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China Clipper
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Aviation
Video |
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Product Description
Format: DVD
Run Time: 60 minutes
The Pan Am China Clippers pioneered travel to mysterious and exotic locales in the Pacific, while offering unrivaled luxury that one could only dream of today. Watch actual footage of the 5 star in flight service and accommodations on the China Clipper. Gourmet meals were prepared fresh in flight, and served on bone china, with crystal and sterling silver flatware. The large crew attended to every need a passenger might have on this first class way to travel. Watch archival footage of the wealthy travelers as they vacation in Hawaii, Midway, Wake, Guam, Manila and Hong Kong. Pan Am spared no expense to make sure this was a vacation of a lifetime.
The journey began on October 21, 1931, when Mrs. Herbert Hoover with the help of Juan Trippe, Pan Am’s President, christens the American Clipper. This flying boat was a Sikorsky S-40. Watch as Charles Lindberg, technical advisor to Pan Am, flies this plane on its inaugural flight. See Sikorsky and Lindberg seated together discussing plans for the next plane they intend to build that could fly oceanic routes.
See archival footage of this new plane called the Sikorsky S-42. It could fly 150 miles per hour and was powered by 4 Pratt and Whitney Hornet engines. This plane could approximately accommodate 38 passengers, mail and cargo for about 1200 miles. This plane broke 8 world records. One record it broke was for the highest altitude an amphibious plane has ever flown. This plane was great for Caribbean and South American flights. In April of 1935, the legendary Captain Edwin C. Musick, with first officer Ron Sullivan, flew a modified S-42 and began the first in a series of survey flights of Pan Am’s Pacific bases. Watch the pomp and circumstance as Sikorsky is about to fly the historic mail route from San Francisco to Manila. See Post Master James Farley hand a letter from President Roosevelt to The President of the Philippines to Captain Musick. Watch as 125,000 revelers watch as the plane takes off, flies under Bay Bridge, over the Golden Gate and then on to Hawaii. Watch footage of this journey as they land in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam. Then on Nov 19th 1935 China Clipper landed in Manila bay.
At the same time the Sikorsky was building the S-42, Pan Am signed a contract with the Glen L Martin Company of Baltimore Maryland to build 3 transoceanic seaplanes at a cost of $417,000 each. Martin engineers designed the M-130. It could fly 3,000 miles with a few passengers, or 4,000 with mail only. The wingspan of the M-130 was 130 feet long. The hull was made of aluminum alloyed construction, with 4 watertight bulk heads. Watch as this massive 51,000 pound plane is assembled. The M-130 had superior maintenance features with doors in the wing, so a small man could go in the wing and inspect. It was powered by 4 Pratt and Whitney R1830 engines with constant speed propellers with speed breaks. Its surface ceiling was 17,000 feet. This plane could fly from San Francisco to Hawaii with a maximum of 8 passengers with mail and cargo.
In order for Pan Am to complete its conquest of the Pacific, they had to set up luxurious accommodations in Hawaii, Midway, Wake, Guam, Manila and eventually Hong Kong. In May 1935, the steamship North Haven with 74 construction men and 44 technicians sailed to Wake and Guam to build 2 prefabricated 45 room hotels. Entire cities were built for flight crews and permanent party personnel. Watch actual footage of these accommodations being built.
In February 1936 Pan Am asked 4 aircraft manufacturers to bid on a 4 engine aircraft capable of flying the pacific. Douglas was too busy. Consolidated and Sikorsky’s designs were rejected. Pan Am accepted Boeings design which was the brainchild of Wellwood Beal. Beal took the wings from the experimental XB15 and added a large hull with double deck construction. On July 31st 1936 a contract was signed between Pan Am and Boeing for 6 M-314 airplanes at a price of $618,908 each. Watch as Eddy Allen, test pilot for Boeing, checks on the right R2600 engine. This plane had a range of 3500 miles and could go 150 miles per hour. It was called the “Queen Mary” of the skies. After a prolonged delay into the Boeing fleet, on Jan 26th 1939, The Civil Aeronautics Authority granted Pan Am a certificate for commercial service.
In January 1939, the Golden Gate International Exposition opened on Treasure Island. Pan Am moved the China Clippers base from Alameda to Treasure Island and were ready for transoceanic flight. Watch footage of the vacationers on the maiden voyage in flight, and vacationing on the islands of Hawaii, Midway, Wake, Guam, Manila and Hong Kong.
Watch footage of Sikorsky’s rejected plane, the VS-44. It was powered by four 1200 horse power Pratt and Whitney R1830 engines. It could go 160 mph, and about 3800 miles. The VS44 flew for Avalon Air Transport from Long Beach Harbor to Catalina Island. Sikorsky had plans for a plane that could fly 5000 miles, the AX224 and the AX 225. These planes designs were to be powered by 6 engines that would accommodate Pan Am’s request for a transoceanic aircraft. Juan Trippe rejected these designs because he heard about planes that would change commercial aviation forever. The planes were the Boeing Stratoliner, the Douglas DC4E and The Lockhead Constellation. The VS-44 was Sikorsky’s last sea plane.
On Dec 7th 1941, the China Clippers stopped flying to the Pacific Island bases because of World War II. The Japanese bombed and destroyed a China Clipper in the Hong Kong Bay, and damaged another at Wake Island. These beautiful planes were now painted a dull grey. Watch as Pan Am shifts focus and begins to train the Army and Navy flight crews with their revolutionary knowledge of multi engine planes, radio communication, navigation, and meteorology.
The Golden Age of Aviation is over, but the legacy of the China Clipper lives on. |
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