ERA | EXPLORATIONS
Dream Boats: How Igor Sikorsky's evolution of a dream, pushing the envelope of flying boat design for Pan Am in the 1930s.
Panagra Capt. Stephen Dunn, forced in a storm to fly his Sikorsky S-43 "blind" across the Isthmus of Panama, never reached Cristobal.
After years of on-again-off-again geopolitical negotiations, passengers flew the Atlantic on Pan Am B-314 Dixie Clipper (Photos by Betty Trippe).
H. Donald “Doc” Singer: Pan Am’s Salesman at Dinner Key & Humanitarian Extraordinaire, Parts 1&2 by Eric Hobson, iIlustrations by Vic Zimmer.
Pan Am in 1934 by month. Colorful history of Pan American Airways operations & stories of its people, aircraft and far-flung destinations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
North Haven Expedition 2: Pan American Airways mounted a second expedition to build a transpacific air bases, completing work on Midway & Wake.
Enlightening details of the 20 May, 1939 mail-only flight that opened Pan Am's Port Washington-Marseilles service with Capt. La Porte commanding.
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.
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.
Celebration of airship Hindenburg's big 1936 Atlantic travel season by German Zeppelin Co. & Standard Oil of NJ, included passenger Juan Trippe.
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.
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.
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.
