Catalina Aircraft To Design Flying Boat in Vero Beach

Amphibious aircraft developer Catalina Aircraft is building an Engineering and Technology Center (ETC) in Vero Beach, Florida, to house design activities for its clean-sheet airplane and to provide space for other aerospace and technology start-ups. 

The ETC will feature computer resources for digital-twin development and systems engineering, a scale wind tunnel, wave tank for hydrodynamic testing, and 3D printing and materials labs. Creating the ETC will shorten development cycles for the Catalina team and its Spar amphibious airplane and help tenants with their own programs, with facilities that would be too expensive for them to build separately.

Catalina’s Spar will be certified under FAA Part 25 transport category regulations, and is designed as a multi-mission airplane. Plans call for easily switching from one mission to another, for example, aerial firefighting to transport, patrol, humanitarian support, or search and rescue, “reducing the need for multiple specialized fleets,” according to the company.

In an effort to make the Spar more attractive to civil and government operators, Catalina Aircraft will use the Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) architecture for avionics and missions systems design. This aligns the Spar design with U.S Department of War defense system acquisition strategies, based on “modular designs, clearly defined major system interfaces, and widely supported, consensus-based open standards…” the company explained. “Applying that framework to the Catalina Spar, the airframe functions as the major system platform, while mission systems, sensor payloads, and avionics—including the company's BlueDeck HUD suite—are being architected as major system components integrated through clearly documented, standards-based modular system interfaces rather than proprietary connections.”

“Adopting MOSA is a statement of intent,” said CEO Benjamin Folger. “The Catalina Spar is engineered so mission systems and payload interfaces evolve independently of the airframe, exactly what the Department of War is asking industry to deliver.”

Like the original Consolidated PBY Catalina, the twin-engine Spar is a large airplane with a land mtow of 68,500 pounds (65,500 water), a planned cruise speed of 285 knots, and roughly 3,000 nm maximum ferry range. Flight controls are fly-by-wire, and other features include bow and stern thrusters, marine gyro stabilization, a rear cargo and airdrop ramp, aerial refueling capability, and optional pressurization.