Company pilot Bill Wheatley, with chief engineer I.M. “Mac” Laddon as a passenger, makes the first flight of the Consolidated XP3Y-1, the forerunner to the Catalina patrol bomber/rescue aircraft, at NAS Anacostia, D.C. The “P-Boat” would be produced for more than 10 years and would become the most numerous, (3,200+ including more than 300 for the Army Air Forces) and quite possibly, the most famous flying boat ever.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
