Los Angeles industrialist Thomas W Kendall bought 13 Catalinas for conversion into flying yachts similar to the Landdseaire conversion. In 1960, Kendall set out from London in N5593V with his own family and a photographer on board. After seeing the pyramids, they alighted off the Saudi coast on 22 March to relax on the beach, but the next morning, they were attacked and taken prisoner by a group of armed Bedouins who took them for Israeli commandos. The bullet-riddled wreck of the Catalina was still present on the beach by 2024. Photo by: David Lees / Life

That the concept of touring the world in a flying yacht might not be understood everywhere was highlighted on 23 March 1960 when the American Kendall family came under attack by armed tribesmen on this beach near the Gulf of Aqaba. The wreck can be inspected through Google Street View. Unfortunately the wing pylon has meanwhile collapsed and the tail broken off. This airframe had also starred in a 1959 movie, SOS Pacific. See the other photos. Photo by: Ken Stanford

Had just participated in film work for the 1959 movie "SOS Pacific" at Madeira, Portugal. It was damaged during the filming and was flown to Croydon for repairs. This was US Navy Catalina Bu 48397, which was converted into a luxury flying yacht in the late 1950s by a company named Catalina Ltd. (La Verne, CA). It was written off on 23 Mar 1960 when it was shot up by Bedouin tribesmen, while moored off the coast at Ras Alsheikh Hamid in the Gulf of Aqaba, Saudi Arabia. The wreck was abandoned on the shoreline, and was still there by 2024.