A CAMPAIGN to raise money to save one of the world's only airworthy Catalina flying boats which suffered an engine failure as it attempted to take off from the Loch Ness has hit its £29,400 target.
The Second World War seaplane named Miss Pick Up landed on the freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands when her starboard engine failed to re-start last week.
The PBY Catalina flying boat was returned to the shore and moored overnight with the help of RNLI Loch Ness before it was lifted out of the water by crane.
Plane Sailing, the Cambridge-based team of pilots and volunteers who operate the IWM Duxford-based plane, set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise money for the plane's damaged engine. And it has emerged that they have hit their target.
Organiser Matt Dearden said: "We can’t thank enough, everyone who’s donated to our plight to rescue Miss Pick Up from Loch Ness. The response has been overwhelming and has really buoyed our team on to continue on with the work.
"It has been absolutely incredible."
The donations have gone towards crane hire, transporting a spare engine from Duxford to the Loch Ness, boat hire and workshop facilities for engine preparation.
On Wednesday, the damaged engine was removed with another crane from Stoddart Crane Hire which Mr Dearden said "will now be stripped of all its ancillaries" over the next few days.
"These will then be transferred over to the replacement engine before it is lifted into place on the aircraft, hopefully next week," he said.
Matt Dearden posted a 'thank you' video.
"Hopefully, we will put the whole aircraft onto the loch and then we should be on our way home. We will get her back home before winter very soon."
The Second World War seaplane, which appears at up to 20 airshows a year, ran into engine trouble while attempting to take off from the loch and its owners called for help.
With the plane sitting in the middle of Loch Ness and drifting, it was decided the safest way to help would be to establish a tow and move it to safety.
After some troubleshooting, an RNLI crew hooked up a tow rope and slowly pulled the plane to safety in Urquhart Bay.
The 100-foot wingspan flying boat was too wide to bring in to a berth, so they headed for a mooring buoy as the best option.
It was finally removed from Loch Ness in dramatic scenes last week.
The 10-tonne plane was lifted from the water by a crane in a carefully planned manoeuvre.
The plane is not operated for profit and Plane Sailing's mission is to keep the aircraft flying and honour her legacy.
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat that was used in anti-submarine warfare, patrol bombing, convoy escort, search and rescue missions, and cargo transport.
It was produced for the US Navy but was also also flown by the RAF and played a vital role in the Second World War in combatting German U-boats in the Atlantic.
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