ERA | EXPLORATIONS
After years of on-again-off-again geopolitical negotiations, passengers flew the Atlantic on Pan Am B-314 Dixie Clipper (Photos by Betty Trippe).
Enlightening details of the 20 May, 1939 mail-only flight that opened Pan Am's Port Washington-Marseilles service with Capt. La Porte commanding.
Pan Am's First Marine Base at Dinner Key Miami was a two-story houseboat that served as terminal until a more permanent structure was designed.
Mission to China, Parts 1-4 by Eric Hobson. 1932-1938, Juan Trippe enlisted the help of the talented Harold Bixby to map out PAA's Pacific routes.
North Haven Expedition 2: Pan American Airways mounted a second expedition to build a transpacific air bases, completing work on Midway & Wake.
Panagra Capt. Stephen Dunn, forced in a storm to fly his Sikorsky S-43 "blind" across the Isthmus of Panama, never reached Cristobal.
Loading the China Clipper, like Days of Sailing Ships: Pan Am's First Transpacific Thanksgiving, account by Pilot Ed Musick, November 25, 1935.
The Life and Times of Dinner Key, by Doug Miller: A story that looks at the development of Pan Am's Miami flying boat base in the 1930s. (PDF).
The Yankee Clipper: In 1939 Pan Am's Boeing-314 flying boat was christened in Washington, DC by Eleanor Roosevelt, with Juan Trippe looking on.
A short history of Wake island before the Air Age was introduced by Pan Am & the consequences of US involvement in WW2, followed by modern-day peace.
Pan Am in 1935: Check back for month-by-month stories of PAA people, aircraft, operations, explorations & destinations (90 Years ago series).
Hawaiian ships are shaking and shoulders quivering to a brand new island dance-the “Clipper Hula”-dedicated to Pan American Airways).
Canton Island, Pan Am's Critical stop-over in the Pacific, remained pivotal as a technical stop on the way to Australia and New Zealand.
Stepping-stone surveys: Sikorsky S-42 Pan American Clipper extended the Pacific route by one island on each flight, finally arriving in Guam.
Adventure of a lifetime: Building the transpacific air route opened the door to a career that led John Borger to the pinnacle of aviation engineering.
Designing the interior and exterior of Pan Am's First Marine Base, at Miami'sDinner Key Terminal, was the work of architects, Delano and Aldrich.
Celebration of airship Hindenburg's big 1936 Atlantic travel season by German Zeppelin Co. & Standard Oil of NJ, included passenger Juan Trippe.
Kingman Reef 1,100 miles from Hawaii, a stop on Ed Musick's survey flight to Auckland in 1937 where the Pan Am base was the SS Northwind.
