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ERA | EXPLORATIONS

EXPLORATIONS Pan Am Sikorsky S 42 flying boat

Sikorsky Dream Boats Sikorsky Archive blog

Dream Boats: How Igor Sikorsky's evolution of a dream, pushing the envelope of flying boat design for Pan Am in the 1930s.

Read more: Sikorsky Dream Boats

Panagra Captain Stephen Dunn 1930s, One Long Day-One Dark Night

Panagra Capt. Stephen Dunn, forced in a storm to fly his Sikorsky S-43 "blind" across the Isthmus of Panama, never reached Cristobal.

Read more: Long Day -Dark Night

The first Transatlantic Passengers take the Dixie Clipper from Port Washington June 1939

After years of on-again-off-again geopolitical negotiations, passengers flew the Atlantic on Pan Am B-314 Dixie Clipper (Photos by Betty Trippe).

Read more: 1st Transatlantic Pax

Doc Singer Part 1 Media pic

H. Donald “Doc” Singer: Pan Am’s Salesman at Dinner Key & Humanitarian Extraordinaire, Parts 1&2 by Eric Hobson, iIlustrations by Vic Zimmer.

Read more: PAA's Doc Singer

Clipper #7, an M-130 under construction at the Martin Factory 1934

Pan Am in 1934 by month. Colorful history of Pan American Airways operations & stories of its people, aircraft and far-flung destinations.

Read more: Pan Am in 1934

Pan Am Captain Bob Howard Flying Boat Pilot

A Grown-Up Job: Flying the Pacific vs. Flying in Latin America. Reminiscenses of the pilots of PAA's flying boat era, from S-38s to M-130s & B-314s.

Read more: A Grown-Up Job

S 42 concept illustration by Kenneth Thompson

Oct. 1, 1932 Juan Trippe ordered the first S-42s from Sikorsky Aircraft. S. Paul Johnson details the plane's features and construction in March 1934.

Read more: The Magnificent S-42

1st Marine Base Miami blog

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.

Read more: PAA's 1st Marine Base

B 314 Yankee Clipper at Port Washington by Walter Christensen blog

After a record-breaking flight to Europe, it must have been trying to veteran flying boat skipper Capt. Charles Lorber to wait to land on the return home.

Read more: An Unexpected Return

S 42 Pan American Clipper 1935 blog

The 2nd Pan Am Pacific Survey flight, June 1935: Pilot Ed Musick & his crew celebrate their arrival at the remote Midway Atoll, 1,254 miles beyond Hawaii.

Read more: 2nd Pacific Survey

Second North Haven Expedition blogpic 1

North Haven Expedition 2: Pan American Airways mounted a second expedition to build a transpacific air bases, completing work on Midway & Wake.

Read more: North Haven II

Pan Am Yankee Clipper B 314 blog

Enlightening details of the 20 May, 1939 mail-only flight that opened Pan Am's Port Washington-Marseilles service with Capt. La Porte commanding.

Read more: 1st Atlantic Mail

Canton Island Dock blog

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.

Read more: Canton Stopover

Pioneers at Kingman Reef

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 North Wind.

Read more: Kingman Reef

Proposed Route of the Hindenburg blog

Celebration of airship Hindenburg's big 1936 Atlantic travel season by German Zeppelin Co. & Standard Oil  of NJ, included passenger Juan Trippe.

Read more: Millionaires Flight

Dinner Key Interior detail

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.

Read more: DInner Key Design

Pan Am Yankee Clipper B 314

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.

Read more: A Splashy Start

China Clipper Ring

Bill Taylor Interview (1993): His story as an engineer on the M-130 China Clipper while flying home across the Pacific, Dec. 1935 on her 1st transpacific flight.

Read more: China Clipper's Return

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