pby-5a.png
PBY-5A Catalina
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This page is about the American bomber PBY-5A Catalina. For other uses, see PBY-5 (Family).

Description

GarageImage PBY-5A Catalina.jpg


The PBY-5A Catalina is a rank I American bomber with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/RB) and 2.0 (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

General info

Flight Performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed
(km/h at 2,135 m)
Max altitude
(meters)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(meters/second)
Take-off run
(meters)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
259 249 4420 31.0 31.9 2.6 2.6 364
Upgraded
Max Speed
(km/h at 2,135 m)
Max altitude
(meters)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(meters/second)
Take-off run
(meters)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
310 282 4420 29.1 30.0 8.7 5.1 364

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear
X X X X
Limits
Wing-break speed
(km/h)
Gear limit
(km/h)
Combat flaps
(km/h)
Max Static G
+ -
520 ~3 ~3
Optimal velocities
Ailerons
(km/h)
Rudder
(km/h)
Elevators
(km/h)
Radiator
(km/h)
< 220 < 220 < 230 > 312
Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude 100% Engine power WEP Engine power
1,886 m 1,050 hp 1,491 hp

Survivability and armour

Armour plates

  • 9.5 mm steel pilot seats
  • 6.35 mm steel behind tail gunner
  • 6.35 mm and 4.7 mm steel plates inside the structural pylon

Critical component protection

  • 2 self-sealing fuel tanks in the wings

Armaments

Suspended armament

The PBY-5A Catalina can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

  • 16 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (1,600 lb total)
  • 4 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
  • 4 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (4,000 lb total)
  • 2 x Mk.13 torpedoes
  • 2 x Mk.13/44 torpedoes

Defensive armament

The PBY-5A Catalina is defended by:

  • 1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, 2 x dorsal turrets (400 rpg = 800 total)
  • 1 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, ventral turret (500 rpg)
  • 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose turret (1,000 rpg)

Usage in battles

Although the PBY-5a Catalina is slow and clunky, it offers a heavy payload that is sure to be a game changer if used properly. It also has a very good defensive armament for its tier, which can occasionally be a saviour against an enemy fighter.

The plane is quite unmanouevrable, and its wings are very weak, being able to snap just by turning just a little too tight at higher speeds in a realistic battle. Unlike its predecessor, this version has landing gear, allowing it to land on airfields as well as in water, allowing it to repair and respawn at airfields in Realistic Mode without belly landing, and enabling it to capture bases in Airfield Domination mode in Arcade Battles.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer Pitch Radiator Supercharger Turbocharger
Oil Water Type
Not controllable Controllable
Auto control available
Not controllable
Not auto controlled
Controllable
Not auto controlled
Combined Not controllable
1 gear
Not controllable

Modules

Tier Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
I Fuselage repair Radiator Turret 7 mm MBC-5
II Compressor Airframe New 7 mm MGs (turret) LTC-5
III Wings repair Engine Turret 12 mm Improved torpedo
IV Engine injection Cover New 12 mm MGs (turret) LBC-5

The bomb load upgrades allow an increase in total bomb load, from 1,600 lb through 2,000 lb to 4,000 lb so they are a priority, especially since the bigger bombs also allow destroying ships or tanks.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good bomb load
  • Good defensive weaponry.
  • Can land on airfields compared to other flying boats.
  • Can land on water.

Cons:

  • Very slow, not a plane for the impatient.
  • Humble engine power and bad rate of climb.
  • Poor energy retention.
  • Susceptible to ripping wings.
  • Poor downward facing armament.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === Encyclopedia Info ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

External links


USA bombers
Dive  SB2U-2 · SB2U-3 · SBD-3 · SB2C-1C · SB2C-4
Torpedo  TBD-1 · PBY-5 Catalina · PBY-5A Catalina · TBF-1C · BTD-1
Medium  B-10B · B-18A · B-34 · PV-2D · B-25J-1 · B-25J-20 · A-26C-45 · A-26C-45DT · B-26B
Heavy  B-17E · B-17E/L · B-17G-60-VE · PB4Y-2 · B-24D-25-CO · B-29A-BN
Hydroplanes  OS2U-1 · OS2U-3 · PBM-1 "Mariner" · PBM-3 "Mariner"