Quote:
Originally Posted by lynx42
To many of our heritage items are snuck out.
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Same here. Two years ago the only flying Catalina in the Netherlands was sold to - you guessed it - the USA.
The association had run into technical and financial problems which eventually led to them having to sell it. Sadly an export permit was granted by the government. One of the reasons which was given was that it wasn't a Catalina which was operated by the Netherlands Armed Forces. At the same time the Dutch government intervened in and funded some art deals. I guess it all boils down to what one defines as "cultural heritage".
Oh well, the Catalina is in very good hands now and under transformation to her orginal configuration - see
http://americanaeroservices.com/pby5...459grphc2.html