John Hambleton, Cornelius Vanderbilt “C. V.” Whitney, Anthony Fokker, and other friends, led and persuaded by Juan Terry Trippe, an ex-naval officer and pilot who has made a survey flight to Florida and across to Cuba, put up $300,000 and form the Aviation Corporation of America (ACA) on June 2, 1927. Among those subscribing capitalization are William A. Rockefeller, Seymour H. Knox, Sherman Fairchild, Grover Loening, William H. Vanderbilt, W. Averill Harriman, Edward O. McDonnell, and John Hay Whitney.
The organization becomes one of three involved in an effort to establish international air service southward from Florida. After appointing Andre Priester, a Fokker associate, as chief of operations and engineering, Trippe and Hambleton persuade Cuban President Gerardo Machado to grant ACA a monopoly on landing rights to outside (i. e., U. S.) airlines.
Meanwhile, on the day of the New York City ticker-tape parade for returning transatlantic aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, Trippe, who has watched the event from the luxurious Union Club, finds a way into a private party at the Commodore Hotel honoring “The Lone Eagle.” Meeting Lindbergh, the ex-naval flyer urges the young hero to hire a lawyer to sort through the flood of employment and endorsement offers he is receiving.
With the Cuban concession in hand, Trippe and his associates enter into discussions to convince the other two potential American entrants to join with them in forming a single infant flag line in which none of the parties would hold total control and all would share the risk. Thus, Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean Airways of Reed Chambers and Richard Hoyt, would join with Richard Bevier and John K. Montgomery’s Pan American Airways and Trippe’s Southern Air Lines in backing Montgomery’s carrier. The latter was originally formed by Army Air Corps officers Henry “Hap” Arnold and Carl Spaatz and has won Foreign Air Mail Route (FAM) No. 4 from Key West to Havana. Negotiations continue.
Meanwhile, the emerging new airline faces an immediate problem. According to the terms of the Pan American Airways airmail grant, it must demonstrate its ability to fly a regular schedule over a designated route by October 19. The route chosen is Key West to Havana and failure to make the flight will result in forfeiture of the company’s $25,000 deposit.
Key West businessman and civic leader Malcolm Meacham, owner of much of the north end of the island, leases airport space to Trippe for $1 per year, but the inaugural aircraft, two Fokker F-VIIa/3ms ordered on August 19, cannot be delivered to Miami before the end of September. Even then, prepositioning to Key West may not be possible, as that city’s Meacham Field is incomplete.
On October 13, the board of directors appropriates $18,000 for a hangar and $10,000 for runway construction; Key West native Floyd Whalton is hired as the company’s first mechanic. The two trimotors are delivered on September 30 and christened General Machado (named for Cuba’s president) and General New (named for Harry New, U. S. Postmaster General).
At Key West, Pan American Airways representative J. E. Whitbeck learns on October 18 that a float-equipped Fairchild FC-2 belonging to West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX), en route from New York to Barahona in the Dominican Republic, has stopped at Miami to fix an oil leak. Whitbeck quickly asks the careful pilot, Cy Caldwell, if he will fly 7 sacks of Key West mail (13,000 letters), plus another 15,000 just in by train, to Havana under contract to Pan Am. Caldwell, who will have to stop at Havana en route to the Republic, agrees. He reaches Key West at dusk and accepts Whitbeck’s payment of $145.50.
At 8:05 a. m. on October 19, La Nina, piloted by Caldwell and carrying its 251-lb. Pan Am payload, departs Key West. One hour and 10 minutes later, she arrives at Havana. FAM-4 is at least temporarily secure and the prospects for Trippe’s airline brighten greatly. Conversely, Caldwell inadvertently dooms his own employer to a future takeover.
During the next 10 days, the Meacham airfield becomes sufficiently serviceable to allow Pan Am’s two Fokkers to fly in from Miami. Due to inclement weather, breakfast ceremonies marking the official inauguration of FAM-4 and the company’s first regularly scheduled flight are held in a Key West hotel, La Concha. From the little one-hangar field on the island at the end of the Florida Keys, the inaugural Fokker, piloted by Hugh Wells with Edwin C. Musick as navigator and John Johansen as engineer, lifts off for Havana with 772 pounds of mail at 8:25 a. m. on October 28.
An hour and 20 minutes later, the Dutch-built aircraft lands at the Cuban capital, where it is met by President Gerardo Machado, who rechristens it General Machado. A foot of rain falls on Havana overnight delaying the Fokker’s return; Musick and Wells change seats for the flight back to Key West on the morning of October 29. Landing at noon, the aircraft picks up another load and returns to Cuba before sundown.
With an eye toward the possibility of competition with SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.), an expanding German-controlled airline based in Colombia, the paper Sociedad Anonima Colombo-Americano de Aviacion, S. A. is founded on November 27. A total of 19,496 pounds of U. S. and 877 pounds of Cuban mail are transported in November.
The first Sikorsky S-36 is delivered on December 7. Mail poundage rises to 26,513 U. S. and 1,492 Cuban in December. On December 31, the ledgers show income to date of $29,575.49 and a net loss of $1,712.57. For the year, Pan Am is first American airline to operate a permanent international air service, the first to operate landplanes over water on regularly scheduled flights, and the first to operate multiengine aircraft permanently in scheduled transportation.
Daily mail flights continue largely without incident throughout the fall and winter. In January 1928, Charles A. Lindbergh, remembering Juan Trippe’s advice the previous summer, becomes the company’s “technical advisor” for a modest $10,000 annual retainer and stock options. On January 16, passenger services are inaugurated to and from Havana; the four intrepid travelers mark the true beginning of what will become the world’s premier international passenger air transport system. Unsuccessful, the S-36 is returned to Sikorsky in February.
Robert H. Fatt becomes the third PAA pilot on May 21. After an F-VIIa/3m checkout ride and two roundtrips to Havana as Musick’s copilot, Fatt is promoted to captain. On May 29, the FAM-4 mail contract, at $2 per mile, is made permanent. After a year of talk, the parties involved in merger discussions finally reach closure. Two days later, on May 31, under terms of the Foreign Air Mail Act of March 8, FAM Routes Nos. 5 and 6 are advertised.
On June 4, Juan Trippe offers his only competitor for FAM-6, Roscoe Dunten, West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) operations director who is in New York seeking fiscal backing, 7,000 shares of PAA stock, worth $100,000, for his operation. Orders are placed for 12 Fokker F-10A trimotors on June 20.
On June 23, the Aviation Corporation of the Americas—a slight change of working title away from that of Trippe’s original company— is incorporated under Delaware state law. Ownership is divided between the groups of Trippe/Hambleton/Whitney (40%), Chambers/Hoyt (40%) and Montgomery (20%). Four days later, the new holding company, with Richard Hoyt as chairman, purchases the airline, route, and equipment assets of the merger partners, accepts capitalization of $500,000, and formerly establishes Pan American Airways (PAA) as its operating subsidiary.
Shareholding is increased, as aviation interests purchase many $15 shares; share value will rise to $89 at the time of the October stock market crash. During the Great Depression, when banks do not make loans and indeed, until a Lehmann Brothers stock underwriting in 1945, all but a few fees and fares of the airline’s backing will be supplied by airmail subsidy, wealthy friends, and colleagues. Trippe and Lindbergh lobby new Postmaster General Walter Fogler Brown concerning the FAM routes.
On July 14, the Post Office grants PAA another pair of $2-per-mile mail contracts (FAM-5 and FAM-6). Meanwhile, the two Fokker F-VIIa/3ms continue their daily flights to Havana. Due to the public’s fear of flying, filling the eight seats on each flight is often difficult. At Miami, a company advertising campaign runs: “Fly with Us to Havana and You Can Bathe in Bacardi Rum Four Hours From Now!” Somewhat less interested in enticing the Prohibition-tired elite, air crews simply visit Cuban bars and dare American tourists to fly with them back to Florida.
Dunten and Trippe reopen merger discussions for West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) on August 7; the PAA CEO now offers 5,008 shares of company stock (worth $75,120) for the Dominican carrier. On August 15, the General Machado, piloted by Robert Fatt, turns off course and becomes lost. The General New, sent to find her sister, can locate nothing. Having run out of gas, the General Machado, meanwhile, sets down in the Gulf of Mexico near the tanker SS American Legionnaire and sinks (one dead).
The firm of Doremus & Co. is hired to blunt adverse publicity and to provide the company with professional public relations. The fleet now comprises two Fairchild FC-2s and one Fokker F-VIIa/3m. The first Sikorsky S-38A is delivered on August 20; it costs $31,500. An unnamed replacement F-VIIa/3m arrives on August 31, along with a Loen-ing C-2 Air Yacht. A hurricane destroys the West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) headquarters at Santo Domingo on September 12 and grounds La Nina.
An operating terminus, as well as FAM-4, is moved from Key West to Miami on September 15, where mail can be sent to and received from the north via Pitcairn Aviation’s mail service. Incidentally, the move also doubles the mileage of the FAM-4 route—and the income from it. The same day, as negotiations with West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) continue, the flagship of the Dominican line, the Santa Maria, is turned over; the onetime rival for FAM-6 now has no aircraft. On September 16, half interest is purchased in Peruvian Airways, S. A.
On October 16, West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) shareholders vote to sell their company to PAA. A fourth mail route, FAM-7, is awarded to PAA on October 24. With work on the new airfield at 36th Street being completed, the General New is transferred to a base there on October 29 and it begins return Havana flights.
The sister soldiers on from Key West until December 3, when service from that inaugural facility is terminated. Meanwhile at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on October 29, the company’s new Loening C-2 Air Yacht is lost in a crash. In Miami two days later, the first production Sikorsky S-38A amphibian is placed in service on the Havana run. PAA, on November 28, officially purchases WIAX, completing its first significant takeover of another air carrier. Aside from the elimination of a competitor and the gain of a few aircraft, Trippe’s greatest gain is chief pilot Basil Rowe.
On November 28, all of the major Peruvian air rights earlier acquired by the U. S. agricultural support firm Huff-Daland Dusters are purchased. On December 21, the South American subsidiary Chilean Airways, S. A. is founded; although it will not operate like the Peruvian Airways, S. A. arrangement, it serves notice to the larger W. R. Grace Corporation that Pan Am seeks entrance to its “preserve” on the west coast of the southern continent. After taking stock of its gain, the carrier officially dissolves West Indian Aerial Express, S. A. (WIAX) on December 22.
Two more S-38s enter service on December 30, while half interest in Chilean Airways, S. A. is officially acquired on December 31, the same day upon which the first two Fokker F-10As are received. During the year, President Trippe and Imperial Airways, Ltd. Chairman George Woods-Humphrey begin a multiyear correspondence on a variety of issues, including the possibility of transatlantic services.
Enplanements total 1,184 and 345,725 pounds of mail are carried, resulting in a U. S. government mail subsidy of $160,000. Total miles flown are 118,868.
This year the carrier is the first American airline to use radio communications, to carry emergency lifesaving equipment, to use multiple flight crews, to develop an airport and airways traffic control system, and the first to order and purchase aircraft built to its own specification, i. e., the S-38B. Incidentally, Andre Priester, upon seeing the operating manual of Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH), orders a copy for Pan Am— the first adopted by any U. S. airline.
The carrier’s second Loening C-2 Air Yacht is lost in a crash at San Jose, Costa Rica, on January 1, 1929. Total route mileage is 261 and on January 2, the same day FAM-8 to Mexico City is advertised, flights begin over FAM-7 from Miami to Nassau. The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-11 is delivered on January 4; it is specially equipped with five wing gas tanks that will hold 565 gallons of fuel for flights between Havana and Santiago de Cuba. A week later, on January 9, passengers and airmail are initially delivered over FAM-6 from Miami to San Juan on the inaugural flight by the company’s first Fokker F-10A, the Christopher Columbus.
On January 23, the entire stock, routes, aircraft, and other assets of CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) are purchased from its founder, George Rihl, for Pan Am stock (worth 300,000 pesos) and a vice presidency for Rihl. The buy allows the American company access to the Mexican capital and control of the route system to, from, and through Central America. As the only operator that can, through its new subsidiary, legally operate in Mexico, the move also assures the award of FAM-8, despite lower bids by six other competitors.
Two days later, on January 25, an accommodation is reached with W. R. Grace Corporation. The large U. S. trading interest and the expanding airline each pledge $1 million in initial capitalization and form the joint company Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA). Four Fokker F-10As are received on January 31-February 1. FAM-5, the inter-Central American service, is inaugurated on February 4, Miami to the Canal Zone, while the Brownsville to Mexico City via Tampico and Tuxpan FAM-8 opens on March 10.
Both routes are inaugurated by Charles A. Lindbergh; John Hamble-ton is copilot for the first flight, made by the Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-12 wearing the dual national registrations NC-9661 and M-SCAN. The public fanfare and advance publicity concerning Lindbergh results in a mile-long traffic jam on every road out of Miami Airport on February 4.
During a stop at Mexico City during the first return on February 11, Ambassador and Mrs. Dwight Morrow announce the engagement of their daughter, Anne, to pilot Lindbergh. The subsidiary Peruvian Airways Corporation, S. A. is sold to Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) on February 25. PAC CEO Harold R. Harris becomes vice president-operations of the new organization, with John C. MacGregor as vice president-general manager.
The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-22 is turned over to CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on March 5, along with the 5-AT-27 two days later. The former is replaced in PAA service by the 5-AT-23 on March 25. A third Ford Tri-motor, 5-AT-31, is sent to Mexico on
March 28. United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, led by Frederick B. Rentschler, purchases 50,000 shares of PAA stock at $57.50 on April 15; the total infusion is $2,875,000.
The first production vertical windshield S-38B is delivered on April 25; three more arrive in May. Passenger service on FAM-5 begins on May 22 as that frequency is elevated to thrice weekly. With overnight stops at Belize and Managua, the 2,064-mile route requires 56 hrs. flying time. Also in May, Ford 5-AT-11, used briefly with special wing tanks in Cuba, is delivered to CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.); it will be employed by the Mexican subsidiary on the Brownsville-Mexico City route until the end of 1937. The company now moves to upgrade Mexico’s landing fields in order to accommodate the additional Tri-Motors that will be delivered.
En route to Wilmington, North Carolina, from New York City, cofounder John Hambleton is killed in the crash of a private plane on June
8. The first F-10A, Christopher Columbus, is destroyed in a Santiago de Cuba crash on June 13 (two dead). On June 23, through flights are launched from Miami to Cura9ao, via the Canal Zone.
Two more F-10As are delivered on June 26. On June 30, the last vertical windshield S-38B is placed into service. It is employed by Basil Rowe to undertake a survey flight to Paramaribo on July 17, a week after the ninth and tenth F-10As are placed into service. The new Ford TriMotor, 5-AT-62, is turned over to Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) on July 31.
The first two production sloping windshield S-38Bs are handed over on August 16, the same day the last two F-10As are received, and August 28, but the first is lost in a Miami takeoff crash on September 16.
Meanwhile, beginning on September 23, FAM-6 from Puerto Rico to Dutch Guinea is ceremoniously started in a multistop three-week S-38 flight by Charles Lindbergh, Juan Trippe, and their wives. Mrs. Betty S. Trippe recalls this and many other events from 1925-1968 in her diary and letters, Pan Am's First Lady (McLean, Va.: Paladwr Press, 1996).
Two more S-38Bs are delivered in September, one each on the 16th and 30th. Also in September, the extension from Cura9ao is terminated and FAM-6 is operated via Port of Spain and Paramaribo. An S-38 crashes after takeoff from Miami on September 19 while FAM-8 is extended to Guatemala City via Vera Cruz, San Geronimo, and Tapachula.
Two additional S-38Bs are also delivered in October, one each on the 10th and 16th. Piloting an S-38B, Basil Rowe makes the first airmail flight from Miami-Merida via Havana and Cozumel, on November 12. A Loening C-2 Air Yacht is sold out of service on November 29 and on December 2, the Ford 5-AT-27 is reclaimed from CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) for use on flights in the Panama Canal Zone. Orders are placed on December 20 for 3, 38-passenger Sikorsky S-40s, the world’s largest civil aircraft. An S-38A is delivered on December 30, but is damaged beyond repair the same day.
Two years and 2 months old on December 31, the company now serves 28 countries with a fleet of 60 aircraft that operate from 60 operated or owned airports or seaplane bases. The route structure totals 12,265 miles and there are 24 ground radio stations.
Enplanements for the year total 20,728 and passenger mileage is 2,752,880. Route mileage grows from 261 to 6,093.
This year the carrier is the first American airline to employ cabin attendants and serve meals aloft, the first to develop and use instrument flying techniques, and the first to develop a complete aviation weather service.
On February 15, 1930, a “gentleman’s agreement” is concluded between Juan Trippe and Peter Paul von Bauer, president of the financially troubled airline, SCADTA (Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Trans-portes Aereos, S. A.). Unpublicized in Colombia, Trippe promises $1.1 million in financial assistance in exchange for the acquisition of 84.4% controlling interest over the next year, provided in bearer certificates with no names on them. The deal also includes von Bauer’s pledge to cease activities outside Colombia and to vote his unowned shares as directed at his own board meetings. In essence, Trippe gains another subsidiary. Frequencies on most routes are tripled during the month and the carrier now operates 88,522 miles per week.
Charles Lindbergh and Basil Rowe, flying an S-38B, make the first airmail flight from Miami to the Canal Zone on April 26 via Havana and Puerto Cabezas. Flying an S-38B, the two famous pilots undertake a survey flight from the Canal Zone to Jamaica on May 1, while on May 14, a jointly owned PAA-Imperial Airways, Ltd. subsidiary enterprise is formed to plan and undertake transatlantic service. The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-31 is reclaimed from CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on May 19.
The long-dormant Southern Air Lines, now renamed New York Airways (1), is now resurrected. Outfitted with Ford 5-ATs, Fokker F-10s, and Sikorsky S-38Bs, it inaugurates service on June 1 from Long Island’s North Beach Airport to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The carrier’s last Loening C-2 Air Yacht is transferred to Peruvian Airways, S. A. on July 1, the same day PAA and Imperial Airways, Ltd. both receive permission from the government of Bermuda to operate a New York-Bermuda service. Also in July, a day is cut off the journey from the U. S. to Panama via Mexico, airmail flights across the Caribbean are doubled, and the airmail line is extended from Rio de Janeiro 3,000 miles to Paramaribo. Route mileage is thus increased to 18,217.
The Atlantic City end of NYA-1’s route from Long Island is stretched down to Washington, D. C. on August 2 via Baltimore. Following six months of intrigue, covert maneuvering, noncooperation in the field, and support from Postmaster Walter Fogler Brown, the Aviation Corporation of the Americas is able to acquire Ralph O’Neill’s New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRbA) for $2 million on August 19. O’Neill, who has pioneered air transport along the eastern coast of South America, refuses a vice presidency.
On September 3, an F-10A is destroyed in a hurricane in Santo Domingo. The New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA)
Board turns over the company’s assets on September 15. These include a series of bases, mail contracts with Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, a subsidiary, NYRBA do Brazil, S. A., and a fleet of 6 Ford 5-ATs, 9 Consolidated Model 17 Fleetsters, 6 Sikorsky S-38Bs, and 11 Consolidated Model 16 Commodore flying boats. U. S. FAM-9 is awarded to Pan Am on September 24, followed by FAM-10 for the east coast of South America on September 30.
On October 17, O’Neill’s former subsidiary is renamed Panair do Brazil, S. A.; its headquarters continue at Rio de Janeiro with a maintenance base set up at Belem. Its fleet, manned by American pilots, is equipped with 6 S-38Bs, including the ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Porto Alegre, Bahia, Pernambuco, and Sao Luiz, and the Commodores Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, New York/Santos, Uruguay/Sao Paulo, Argentina, and Miami.
A significant “summit” meeting is held in New York on November 21 between Imperial Airways, Ltd. Chairman George Woods-Humphrey, Aeropostale (1) (Compagnie Generale Aeropostale, S. A.) CEO Andre Boiloux-Lafont, and Juan Trippe. The three leaders, upon advice of their attending chief pilots, sign a triparte agreement not to fly the North Atlantic except in joint operations between New York and Lisbon via Bermuda and the Azores. The French Aeropostale, which owns exclusive rights to the Azores-Lisbon segment, is in deep financial difficulty and about to fail. On November 28, a Panair do Brazil, S. A. Commodore makes its first mail flight from Belem to Santos.
Beginning on December 2, employing the ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Commodores Cuba and Trinidad, the carrier is able to reduce flight time on the FAM-5 route to 29 hrs. 15 min.; the cutoff is flown via Cienfuegos, Cuba, and Kingston, Jamaica, to Cristobal, Panama. Basil Rowe, in an S-38B, makes the initial survey flight. The 600-mile Jamaica-Panama over-water stage is the longest then operated. In accordance with the “gentleman’s agreement” between Trippe and von Bauer, SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) ends service to Guayaquil in December. At year’s end, the fleet totals 111 aircraft.
Traffic grows 60% for the year as bookings reach 44,000 and passenger mileage tops 4.2 million. The route network is now 18,021 unduplicated miles. Among the firsts claimed for the carrier during the year is the honor of being the first in the U. S. to offer international express service.
During the winter season of 1931, some 4,000 passengers per week are flown from Miami to Havana and Nassau; the Havana frequency is six flights per day. While transporting mail for Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), an S-38B crashes into the jungles beyond the landing field at Guayaquil on February 7; rescuers must cut their way in to save the uninjured survivors.
The Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brazil, S. A. inaugurates passenger service from Belem to Santos on March 2. The S-38s now fly to San Juan via Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, four times per week. Pan Am begins participation in the operation of Colombia’s SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) on March 3. During the March earthquake at Managua, the radio of Basil Rowe’s S-38B is the only radio contact for the Nicaraguan capital with the outside world. Rowe undertakes a series of food airlifts and by April 1 has transported out a total of 98 people.
The company concludes its acquisition of 84.4% control of SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) on April 10. Richard Hoyt steps down as Pan Am board chairman on April 28, remaining a director until his death in 1935. He is succeeded by Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny” Whitney. The next day, Aviation Corporation of the Americas is dissolved, officially becoming Pan American Airways (PAA). In accordance with the Trippe and von Bauer agreement, SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) ceases service to Panama in June, thereby ending a U. S. Department of State concern about German inroads toward the Canal Zone.
On June 26, Juan Trippe writes to America’s six leading aircraft manufacturers seeking proposals for supply of an airliner with a 2,500-mile range. The New York Airways (1) subsidiary is sold to Eastern Air Transport on July 15 and on July 16, joint PAA and SCADTA (La So-ciedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) airmail service is inaugurated from Bogota to New York. An F-10A conducts a proving flight from Boston to Bangor, Maine, via Portland.
As the first step toward a possible Pacific route, the company’s famous technical representative, Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne depart Long Island on July 27, headed north in the Lockheed Sirius, later christened Tingmissartoq. On July 28, an S-41 undertakes a survey from Bangor to St. John, New Brunswick; the S-41 exploration is finished at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 29. Under contract to Boston-Maine Airways, PAA begins regular service over the surveyed route on July 31; F-10As fly the Boston-Bangor segment and S-41s the Bangor-Halifax leg. Simultaneously, FAM-12, which covers the route, is awarded by the U. S. Post Office and an agreement is reached with Colonial Air Transport for feed from its New York-Boston service.
An S-38A is fatally damaged when it hits an obstacle while landing at Ponce Harbor in San Juan on August 12; all aboard are saved. Having obtained a concession to establish an airline in Colombia, Gonzalo Mejia incorporates UMCA (Urba, Medellin and Central Airways, S. A.) in Delaware on August 24. One of two S-41s being employed on the Boston-Maine Airways contract crashes in Massachusetts Bay off Gloucester on August 27 (one dead); it will be salvaged, repaired, and sold to a private owner.
A violent hurricane sweeps Belize, British Honduras, on September 10; S-38Bs piloted by E. S. Rodenbaugh and Basil Rowe undertake mercy flights, bringing in food, medicine, and Red Cross personnel. After flying via Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Japan, and China, the Tingmis-sartoq is badly damaged in a Yangtze River accident near Nanking on September 19. Although the aircraft is too badly damaged to continue, the Lindberghs report that, given Soviet cooperation (which is not forthcoming), a Pacific rim or “Great Circle” route to Asia is possible. Mrs. Lindbergh recalls the flight of the Tingmissartoq in her North to the Orient (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1935).
The Boston-Maine Airways contract is concluded on September 30 and the two F-10As employed for it are sold to Transamerican Airlines on October 5.
The hulk of the S-38A wrecked on August 12 is scrapped on October 7 while the last three F-10As are now transferred to the Mexican subsidiary CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.). On
October 10, Basil Rowe flies the first production Sikorsky S-40 from Sikorsky’s Bridgeport factory to the Anacostia Navy Yard, including a low, publicity run over the U. S. capitol. On October 12, in an elaborate live radio ceremony, the First Lady, Mrs. Herbert Hoover, christens it American Clipper.
Later in the afternoon, Rowe makes two special flights over Washington, D. C., with others laid on for the next day. The “clipper” title is registered and every major PAA aircraft thereafter incorporates it. After returning to Bridgeport on October 14 for two days of publicity flights over New York City, the American Clipper proceeds to Miami and arrives on October 25, after making publicity stops at Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Jacksonville, and Palm Beach.
On November 2, the FAM-10 route is extended from Santos, Brazil, down to Buenos Aires, completing PAA’s encirclement of South America. The U. S. is now connected to 100 different towns and cities in 31 Latin countries—and the most distant capital of the 31 is only 7 days away. The second S-40, the Caribbean Clipper, is delivered on November 16. On November 19, with Charles Lindbergh in the left seat and Igor Sikorsky a passenger, the American Clipper enters service on the Canal Zone route, flying via Cienfuegos and Kingston. In Barranquilla, Lindbergh turns command over to Rowe, who arrives at a Cristobal on November 22.
The welcome from Canal Postmaster General Bliss also gives PAA the honor of being the first American airline to develop and operate a four-engine flying boat. Four days later, on November 23, a Consolidated Model 16 Commodore arrives at Buenos Aires, completing the first through-passenger service to Argentina down the east coast of South America. During the year, masses of air are analyzed in a new tropical weather forecasting method and at year’s end, the carrier posts its first profit ($105,452) on total revenues of $7,913,587.
On January 1, 1932, the creditors of the bankrupt French airline Aero-postale (1) (Compagnie Generale Aeropostale, S. A.) grant the company permission to employ its Azores landing concession, obtained earlier from the Portuguese. The Mexican subsidiary Aerovias Centrals, S. A. is set up on February 26 to assume the principal Mexico City-Ciudad Juarez route of defunct CAT (Corporacion de Aeronautica de Transportes, S. A.). Employing an ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Consolidated Model 17 Fleetster and four transferred Fokker F-10As, this carrier will create a multistop Mexico City-Nogales route. On April 13, PAA takes 54% majority control of uMcA (Urba, Medellin and Central Airways, S. A.) and its Canal Zone route of Medellin to Balboa. Also in April, the Bermuda concession, as yet unrealized, is withdrawn.
On May 6, Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion Curtiss, S. A. is purchased from North American Aviation; the new Cubana subsidiary retains its previous name, minus the word Curtiss. In the first concrete step toward construction of a “Great Circle” route to Asia, Pacific Alaskan Airways is formed as a wholly owned subsidiary on June 11. After having spent half a million dollars on start-up and suffering a collective $100,000 loss, negotiations begin for the purchase of Alaskan Airways and Pacific Alaska Airways.
Three days later, on June 14, the New York Airways subsidiary S-38B crashes while en route to Atlantic City and is destroyed; no one aboard is hurt. On July 12, passenger service is started from Cristobal and Balboa to Turbo and Medellin over the UMCA (Urba, Medellin and Central Airways, S. A.) concession, linking with SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) at the latter city. The Pan Am aircraft and personnel employed operate under UMCA colors.
The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-22 is reacquired from CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on July 19; it will be turned over to Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) a month later. After serving in the Panama Canal Zone since December 1929, the 5-AT-27 is returned to the Mexican subsidiary the same day. Also in July, Danish authority is received to conduct a study of possible airline routes across Greenland. The services of and support for the 1932-1933 Greenland expeditions of famed Arctic scientist Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson are acquired and provided.
In addition, Transamerican Airlines is paid $55,000 for a 75-year landing concession it holds from Iceland, but which is subject to lapse if not exercised by 1936. The last S-40, Southern Clipper, is delivered on August 30.
Alaskan Airways is purchased from the Aviation Corporation (AVCO) on September 1; included in the sale are several Fairchild 71s and the transfer of 40 employees. Being operated in Brazil by the subsidiary Panair do Brazil, S. A., the ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Sikorsky S-38B Porto Alegre is stolen by Sao Paulo revolutionaries on September 25; without a qualified pilot, the flying boat crashes about 25 km. inland (four dead). Forced back by bad weather while en route to San Lorenzo, Honduras, from Managua, Nicaragua, on October 2, the Ford 5-AT-23 crash-lands in a swamp at El Accituno, Honduras; although no one is killed, the plane is destroyed. The survivors are rescued by USMC aircraft led by Capt. F. P. Mulcahy.
The Anchorage-based charter carrier Pacific International Airways is acquired on October 15, together with its three Fairchild 71s. During the fourth quarter, Pacific Alaska Airways is merged with Alaskan Airways, with the former name surviving. Arrangements are made at the Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Nome operating bases and the Star Mail services over 2,600 miles of routes to communities in the interior, the Kenai Peninsula, and Western Alaska are solidified.
Weathermen of the operations department set up a number of upper air meteorological stations to measure winds and suggest favorable courses and flight levels. The first ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Consolidated Commodore to be retired is the Rio de Janeiro. After three years as a factory demonstrator, the Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-74 is purchased on November 4. On November 30, contracts for long-range flying boats are signed with the Sikorsky Aviation Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the Glenn L. Martin Company of Baltimore. The company’s profit is $698,526.
On March 31, 1933, a 45% interest is taken in China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1). The actual transaction is somewhat convoluted, as Trippe’s carrier pays $282,258 to the Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s Intercontinent Aviation subsidiary for China Airways Federal, its own nonflying subsidiary that actually owns the stock. The purchase is a bargain, as CAF had paid well over half a million dollars for the shares just three years earlier.
The new Ford Tri-Motor, 5-AT-115 is delivered on May 1 while the last S-36A is damaged beyond repair in a Caribbean crash on May 26; also in May, the last F-10A is scrapped. The Ford 5-AT-116, the last of these trimotors, is acquired on June 17 and turned over to the western division for use on the Mexican service. Mail is added under contract to the UMCA (Uraba, Medellin and Central Airways, S. A.) Panama-Medellin route on June 20. During the month, two Sikorsky S-38 flying boats are ordered transferred to the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1) base at Shanghai.
The Ford 5-AT-31 is returned to CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on July 7; with Harold Bixby having obtained the concession, China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1) Douglas Dolphins begin service on July 7 over Chinese Route 3, Shanghai-Canton via Wenchow, Foochow, Amoy, and Swatow.
Flying the repaired Lockheed Sirius Tingmissartoq specially outfitted with PAA navigational gear, the Lindberghs depart New York on July 9 for a survey of the east and west coasts of Greenland and the southern end and west coast of Iceland. The Lindbergh flights are supported by the research ship SS Jilling, with Dr. Stefansson aboard.
On August 12, a Curtiss Robin belonging to the subsidiary Cubana (Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion, S. A.) spirits overthrown dictator Gen. Gerardo Machado from Havana to Miami. The next day, Cuba’s ex-secretary of state, Orestes Ferrara, points a gun at Capt. Leo
Terletsky and, without a ticket, is able to escape to Miami aboard the regularly scheduled S-38B flying boat. The plane takes off in a hail of gunfire from an angry mob—9 bullet holes are later found in the aircraft-leaving 14 paying passengers behind. Machado is replaced by Cuban Air Force Sergeant Fulgencio Batista, who had once held a typist position with Pan Am at its Havana landing field.
Two ex-New York, Rio and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA) Consolidated Model 17 Fleetster floatplanes are transferred to Pacific Alaska Airways during the summer and begin the first airmail service from Fairbanks and the interior of Alaska to Auke Bay, Juneau, on September 3. During this operation, one is written off in a crash and replaced with 2 Fairchild 71s; the 3 aircraft deliver 11 passengers and 360 pounds of first-class mail on the inaugural flight.
In October, S-38 scheduled service is inaugurated by the Brazilian subsidiary, Panair do Brazil, S. A., from Belem to Manaus, 900 miles up the Amazon River. Also during the month, representative Bixby signs an agreement with the Chinese government covering the introduction of S-38 operations on October 24 from Shanghai to Canton. To avoid arousing the interest of the expansionist Japanese, Bixby actually signs for a phantom Pacific American Airways. Although CNAC-1 will operate the services, the two amphibians will operate in Pacific American livery with American registration numbers.
On December 13, orders are placed for 12 Lockheed Model 10AElec-tras. Having also visited the Faroes, Shetlands, western Norway, the Baltic, Leningrad and Moscow before returning via the Scandinavian capitals and the U. K., the Lindberghs arrive at New York on December 19.
During the year, a modern hangar is constructed for Pacific Alaska Airways at Fairbanks and the maintenance base there is improved. Also, the Miami to Argentina flying boat service is highlighted in the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers motion picture musical Flying Down to Rio. Released by RKO Studios, the film is produced by Pan Am board member Merian C. Cooper. The airline’s net profit this year is $898,488.
At the end of January 1934, it is reported that the three Southern Division flying boats American Clipper, Caribbean Clipper, and Southern Clipper have completed 1,000 flights, with almost 100% of them posting an on-time arrival; they are now advertised as “Pullmans of the Skies.” Although its reputation is somewhat tarnished as a result of the Black Committee hearings on the “Air Mail Scandal,” PAA, because it flies only foreign routes, is the only airline whose contracts are not cancelled when President Roosevelt ends all domestic mail subsidies across the board on February 9.
Following its participation in the March relief of the Russian’s beleaguered Chelyuskin Arctic Expedition, the surviving Pacific Alaska Airways Consolidated Fleetster is sold to the Soviet trading company AM-TORG. Despite these goodwill gestures, the Soviets continue to refuse Siberian landing rights, forcing PAA to abandon plans for a “Great Circle” route to Asia and to look at the possibility of flying there via the Central Pacific. Meanwhile, in London, officials of Imperial Airways, Ltd. seek to prepare for a transatlantic flying boat service. They complain to the British Air Ministry that the ?1,427,533 sterling given the American carrier the previous year by way of subsidy will, if continued, leave the Empire unable to compete anytime soon unless that figure is matched.
Following the loss of the first CNAC-1-operated S-38 the previous December, the second unit crashes into Hangchow Bay, off Shanghai, on April 10. Also in April, multistop Los Angeles-Mexico City Lockheed Model 10 Electra flights begin. Later in the month, the ultra modern Dinner Key air terminal is opened at Miami and, nearly ready for delivery, the first S-42 establishes a world weight-carrying record on April 26.
Reports of the Lindbergh and SS Jilling expedition are presented in May and suggest that an air service to Europe, via the North Atlantic, is possible with proper weather allowances. Also, on May 31, Pacific Alaska Airways begins operation of the only Ford 8-AT, equipping it with skis, floats, or wheels as necessary. The first Sikorsky S-42, which sets another world weight-carrying record on May 17, is delivered on June 5.
The huge new S-42 flying boat is test flown by Charles Lindbergh, Edwin C. Musick, and Sikorsky’s chief test pilot Capt. Boris Sergievsky under transport conditions over a predetermined measured course on August 1; it sets eight world records and generates much desired press coverage.
Lindbergh and Basil Rowe place the new S-42 into commercial service on August 16 over the three-day, multistop Miami-Rio de Janeiro route. Aboard on the historic occasion are Juan Trippe, Andre Priester, and Department of Commerce official Eugene L. Vidal. Following a day layover, the flying boat proceeds to Buenos Aires. The entire trip down the east coast of South America takes six days instead of the previous eight. When the S-42 arrives at Rio, it is christened Brazilian Clipper by Getulio Vargas, wife of the president of Brazil.
The first Douglas DC-2 is delivered to the Mexican subsidiary CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on September 20. Together with Panair do Brazil, S. A., PAA is awarded Brazilian cabotage rights on September 28. On October 3, President Trippe informs the U. S. Navy that PAA is ready to fly the Pacific and seeks a lease on Wake Island.
Two Douglas Dolphins are sent out to China and are employed, beginning on November 1, to restart the Shanghai-Canton service suspended the previous April. Following some months of negotiations with the British, the company is able to add Hong Kong on November 5 as a stop on its Chinese Dolphin coastal route. Nick Bez’s Juneau-based Alaska Southern Airways is purchased on November 13 to stop its expansion on a route to Seattle that might block PAA’s Asian plans. Meanwhile, during the year, PAA constructs the first integrated radio network in Alaska suitable for aviation use.
The second S-42 is delivered in December; christened West Indies Clipper, it is placed in service in the Caribbean. By year’s end, PAA and PANAGRA are operating a combined total of 69 ground radio stations throughout Latin America. Statisticians reports that, in the years since 1932, the percentage of company flights finished has declined to 99.46%. With a fleet of 85 aircraft, the company now averages more than 100,000 passengers per year on a 32,000-mile route network.
In January 1935, PAA advises the U. S. Bureau of Air Commerce of its desire to begin transatlantic service; the letter is acknowledged on February 4. The previous day the Ford 5-AT-115 is crated up and sent by ship to China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1) at Shanghai. A new Pacific division is established on March 1 with headquarters at Alameda, California. It is led by former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics Clarence M. Young, hired the previous November. The Ford 5-AT-74 is turned over to CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on March 5.
In preparation for its role in transpacific surveys, the S-42 West Indies Clipper is taken out of service, stripped of its seats and otherwise modified, and renamed Pan American Clipper. On March 23 it is flown from Miami to the Virgin Islands and back in a 2,500-mile, 17-hrs. 16- min. test. Personnel on the flight include chief pilot Capt. Edwin C. Musick, copilot Robert O. D. “Rod” Sullivan, navigator Fred Noonan (who will disappear with Amelia Earhart), and engineer John Leslie.
With Navy permission granted, the support ship SS North Haven departs San Francisco on March 27 headed toward the U. S. Pacific possessions of Midway, Wake, and Guam. Aboard are 44 company personnel, 74 construction workers, 250,000 gallons of avgas, supplies, tools, windmills, motor launches, storage dewars, and all other items required for self-sufficiency during the forthcoming base-building process. Simultaneously, the Pan American Clipper departs for San Francisco (Alameda) via Cuba, Veracruz, and Acapulco.
Employing the assets of Alaska Southern Airways purchased the previous year, Pacific Alaska Airways launches the first scheduled passenger air service between Juneau and Fairbanks via Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, during the first quarter.
On April 11, PAA acquires the Mazatlan-Hermasillo-Mexicali route abandoned by Walter Varney’s Mexican carrier LAO (Lineas Aereas
Occidentales, S. A. de C. V.) the previous day. Lockheed Orions are quickly introduced on the route. Having performed several test flights along the California coast since arriving at Alameda, Capt. Musick’s modified S-42 Pan American Clipper undertakes a 23-hr. 41-min. proving flight to Honolulu on April 16, returning a week later. A new S-42 West Indies Clipper (2) replaces the Pan American Clipper in early May.
On June 12, Musick begins a test of the Alameda-Honolulu-Midway segment of the proposed transpacific route. Transpacific support contracts are signed with the Matson Navigation Company and Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company on June 20.
Lockheed Model 10 Electras are provided to Cubana (Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion, S. A.) on July 29, allowing introduction of the noted Havana-Santiago Cuban Air Limited service. Meanwhile, the construction crew from the North Haven, at work since May, concludes, at month’s end, the establishment of flying boat bases at Guam, Wake, Midway and the improvement of those at Honolulu and Manila. Also included in the $2-million undertaking are shops, offices, radio and living quarters. Participant William S. Grooch tells much of the story in his Skyway to Asia (New York: Longmans, 1936).
Also in July, the first S-42A, the Jamaica Clipper, enters South American service.
The Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-116 is passed to China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1) on August 12 while, on August 20, a Pacific Alaska Airways Lockheed Model 10A Electra transports home from Whitehorse the bodies of Will Rogers and Wiley Post. The S-42 Pan American Clipper, piloted by Rod Sullivan, tests the transpacific route’s Midway-Wake leg beginning on August 9. Following a violent hurricane in the Florida Keys that leaves 700 dead on September 5, Basil Rowe pilots relief supplies to survivors. On October 5, Capt. Sullivan’s S-42 examines the Wake-Guam segment of the transpacific route.
The first Martin M-130 is commissioned at Baltimore on October 9 in a ceremony carried over nationwide radio; in his remarks, President Trippe announces the ship will be named the China Clipper. Incidentally, it will make the company the first American airline to install facilities for heating food aboard an aircraft. A 25-year Manila landing concession is granted by the Philippine government on October 17.
PAA is awarded the transpacific mail route, FAM-14, on October 25; the subsidy is the same $2 per mile awarded for FAM-4 out of Key West in October 1927. Having spent three months in orientation with the M-130, Capt. Musick and the China Clipper arrive at Alameda from Baltimore on November 11, flying via Miami, Acapulco, and San Diego. During the fall, President Trippe agrees to a proposal from William “Pat” Patterson, president of United Air Lines, to join in the funding to be provided by the “Big Four” airlines for creation of a four - engine experimental landplane, the Douglas DC-4E.
The second M-130, Philippine Clipper, is delivered on November 14. On November 22, Postmaster General James Farley, Governor Frank Merriam, Mayor Angelo Rossi, President Trippe and others attend a huge banquet in San Francisco. The festivities, plus radio broadcast ceremonies, are held prior to the China Clipper’s inauguration of the world’s first heavier-than-air airmail flight across the Pacific from San Francisco. The China Clipper is crewed by Musick, Sullivan, Noonan, and the other officers of the West Indies Clipper.
Witnessed by over 100,000 spectators, the flying boat arrives at Manila Bay on November 29, having flown via Honolulu, Midway, Wake, and Guam, with 1,837 pounds of mail (110,865 letters) in 59 hrs. 48 min. On the same day that Musick departs California, New Zealand grants landing authority for Auckland.
Also in November, proposals for joint operations based on a transatlantic service are sent to DDL Danish Airlines (Det Danske Luftfart-selskab, A. S.) and DNL Norwegian Airlines (Det Norske Luftfartsel-skap, A. S.), the national airlines of Denmark and Norway. Capt. Musick appears on the cover of the December 2 issue of Time magazine. The China Clipper reaches San Francisco (Alameda) from Manila on December 6 with 98,000 letters after its multistop 63-hr. 28-min. flight, having completed its first 16,420-mile roundtrip in total flying time of 123 hrs. 12 min.
The second M-130, the Philippine Clipper, departs Alameda for Manila on December 9. At this point, the Japanese, who have formerly broadcast their Pacific weather forecasts in plain language, encode the signals. On December 12, the DOS advises that it has received promises of foreign facilitation of any company transatlantic services. CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) takes over the Aerovias Centrales, S. A. de C. V. route from Mexico City to the U. S. frontier on December 18. Simultaneously, Aerovias Centrales, S. A. de C. V. is dissolved as the result of a dispute with the government that its pilots all be Mexican nationals; its Fleetster is scrapped.
Having finally obtained its own Portuguese concession to land in the Azores, the carrier applies to the French government on December 16 for permission to offer twice-weekly transatlantic flights to French ports of Paris’ choice. The S-42 West Indies Clipper (2), which succeeded the test ship Pan American Clipper back in May, is destroyed in a Port of Spain accident on December 20. It is replaced by the second S-42A, the Antilles Clipper. The last M-130, the as-yet unnamed Hawaiian Clipper, is delivered to Alameda on December 24.
The Consolidated Model 16 Commodore Cuba is destroyed by fire at Dinner Key, Miami, during the year and the Commodore Havana is withdrawn. Terminals and airports owned by PAA jump from 166 to 202 and route mileage grows from 31,259 to 40,479. Despite an outlay of $4 million for new aircraft and ground facilities (including a new airfield at Juneau, Alaska), the company reports revenues of $10,127,837 and a net profit of $1,193,732 for the 12 months.
On January 25, 1936, President Trippe and Imperial Airways, Ltd. Chairman Sir George Woods-Humphrey agree to divide all transatlantic service between their companies. The understanding will lead to protests from other parties and delays in the granting of operating and landing permits. A second Brazilian Clipper, an S-42A, enters Latin American service in February. Also in February, two Fairchild 91s (XA-942As) are provided to Panair do Brazil, S. A. for high-speed service on the Amazon River.
The proposals made to the Danish and Norwegian flag carriers in November are accepted in March. So pleased are the Norwegians that they immediately order their own Sikorsky S-43 for DNL Norwegian Airlines (Det Norske Luftfartselskap, A. S.) and grant cooperation to PAA’s plans for joint proving operations in Greenland during the upcoming two summers. Permission is also obtained to establish a radio station in Iceland; it, too, is up and operating during 1936-1937. Transpacific cargo flights are authorized in early in March and during the month, the experimental DC-4E is launched with commitments from the “Big Four” airlines, plus Pan Am. The final M-130 flying boat, the Hawaiian Clipper, is flown to Hawaii on March 30.
While taking off from Port of Spain, Trinidad, on April 11, the S-42 Puerto Rican Clipper hits a launch; the plane swings into a “water loop” and crashes (three dead). The last S-42A, the Dominican Clipper, is delivered in April and placed in South American service; on April 28, the first Sikorsky S-43 “Baby Clipper” arrives, after establishing two payload records in test flights three days earlier.
Simultaneously, USN meteorologist/cryptographer John Cooke is seconded to Guam to serve as Pan Am’s chief local radio operator to break the code being employed by the Japanese to broadcast their regular weather reports. The codes are broken and the weather forecasts relayed to Alameda and Honolulu for company and other use. Following the completion of his mission, Cooke trains his Pan Am successors and returns to active duty.
With President and Mrs. Trippe in attendance, the Hawaiian Clipper is christened the Hawaii Clipper at Honolulu in May 3 ceremonies; it thereafter departs for the Orient. Another S-43, the first equipped with twin tails, joins the fleet on June 11; it is followed into service by a third “Baby Clipper” on July 4. Concerned by the rising cost of the DC-4E, Pan Am, together with Transcontinental and Western Air Lines (TWA), withdraws from the Douglas project in mid-month; the two withhold their funding and elect to join with Boeing in development of the Model 307 Stratoliner. The paper airline Chilean Airways, S. A. is dissolved on July 30.
Another S-43 arrives on August 6. Also in August, the Warner Brothers motion picture China Clipper is released. Written by Frank Wead, starring Pat O’Brien, and made with close cooperation from the airline, the film explores the history of the fictional “Trans-Ocean Airways” up through its introduction of Martin flying boat service across the Pacific Ocean. The film affirms for its audiences the strength of U. S. technology and innovative adventurism in an increasingly dangerous world.
During the summer, crews from the SS North Haven establish hotel and other passenger facilities on Wake and Midway Islands. The first Sikorsky S-42B Pan American Clipper II is delivered in September, along with a fifth S-43. The colonial government of Hong Kong grants a concession on September 17. Also in September, the U. S. government grants permits for a transatlantic service and another S-43 is delivered; a sixth is acquired on October 3.
En route to Guatemala City, a DC-2 crashes north of San Salvador on October 10 (five dead). The Hawaii Clipper inaugurates the world’s first transocean scheduled passenger service by a heavier-than-air flying machine on October 21. Seven passengers are taken to Hawaii; there, the only traveler to pay the $360 Alameda-Honolulu fare disembarks and is replaced by five more passengers. The other travelers, who paid $800 for a one-way ticket, continue on to Manila Bay, arriving on October 26.
Supported by local airplane builder Glenn L. Martin, the company begins negotiation with the City of Baltimore on November 6, which result in the signing of a 25-year lease for 10 acres of land to be developed into a flying boat base. The wholly owned subsidiary Panama Airways, S. A. is formed on November 7; it is equipped with the Ford 5-AT-74, reclaimed from CMA (Compania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on November 10. The Hawaii Clipper is back at Alameda by November 11. The CNAC-1 Shanghai-Canton route is extended to Hong Kong in November to provide a connection into China for passengers of the transpacific flying boats.
Two additional S-43s arrive in December, one each on the 18th and 31st. They are turned over to China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC-1), with the former becoming the personal transport of Mme. Chiang Kai-shek. Also in December and employing PAA Ford 5-ATs, Panama Airways, S. A. begins service and an S-43 received in September begins services from a base at Port of Spain, Trinidad.
The S-42B Pan American Clipper IIis turned over to the Pacific division at Alameda on January 7, 1937. At Shanghai on January 19, Harold Bixby signs an airmail contract on behalf of CNAC-1 for PAA’s transpacific route. As the result of Boeing 314 development difficulties, the delivery agreement is revised the next day, allowing a three-month extension for each aircraft. En route from Vitorio to Rio de Janeiro on February 8, an S-43 suffers an in-flight engine fire; upon its return to Vitorio, the aircraft sinks. On February 22, the U. K.’s Civil Aeronautics Authority grants PAA authority to operate transatlantic services twice weekly to and from London. The next day, the fourth S-43 is transferred to Panair do Brazil, S. A.
Concessions facilitating the transatlantic service are also obtained from Canada on March 5, Bermuda on March 25, Ireland on April 13, and Portugal on April 14. On March 15, orders are placed for three Boeing 307 Stratoliners. Renamed Samoan Clipper, the new S-42B, piloted by Capt. Musick, departs San Francisco on March 17 and arrives at Auckland on March 29 via Honolulu, Pago Pago, American Samoa, and a rendezvous with the S. S. North Wind at Kingman Reef. The Samoan Clipper returns to Alameda on March 29. It is now renamed Hong Kong Clipper and is dispatched to Hong Kong to provide a weekly link with Manila, beginning on April 16. Located on the Chinese mainland, the Portuguese colony of Macao grants a landing permit on April 28. The next day, the original S-43 is sold to Panair do Brazil, S. A.
Having secured $8 million in city funding after two years of discussions, the company now rapidly begins construction of a flying boat base at North Beach Airport on land acquired in 1933; a temporary facility is quickly thrown up employing an existing hanger and ramp. Other facilities are started in Canada, Ireland, and the Azores; at the latter point in April, Chairman Trippe has acquired rights to land at Horta.
As of May 15, three more S-43s have been delivered on the year, the last “Baby Clippers” to be acquired by the company. An Atlantic division is formed at Port Washington, New York, in May and has 113 employees by June. Alternating with the Imperial Airways, Ltd. Shorts S23 Cavalier, the S-42B Bermuda Clipper, piloted by Capt. Harold Gray, undertakes four route proving flights to Bermuda between May 27 and mid-June.
Regularly scheduled weekly return service begins from New York and Baltimore to Bermuda on June 18. By this time, PAA has been awarded the mail contract for the FAM-17 route. The last two active Consolidated Model 16 Commodores, Trinidad and Puerto Rico, are retired; one is sold to China and the other to Mrs. Chamberlin. The S-42B Pan American Clipper, piloted by Capt. Harold Gray with a crew of six, now undertakes four North Atlantic proving flights: to the New Brunswick town of Shediac on June 25; to the Newfoundland city of Botwood on June 27; to Southampton via Shediac, Botwood, and the Irish city of Foynes on July 3; and to Southampton via Bermuda, the Azores, Lisbon, and Marseilles on August 16.
Meanwhile, following the disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator, former PAA employee Fred Noonan, while en route from New Guinea to Howland Island on July 1, both PAA and USN radio stations pick up mysterious signals that some will believe are distress calls from the two. The radio traffic, although triangulated, reveals no survivors.
PAA and Imperial Airways, Ltd. officials meet at Dublin on July 26 with those from the British and Irish governments to coordinate upcoming transatlantic flights. Areas of common interest examined include signal codes and communications, weather forecasting, and postal services. The S-42 Brazilian Clipper is renamed Colombia Clipper, while the S-42B Pan American Clipper is renamed Hong Kong Clipper and sent out to the British colony to replace the first ship by that name. Pacific Alaska Airways sells its Ford 8-AT to Charles Babb on August 3 for just $1.750; six months later, the single-engine aircraft will pass to Colombian mining interests. The Ford 5-AT-31 is reclaimed from CMA (Com-pania Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. de C. V.) on August 27 and undergoes modification. The S-42B Bermuda service becomes twice weekly on August 25.
The carrier’s first two Douglas DC-3s are delivered on October 1; the number will increase to eight by November 11. With the new Baltimore base readied, the Bermuda Clipper inaugurates Maryland-Bermuda flights on November 17.
To inaugurate scheduled service to New Zealand, the original Hong Kong Clipper is returned to Alameda in early December. Rechristened Samoan Clipper and again flown by Capt. Musick, she departs on the inaugural return service via Honolulu, Pago Pago, and Kingman Reef, on December 23. The upgraded Ford 5-AT-31 is sold to the Nicaraguan government on December 31.
Operating losses for the Pacific division, as reported the same day, total $474,858 for the year.
World History
