PBY5

During the 60s and 70s I had occassion to crew on a PBY based at Yarena Cocha Peru. It was used for hauling mixed passengers and freight so I guess it could be called a shirttail propliner. This type had some inherent problems.
The crank bearings would pit and disintegrate in the very humid climate resulting in sudden engine failure. This lead to the discovery that single engine level flight wasn't possable as we experienced some unschedualed landings.
Neither was a water takeoff possable at full gross.
We used to dream of changing to R2600s for which there was an stc. We evan considered the possability of using R2000s which should have been pretty simple. I have always wondered how well the R2600s would have worked. Does anyone out there have any experience?
Lee McKinney