The plane was developed by the US company Consolidated Aircraft in Buffalo, State of New York – the designers name was Isaac M. Laddon – and the plane was produced from 1936-45.  The plane was a refined version of Consolidated’s first generation-plane, a ’flying boat’.
PBY was a USA Military abbreviation for Patrol Bomber - the Y denoted Consolidated, the company, and Catalina is the name of an Island in the Pacific off of Los Angeles, California.

During WWII the Allied used PBY Catalinas to escort convoys, to track and fight German submarines and to transport cargo. The plane was also part of the military campain against Japan – where some Catalinas were painted pitch black not to be spotted during night operations; these planes were dubbed ’Black Cats’.

A total of 3.305 PBY Catalinas were built: 2.661 in USA, 620 in Canada and – officially - 24 in the USSR, which for some years had a license-agreement with Consolidated.

Following WWII a number of countries – Denmark included – bought Catalinas. Denmark acquired six planes i 1947. One of these planes later was later stationed in Greenland where it, among other assignments, was used in connection with a mapping project.

PBY Catalinas were slow flyers – they did not go much faster than 200 kilometer per hour – but they were notorious for their endurance and were able to travel more than 5.000 kilometer without having to refuel.
The plane could land on water as well as on land.

For a very long period after WWII PBY Catalinas were also used as so-called ’water bombers’ when figting forest fires.