Many Oak Harbor residents drive past a covered PBY-5A Catalina on Pioneer Way, across the street from the Pacific Northwest Naval Museum, every day. Soon, that will change.

In 1945, the Navy discontinued the PBY-5A Catalina in place of the 6A. At that time, the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum’s, now called “Gerral’s Girl” after Capt. Gerral David, had a crushed fuselage by impact, and a new one was Frankensteined on, said Executive Director Barry Meldrum.

In the ‘50s, the plane went to Coast Guard Search and Rescue, where they stripped the cots and replaced them with couches and improved upon the radar technology, among other major upgrades.

“Gigi” was built in 1943 in San Diego before embarking on two tours through the Aleutian Islands attacking ships at night. Then, it became a Coast Guard Patrol Bomber, one of the first with such modification. But these changes just scratch the surface.

“It has been cannibalized,” Meldrum said, “meaning that when we received it the museum, to sustain itself, sold off some of the interior parts.”

Now the museum hopes to assemble a team of volunteers to revert the aircraft back to its World War II conditions, to eventually be protected under shelter at the new museum facility at 545 Ault Field Road.

Rehab will start the second parts come in, said Andrew Cummings, aircraft conservation and restoration lead. The first step is sealing some of the punctures to keep water out.

All the remodels from here until the beginning of next year will prepare it for the move, Meldrum said, such as arresting the rust and other ongoing problems. By moving day, they will clip the wings so it will fit on the highway.

Unlike the prior move in 2015 from the Skagit Valley College campus, where several businesses closed to make way and the PBY was shuffled down Pioneer Way in the middle of the night, the museum wants to do it this time in broad daylight. A parade, perhaps.

“Everybody can stand and watch the PBY they’ve heard so much about go down the streets,” Meldrum said.

In the new facility, the PBY will be sheltered, Meldrum said, upholding their mission of conservation and protection. People will be able to see it under proper lighting, safe from harsh weather and birds.

“It’s silly to say,” Meldrum said. “This is an aircraft that should be outside. Well, not in this condition, not for our functions.”

Cummings has spent his whole life keeping airplanes from falling apart, he said. He was stationed on NAS Whidbey in 1996 and stayed with the Navy for 21 years repairing aircraft.

“Now I’m retired, and I have nothing but time,” he said. “I thought that this was a way that I could do something to give back with my experience.”

Remodeling will take an entire team, he said.

“That’s probably our greatest detriment; we’re not a squadron,” he said. “We don’t have 150 people to do the daily upkeep on the aircraft that prevents the deterioration in the first place. So that’s near and dear to my heart.”

The PBY was used for almost anything imaginable, said retired Chief Aviation Machinist Adolph Meisch in the Pacific Northwest Naval Air Museum-produced documentary, “In Defense of Their Nation.”

“They used it as a dive bomber, they used it as a torpedo bomber,” he said. “There isn’t a word designed for it, but they had nothing else, and the seaplane base was designed for the PBY. That happened to be Oak Harbor.”

Museum visitors have told Meldrum they wouldn’t be here without the PBY, he said, as it rescued their father in combat. It’s an important and sentimental piece of Pacific Northwest history.

Andrew Cummings, PNW Naval Air Museum aircraft conservation and restoration lead, reveals the PBY’s fuselage. (Photo by Sam Fletcher)

Photo by Sam Fletcher PNW Naval Air Museum Executive Director Barry Meldrum, at left, and Andrew Cummings, PNW Naval Air Museum aircraft conservation and restoration lead, reveal the PBY’s fuselage.

Photo by Sam Fletcher The PNW Naval Air Museum’s PBY, “Gigi,” was built in 1943 in San Diego before embarking on two tours through the Aleutian Islands attacking ships at night.

Photo by Sam Fletcher The PNW Naval Air Museum’s PBY, “Gigi,” was built in 1943 in San Diego before embarking on two tours through the Aleutian Islands attacking ships at night.