The PBY-5A Catalina flying boat “Gerral’s Girl,” lovingly called “Gigi,” commands a prominent spot across the street from the PBY-Naval Air Museum in Oak Harbor, Washington. Built in 1943 by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, she was stationed on Whidbey Island, Washington, at the northern end of Puget Sound and served along the Pacific Northwest corridor as far as the Aleutian Islands, performing rescues and serving as a patrol bomber.
The Catalinas helped transform a sleepy town into an active Navy seaplane base during World War II. Today, the PBY-Naval Air Museum brings to the surface the stories of the U.S. Navy, the community of Oak Harbor, and all aircraft that were based at and flown from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island from 1942 to the present day.
