Pan Am Clippers

I've been reading about the Pan Am Clippers.

The Panama Canal shortened the route to China by 8,000 miles. In 1937, Juan Trippe, President of Pan American Airways, reduced the journey from over three weeks to six days, seven hours, and twenty minutes. The great Pan Am Clippers; the Sikorsky S42's, the M-130's and the B-314's, were probably the most romantic planes ever built.

Passenger service would not begin until Trippe received the first Martin M-130, which had a range of 3,200 miles and seating for 36 passengers. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines, the China Clipper began the first commercial Transpacific flight on November 23, 1935, landing in Honolulu. Five days later it arrived in Manila, via Midway, Wake, and Guam.

And on February 23, 1939, the grandest embodiment of the flying boats, the Boeing 314, made its inaugural flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. The California Clipper had plush seating for 74 (sleeping berths for 36), a separate dining room where passengers were served full-course meals, separate men's and women's bathrooms, a deluxe compartment for VIPs, dressing rooms, and a dedicated lounge.

Unfortunately, this glorious era didn't last long. On December 7, 1941 the Pacific became a war zone. The flying boats were converted into troop and cargo transports, serving the Allies well in both campaigns.

The one thing I was really surprised about was that there were 28 clippers that flew for Pan AM, I thought there were perhaps only a dozen or so. Boy, was I wrong.

I have a few Clipper covers and think I'll try and get a cover that was flown on each of them using U.S. postage. I've a lot of work to do getting the routes traveled but looks like this may be a fun project.

Aircraft Nbr Clipper Name Delivered Disposition
--------------- -------- ------------------ --------- ---------------
SIKORSKY S-40 NC-80V American Clipper 10/01/31 Scrapped.
SIKORSKY S-40 NC-81V Caribbean Clipper 11/01/31 Scrapped.
SIKORSKY S-40 NC-752V Southern Clipper 08/01/32 Scrapped.
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-822M Brazilian Clipper/Columbia Clipper 05/01/34 Scrapped July 15, 1946
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-823M West Indies Clipper 12/01/35 Sank at Antilla, Cuba August 7, 1944
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-824M Unnamed Clipper 05/01/35 Crashed, Port of Spain, Trinidad - Dec. 20, 1935
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-15373(A) Jamaica Clipper 07/01/35 Scrapped July 15, 1946
MARTIN M-130 NC-14716 China Clipper 10/01/35 Crashed, Port of Spain,Trinidad on Jan 8, 1945
MARTIN M-130 NC-14715 Philippine Clipper 11/01/35 Crashed on Jan 21, 1943
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-15374(A) Antilles Clipper 12/01/35 Scrapped July 15, 1946
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-15375(A) Brazilian Clipper 02/01/36 Scrapped
July 15, 1946
MARTIN M-130 NC-14714 Hawaiian Clipper 03/01/36 Lost over Pacific on July 29, 1938
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-15376(A) Dominican Clipper 04/01/36 Lost in San Juan Harbor on Oct 3, 1941
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-16734(B) Pan American Clipper II / Samoan Clipper 09/01/36 Lost at Pago Pago, Samoa on Jan 11,1938
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-16735(B) Bermuda Clipper / Alaska Clipper / Hong Kong Clipper II 09/01/36 Sunk by Japanese in Hong Kong Harbor on Dec 8, 1941
SIKORSKY S-42 NC-16736(B) Pan American Clipper III 04/20/37
Destroyed in Manos, Brazil on July 27, 1943
BOEING B-314 NC-18601 Honolulu Clipper 01/01/39 Sunk in Pacific on Nov 14, 1945
BOEING B-314 NC-18602 California Clipper 01/01/39 Scrapped in 1950.
BOEING B-314 NC-18603 Yankee Clipper 02/01/39 Crashed near
Lisbon,Portugal on Feb 22, 1943
BOEING B-314 NC-18604 Atlantic Clipper 03/01/39 Salvaged for parts.
BOEING B-314 NC-18605 Dixie Clipper 04/01/39 Sold to World Airways scrapped in 1950
BOEING B-314 NC-18606 American Clipper 06/01/39 Scrapped in 1950.
BOEING B-314 NC-18607(A) Unnamed Clipper / G-AGBZ Bristol 04/01/41 Sold to
World Airways, in 1948, Unknown Disposition
BOEING B-314 NC-18608(A) Unnamed Clipper / G-AGCA Berwick 04/01/41 Sold to World Airways, 1948, Unknown Disposition
BOEING B-314 NC-18610(A) Unnamed Clipper / G-AGCB Bangor 04/01/41 Sold to World Airways, 1948, Unknown Disposition
BOEING B-314 NC-18609(A) Pacific Clipper / California Clipper 05/01/41 Damaged in a storm and salvaged for parts.
BOEING B-314 NC-18611(A) Anzac Clipper 06/01/41 Destroyed in Baltimore, Maryland 1951.
BOEING B-314 NC-18612(A) Capetown Clipper 08/01/41 Sunk at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct 14, 1947

Clipper Anzac was sold to the U.S. Navy in 1942. Sold to American International Airways after the War in 1947 and then to World Airways in 1948; sold again in 1951 and destroyed in Baltimore, Maryland in late 1951.

I'm not sure yet if any of the unnamed clippers survived and ended in a museum someplace.

Art

Nice list Art. Now lets see what we can find on stamps.

Here is the MARTIN M-130 NC-14716 on a 1985 Palau issue, Scott 94.

I enjoyed this immensely, Art! Thanks for sharing.

A couple of questions ...

1) Why were the flights so long? Were the planes slow or was there significant downtime for maintenance? At cruising speed of ~150mph (a quick Internet search for specs gave me that info) it would only take 60 hours flight time + stops for fuel & supplies.

2) Is this the same plane featured in the Indiana Jones movies?

Here's a link to PBS' website containing specs. Perhaps they made a show on the clippers?

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthes...clipper.html

Brian

Sounds lilke a challenging collection. Should keep you busy. I think I may have a clipper cover or two at home
will look it up when I get there this evening. Will post them if I can find them.
Bob

Art: thanks for list of clippers. Here is another thread that pertains to the topic.

https://goscf.com/t/12032&SearchTerms=over+water

Note picture of Philippine Clipper.

BeeSee: great image response to Art's list!

Rileysan,

Why did the trip take so long? Well, my best guesses are;
1) No radar
2) Poor radio communications
3) Weather forecast sucked
4) Stop overs for fuel, food & drink
5) Flight crew needed sleep
6) I'm sure maintenance was a factor as well

Art

Here is another link for those interested in "flying boats"

https://goscf.com/t/9355&whichpage=...ying%20boats

art,
As promised, I was digging around and came across a small stash of First Flight China Clipper covers:

Items I found:
Guam to Hong Kong: April 27, 1937
Guam to Macao: April 27, 1937 (amcao rcvd April 28, 1937
San Francisco to Macao: April 21, 1937
San Francisco to Hong Kong: April 21, 1937
Macao to Manila: May 28, 1937
Macao to Guam: April 28, 1937
Macao to San Francisco: April 28, 1937 (arrived in SF May 4, 1937)
Manila to Macao: April 28, 1937
Manila to Hong Kong: April 28, 1937
Honolulu to Macao: April 23, 1937
Honolulu to Hong Kong: April 23, 1937
Hong Kong to Manila: April 28, 1937

Might be more someplace.. Will keep looking.
Bob

I found this old thread while doing a search of the keyword "Transpacific".

For those interested in the short history of Transpacific airmail prior to World War II, I would recommend the book "Pan American's Pacific Pioneers - A Pictorial History of Pan Am's Pacific First Flights 1935-1941" by John E. Krupnick. It contains a lot of information on the survey flights and first flights.

If there is interest here, I am willing to post covers in my collection.

j_rogers, I, for one, would love to see your clipper covers.

2c

You needed a lot of slack in the schedule because the planes were subject to delays: headwinds mattered more, etc.

Also, you could be forgiven for arriving at any old time-of-day, but your passengers wanted departures to be at a convenient time-of-day, which also added some slack to the schedule.

/2c

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

This is a cover carried on the Final Inspection Trip of the Pan American Philippine Clipper from San Francisco to Hong Kong. Juan Trippe, the founder and President of Pan Am organized the trip. This was just prior to the opening of the regular passenger service.

The cover is addressed to Amon G. Carter, the publisher of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

The cover is autographed by the pilot, Captain J. H. Tilton. The reverse contains autographs of VIPs accompanying the flight.