ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF
Basil Rowe: A First. Former barnstormer & airline owner chose to “fly by the book,” modeling Pan Am's “progressive” approach to commercial aviation.
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.
Pan American Airways inaugurated “express” shipping by air. It began in Latin America and expanded in 1936 to include Pan Am's flights across the Pacific.
Lindy Gets Pan American Airways Rolling: Lindbergh's Sikorsky S-38 airmail flight from Miami to Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, in February 1929.
Capt. Frank E. Ormsbee, pilot of Pan American Airways' 1930s flying boats & land planes, pioneered air routes in the Caribbean & South America.
Racing down the South American East Coast: Starting on the "Lindbergh Trail," the new route became the foundation for Pan Am's spectacular growth.
A video history around the beginnings of international aviation in Miami: Pan Am Field's original Hangar Five, circa 1929.
Lessons Learned: In the 1927 Dole Race to Hawaii, tragedy provided valuable lessons for the transpacific future of Pan American Airways.
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.
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.
Four Engines Out and Going Down: Aviation’s first forced landing, PAA's Sikorsky S-40 Caribbean Clipper piloted by Stanley J. “Red” Williamson.
A View from Ketchikan: Pacific Alaska Airways, subsidiary of Pan American Airways, based on an article by Dave Kiffer (2006).
Pan Am's Clipper Debut. Sikorsky S-40 “American Clipper" was the very first to be named a Clipper, delivered to Pan Am in October 1931.
Pan Am's Arctic explorations: Following the Viking Trail - Newfoundland to Greenland to Iceland. Then on to Europe, Africa, South America and home again.
Pan Am in 1933: The "90 Years Ago" series by Eric Hobson with month-by-month stories of Pan Am's formative work, its people, aircraft & far-flung destinations.
Keeping the Pan Am story alive falls to a generation of writers born after 1991. This article introduces new perspectives by Jack Seufert.
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.
April 1931, the story of PAA Radio Operator, Hans Frederick “Fred” Due, who worked on the expedition into Brazil’s western frontier, Matto Grosso.
