WITH eyes skyward and smiling, 1000 Catalina enthusiasts gathered on the shores of Lake Macquarie to witness the first trip since 1981 of a Catalina to a former home of the flying boats.
Secretive Catalina flying missions launched from Rathmines in World War II caused significant delays to the Japanese assault on Darwin and put all involved into the history books.
Rathmines Catalina Flying Club organised a fitting welcome for the craft which it bought two years ago, as it circled the former RAAF base at Rathmines yesterday on its way to Sydney for further restoration.
"It's not just the plane, it's what the plane represents to the region," Catalina festival organiser Mike Usher said.
The Catalina completed several circuits over Rathmines base, causing rapture on shore as it touched the surface of the lake before taking off again.
"It put on a show and there were cheers, claps, shouts and screams, it was an absolute magic day," Mr Usher said.
"She'll now be converted to her WWII glory and then we'll start pressure for a museum and hangar."
It will go to Bankstown, where it will be modified before returning to its new home on Lake Macquarie.
The plane is the second working Catalina in Australia, but the only one that can operate from land and water. The Catalina has passed through 12 countries, refuelling at each stop, since leaving Portugal last month.
It uses 400 litres of fuel an hour and it has cost at least $350,000 so far to restore and bring to Australia.
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