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40 PBYs on Lake Worth
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Aerial photograph of forty airplanes floating on Lake Worth. According to Jeff Rhodes: "On 22 November 1940, Consolidated Aircraft Chief Test Pilot Bill Wheatley contacted newspaper publisher and Fort Worth, Texas, civic booster Amon G. Carter, explaining the company had been ordered to transfer 200 PBY Catalina patrol seaplanes (37 of the aircraft can be seen in this photo) from San Diego, California, to Britain and that the crews were in immediate need of a layover point. In just eight days, Carter, with the help of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, arranged for fuel, food, lodging for the flight crews, and moorings for the aircraft in Lake Worth. To keep the mission secret, the public was told the planes were in Fort Worth to weather out a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The quick response from Carter and the Chamber of Commerce later helped convince Consolidated Aircraft to build a manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, which is still in operation and today is home to a completely different breed of Cat-- the F-35."