ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF
Racing down the South American East Coast: Starting on the "Lindbergh Trail," the new route became the foundation for Pan Am's spectacular growth.
Basil Rowe: A First. Former barnstormer & airline owner chose to “fly by the book,” modeling Pan Am's “progressive” approach to commercial aviation.
Feb.1931: A royal pilot, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George, accepted invitations from Pan American Airways & Pan American-Grace Airways.
Preparations, anticipation, and deadlines: Pan Am's very first flight with Cy Caldwell piloting the La Nina, October 19, 1927 from Key West to Havana, Cuba.
Lindy Gets Pan American Airways Rolling: Lindbergh's Sikorsky S-38 airmail flight from Miami to Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, in February 1929.
Pan Am's Base at Brownsville, during the early years. Gateway to Mexico and laboratory for instrument flying techniques.
Lessons Learned: In the 1927 Dole Race to Hawaii, tragedy provided valuable lessons for the transpacific future of Pan American Airways.
April 1931, the story of PAA Radio Operator, Hans Frederick “Fred” Due, who worked on the expedition into Brazil’s western frontier, Matto Grosso.
A Flying Boat Christmas: "Delivering the mail took precedence over tradition, so when Christmas coincided with a flight day, someone had to fly."
The Battle for South American routes: Pan American Airways and the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) line, in 1930.
January 16th, 1928 was a very auspicious date for Pan Am. For the very first time, people would pay to ride a Pan American Airways plane.
Influential figures in the Pan Am's incorporation March 14, 1927: Investors and military officers who had concerns for the safety of the Panama Canal.
Keeping the Pan Am story alive falls to a generation of writers born after 1991. This article introduces new perspectives by Jack Seufert.
1929, A challenge to archeologists: On PAA's first mail flight over the Yucatan, Lindbergh saw pyramids jutting through dense, unmapped jungles PDF.
A View from Ketchikan: Pacific Alaska Airways, subsidiary of Pan American Airways, based on an article by Dave Kiffer (2006).
The 1928 loss of a passenger during the crash of Fokker "General Machado" from Havana to Key West marked the start of Pan Am's radio navigation. PDF
Pan Am's very first named Clipper, Sikorsky S-40 flying boat "American Clipper," shows Pan Am seaplane base personnel at Dinner Key, Miami, 1931.
Ralph O'Neill's Magic Carpet: The Once and Future Commodore by Doug Miller.The story of Pan Am's Consolidated Commodores. PDF.
