But there’s another consideration for your particular diorama idea, Ace… The PBY, or if it was Army Air Force, an OA-10, would shut down the engines while making the rescue, since the survivor(s) will be loaded into the aircraft from either the waist-blisters (prop wash wold make it quite difficult for even an unwounded and healthy aviator to get close enough to be picked up by the crew), or the nose, and you don’t want spinning props righ above your head while you’re gettin someone into the hull there…
A sea-anchor was used to maintain station-keeping during a rescue, if needed, and that was also deployed from the nose… This USAAF OA-10 is anchored at sea off the coast New Guinea, and you can see the flight engineer is about to load the Coffman Starte in the port engine…
!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/NAVY%20BIRDS/pby_5a_SeaAnchordeployed.jpg
Hans, actually this shot is of a USN PBY-5 in the Aleutians in '42 to mid '43 as it has the white star. Also notice the snowbank on the hillside in the background. I think it is a shot from the tender, USS Casco. Sorry, Hans as I don’t want you to be misinformed.