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Actress among the crowds to mark flying-boat’s arrival
 Hundreds
of visitors turned-out at Foynes port in Ireland to witness a flying-boat
splash-land after a flight from Newfoundland in Canada.
The Catalina flying-boat flew the same air corridor which seaplanes navigated
from 1935 to 1945 when Foynes was an international aviation hub for flying-boats
travelling between Britain and America.
Actress Maureen O’Hara, who starred in The Quiet Man with John Wayne,
was guest of honour as the plane touched down in recognition of her late
husband Charlie Blair who piloted the last flying-boat out of Foynes in 1945.
He made a return flight to Foynes in the late 1970s accompanied by Miss
O’Hara. After a reception they flew-on to West Cork where the couple
had a holiday home.
Captain Blair died in an air accident in the Pacific.
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Seamus Brennan also attended the
welcome party for the flight crew.
The seaplane will remain in Foynes until July 17 and will do a number
of flights over the West coast.
Margaret O’Shaughnessy from Foynes Flying-Boat Museum said: “It
is a very special occasion to have a flying boat come back into Foynes.”
A group from Foynes will travel to Newfoundland later this summer where
Foynes is twinned with the town of Botwood. |
