To minimize disturbances to traffic flow and local business, a midnight move is being planned this month to wheel a World War II–era aircraft through the heart of downtown Oak Harbor.

The move of the PBY-5A Catalina will take place over two days, Jan. 24-25, with the bulk of the seaplane’s journey happening in the wee hours of the morning before the city wakes up.

If all goes according to plan, the PBY Catalina will arrive at about 5 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, at its destination across Pioneer Way from the PBY-Naval Air Museum.

The aircraft is traveling about two miles from the Seaplane Base at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, where it’s rested near the museum’s former location since June of 2010, when it was transported by helicopter from Skagit County Airport.

This time, the 15,000-pound aircraft is being towed by a farm tractor.

“Hey, we’re in Oak Harbor,” said George Love, a board member with the PBY Memorial Foundation and retired navy chief petty officer who’s supervising the move.

The PBY-Naval Air Museum moved into the building that once housed Whidbey Furniture in June, leaving behind the iconic aircraft the museum is named after.

Wil Shellenberger, president of the PBY Memorial Foundation, secured a lease to display the aircraft outdoors at the former site of Boyer Chevrolet and worked out the necessary arrangements with the City of Oak Harbor, Navy and Skagit Valley College, among others, to ensure safe passage during the move.

Love, who works at the museum, said the seaplane is the constant topic of conversation among guests and can’t wait for its arrival.

The aircraft was built in 1943 and was once based at the Seaplane Base in Oak Harbor.

“It should help out our museum a lot,” Love said. “There’s a lot of people who want to touch and feel and see that airplane. It’s a piece of history. It used to be based here. It will probably increase the number of people who visit the museum.”

Getting the PBY downtown will involve a “multi-organizational effort” with support coming from many sources, Shellenberger said.

The first step will be the removal of the PBY’s outer wings to allow it to fit through narrow spaces. Faber Crane of Mount Vernon is donating its services along with 10 volunteers who will work together to remove the wings Saturday, Jan. 10, Shellenberger said.

The Oak Harbor Fire Department is allowing the wings to rest on flatbed trucks until the move.

The first move will take place the afternoon of Jan. 24, when the airplane will be towed through the lower campus of Skagit Valley College until just before it reaches Pioneer Way.

There, the PBY will wait until the move resumes at midnight.

The route travels from Pioneer Way, along Bayshore Drive and back to Pioneer.

“The whole move will be very slow,” Shellenberger said. “Probably the fastest the plane will move at any one time will be 3 or 4 miles per hour.”

Tight squeezes are anticipated that will require utility companies’ help to avoid overhead lines and tree branches. Puget Sound Energy and Frontier Communications are providing support.

The tallest point of the airplane is 20 feet. With outer wings removed, the width is reduced from 104 feet to 42.

The fuselage is 64 feet in length.

One tractor will tow the airplane while another tractor will follow, attached by straps, to provide braking when needed.

“We’re talking about a 15,000-pound aircraft,” Love said. “There are a couple of slopes we’ve got to go down.”

About five or six vehicles will be a part of the caravan to provide support and transport other heavy artifacts.

Also making the trip will be a 6,500-pound anchor and two 750-pound bombs, Love said.

A fence is being erected to encase the plane and other artifacts. A gate will allow visitors in.

That is, after their safe arrival.

“Right now, we don’t know what the weather is going to be like,” Love said. “We might be doing this with it pouring down or snow. It’s got to be done. When we get all the people involved, you can’t change the schedule at the last minute.”

The PBY Memorial Foundation’s mission is to preserve all aircraft that have been based and flown from NAS Whidbey from 1942 to the present.

The foundation’s long-term goal is to purchase property and build a hangar-style museum in Oak Harbor.

But for now, it just wants to ensure one airplane’s safe passage through downtown.

“Everything’s on track,” Shellenberger said. “The big event is getting the wings off. We also have to finish the fencing. All of the other pieces appear to be in place.”