DEBUT OF THE M-130s 

Glenn Martin's Transocean Clippers Arrive

Acceptance Ceremony photos from "Pan American Air Ways," October-November, 1935, p. 20 (University of Miami Special Collections).

China Clipper in 1935, University of Miami Special Collections

In January 1935 a Literary Digest article -- "What 1935 Will Mean for World Air Travel" -- claimed that the Martin M-130 was poised to be the first aircraft to make the vital connection all the way across the world's largest ocean. It would begin a process by commercial airlines to encircle the globe with fast, consistent, and secure transportation services. "Literary Digest" anticipated that by the end of 1935 every major city worldwide would be interconnected through air travel!

Enthusiasm around the Martin M-130 flying boat had begun years before its debut in October 1935. Maryland aircraft manufacturer Glenn L. Martin was undaunted by the prospect of designing a plane to meet Pan Am’s particular specifications. Pan Am would need a large aircraft capable of flying across the Pacific,  that would also offer a new level of comfortable travel for passengers. In quick succession, Martin produced the three largest air transports ever built in the United States -- the Hawaii Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the China Clipper, delivered to Pan Am in reverse order, the China Clipper being the first.  Construction of the M-130s was accomplished by a team at Martin’s plant in Middle River, Maryland with Charles Lindbergh and Pan Am engineers closely involved in the planes' designs. Test flights  were conducted by the Martin Company’s Ken Ebel, Chief Test Pilot, making his first flight in the M-130 in December 1934. It was later that Edwin Musick, Pan American's chief pilot, flew the M-130 on October 9, 1935 when Pan Am officially took delivery of the aircraft.

"To depression-weary Americans, the new Martin clipper possessed magical qualities. She conjured up visions of the exotic East, of faraway places and mysterious lands. She was a fantasy craft, a magic carpet built and flown by Americans, destined for adventure.
Following the ceremony, the China Clipper was turned over to Ed Musick. Time was short because Trippe, certain that Pan American would receive the new transpacific mail route award, FAM 14, had already announced the commencement of service within the next month.
 Musick had only six weeks to ready his new flying boat and crew for the Pacific inaugural.”
— From Bob Gandt's "China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats," p. 98.

GLIMPSES OF THE NEW CLIPPERS

OCT 9, 1935 CHINA CLIPPER CEREMONY OF TRANSFER

October 7, 1935, Gathering at Middle River to represent Pan Am and Glenn L. Martin Company, used with permission from the John Krupnick Collection, "Pacific Pioneeers, The Rest of the Story" (2002) p. 63.

Over a national radio network, celebration of the completion of  the first of the Martin-type transocean Clipper Ships was officially received by Pan American (Pan American Air Ways, Oct-Nov. 1935, University of Miami Special Collections).

China Clipper Acceptance Speeches

Excerpt: Lessiter C. Millburn, Martin Company rep standing in for Glenn L. Martin who was ill that day.

 

"This flying-boat was visualized by Pan American Airways at a time when many aviation experts did not believe such an airplane could be built. During conferences between Mr. Trippe, Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, Glenn L. Martin and the technical staffs of Pan American and Martin organizations, it was decided that it could be done.
.. From this port, and this same Chesapeake Bay, over which this Clipper Ship is shortly to make its first official fight with passengers, the first of America's historic"Yankee Clippers" sailed out for the China Seas just 100 years ago. Courageous, staunch, and sternly handled, these old Baltimore Clippers launched a new age for America, brought into being our first Merchant Marine, gained our first supremacy, on the trade routes of the world for America’s commerce...

Mr. Trippe, in turning over to you with deep satisfaction, this ocean transport Clipper Ship, may I express again the oft-expressed hope of American aviation and all Americans, that Pan American's flying Clipper Ships will bring back to America that blue pennant of world leadership first won and never since regained by those historic old Clipper Ships of a hundred years ago"...

Excerpt in response by Mr. J. T. Trippe, President of the Pan American Airways System:

"This new ship of the air, will be the first clipper ship of our modern age to serve American commerce in the China trade. Ahead of this clipper now is the final series of transport flights under rigid operating conditions. Over our Caribbean airways she will receive her transport training for ocean service...
Colonel Lindbergh, as head of our technical committee, who has had so much to do with the successful development of these trans-ocean clipper ships, and our engineers who, with him, have followed so closely the construction of these Martin flying boats, are confident of their ability to meet every requirement...
The fact that it has been successfully developed in three short years, is a fitting tribute to the aviation industry in America and to the entire Martin organization.” -- Pan American Air Ways (Sept-Oct 1935).

CHINA CLIPPER AT MIDDLE RIVER LAUNCH & WASHINGTON D.C. DEMO

Fox Movietone Newsreel footage

CHINA CLIPPER OVER GOTHAM

Universal Newsreel footage (National Archives and Records Administration. Voice over by Pan Am Historical Foundation).

The China Clipper flew from Baltimore October 15th  for a demonstration in New York, with a public viewing on the 16th followed by the return to Baltimore carrying 38 passengers and 5 crew. 

“Taking off from Glenn L., the Martin Plant at Middle River, near Baltimore, the China Clipper was sighted over New York Harbor yesterday at 11:58 A.M. She landed in Bowery Bay at 12:05 P.M. With Capt. Musick as crew were Ralph Dahlstrom, first officer; [Thomas]Runnells, radio officer; C. D. Wright, flight engineer, and S. P. Crago, junior flight engineer. Aboard were nineteen other persons, all connected with the airline. The big silvery ship was moored about 100 feet off the airport dock. “ (10/15/1935 The New York Times).

“…Captain Musick lifted it easily… Down the East River, around the Battery and up the North River, the huge craft cruised at an altitude of between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, its four 800-horsepower fourteen-cylinder Wasp engines turning over at about 65 percent of full power. (10/16/1935 The New York Times).

NBC OVER NYC IN THE CHINA CLIPPER

George Hicks broadcasts aboard the China Clipper over Manhattan and Rockefeller Center. 

TESTING THE M-130 AT THE MIAMI BASE

The China Clipper flew to Miami on October 27th. Members of the crew included Captain Ed Musick, Ralph Dahlstrom-Senior Flight Officer, Samuel P. Crago - Jr. Flight Officer, Chan Wright - Engineering Officer and Thomas Runnells - Communications Officer. Conducting  flights from Miami on routes in the Caribbean, the China Clipper crew prepared for transpacific service. John Leslie, an engineer from Pan Am's Pacific Division team, supervised the testing with P. D. Doran from Pratt & Whitney making sure the four 800-horsepower engines were running smoothly. Tests included tracking fuel usage and range at altitudes of 8000-12000 feet and checking instruments and mechanical systems. Longer flights were conducted between 1200 and 2400 miles on familiar Pan Am routes. Ed Musick, Pan Am's most experienced pilot, was in charge during these "shakedown" flights from Dinner Key around the Caribbean.  

MIAMI -- "Test flights by the all-metal ship in this area were featured by a 2,400-mile nonstop flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and return. Following hurricane warnings Sunday, the clipper was flown to Kingston, Jamaica, for safety and returned Tuesday. The China Clipper arrived here from Baltimore October 27. The transpacific service is scheduled to start November 22 from San Francisco. John Leslie, Pacific division engineer, was in charge of flights in Miami. "-- JCL Scrapbook/PAHF Collection.

The China Clipper had arrived in Miami on October 27, 1935 for testing before being ferried to California (PAHF Collection).

Arrival in Miami: Front view of the China Clipper at Dinner Key dock - Gleason Waite Romer Photographs - Miami-Dade Public Library System Digital Collection, 10/27/1935.  

 WELCOMING THE PHILIPPINE CLIPPER 

"Nov. 6 (P)-The PhiIippine Clipper, sister airiiner of the China Clipper, slipped down the runway today at the Glenn L. Martin plant and into the Chesapeake bay for her first taste of water. The Philippine Clipper is the third of a trio of airliners ordered from the Martin plant by Pan-American Airways for transoceanic passenger service. The China Clipper was delivered several days ago and was flown to Mlami. The first ship of the group, the Hawaiian Clipper, was used as a model for development of the appliances and characteristics of the other two ships... Several weeks of ground tests for the Philippine Clipper were completed yesterday. The actual water and flying tests began today." -- JCL Scrapbook (John C. Leslie /PAHF Collection).

CHINA CLIPPER FERRY FLIGHT

In the capable hands of Ed Musick the China Clipper prepared for her flight to California, completing tests against familiar winds and weather patterns on Pan Am's proven routes in the Caribbean. On November 8, with Ed Musick in command, the M-130 left Miami on a 3700 mile trip  to Alameda, California. The first leg of the trip took 11 hours to travel 1500 miles, finally reaching Acapulco. The Crew included: Captain Ed Musick, George King - Jr. Flight Officer, F.S.K. Lewis - Jr. Flight Officer, Chan Wright - Engineering Officer, Thomas Runnells - Radio Officer and Judd Ingram - Navigation Officer.

From Pan American Air Ways (Nov.-Dec. 1935), p. 13 (PAHF Collection) .

"Swinging down to the southwest through the Florida straits, she passed off Cape San Antonio, at Cuba's western extremity, shortly after 9 a. m. Two hours later found her giant shadow flitting - along the coast of Yucatan as she roared over the Bay of Campeche toward Puerto Mexico, there to cross the 110-mile wide "waistline" of Mexico to Salina Cruz and turn northward to Acapulco. Captain Musick reported at 1 p.m. at approximately 1,000 miles... about two-thirds, was behind him. After refueling and servicing overnight at Acapulco, the clipper will continue by easy stages to San Francisco to be readied for her Pacific flight late this month."-- JCL Scrapbook  (John C. Leslie /PAHF Collection).

In 1935, a lot of responsibility rested on Ed Musick's shoulders (PAHF Collection).

ALL IN DAY'S WORK, CAPT MUSICK SAYS 

By Capt. Ed Musick, Written for The Associated Press
"ACAPULCO, Mexico. Nov.  9-- It might seem like a trip to some--Miami to the Pacific Coast in a day--but it was just another day of overwater flying for us. We followed regular ocean air transport procedure and utilized the ferry trip to the fullest for crew training and engineering checks.

I gave the clipper the throttle at Miami with 50,800 pounds of load and climbed by easy stages to 2,000 feet, where we could see the sun, not yet risen. Then I swung on the course for the southern point of the gulf, all over water. A light wind was blowing from the Atantic.

At 6:30 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) (the take off was at 6:11 a.m.) I turned the controls over to Pilot F. S. K. Lewis, second junior flight officer, who was on the first of the rotating watches that followed with Pilot George King, first junior flight officer, and myself throughout the day. We used the automatic pilot but little, as we wished the men to build up experience in handling the ship under all conditions. About 400 miles out we ran into a head wind and one short squall which hardly caused a bump as the ship was heavy and steady..." -- JCL Scrapbook (John C. Leslie /PAHF Collection).

ACAPULCO

November 8-11, 1935, John Leslie studied operations aboard the China Clipper to Acapulco, San Diego, Los Angles, finally landing in Alameda.  (Photo: Standard Oil, California from JCL Scrapbook(John C. Leslie /PAHF Collection).

Since 1929, John C. Leslie  Leslie had worked with Andre Priester, Chief Engineer of Pan Am.  Now he was working closely with Ed Musick for preparations of the new transpacific service. After overseeing the recent flight tests  around the Caribbean,  Leslie, Pacific Division Engineer responsible for the plane's technical operations, embarked on a journey aboard the clipper to Alameda. Leslie spoke about Ed Musick:

“Because Ed Musick was my first pilot friend in Pan American and our first Chief Pilot, I would like to say a bit about him...

I, myself, can see Ed settling down in the cockpit for takeoff... touching, looking, turning, wiggling, somehow as though he had never sat on that particular seat cushion before. He would almost literally draw the cockpit around his shoulders like an old familiar shawl...”

"Lodi" Lodeesen has described Ed this way -
... two things I knew about Ed. He could fly like the devil and he never said much. ... He had the posture of a fencing master, lean and compact. When he moved or spoke, people around him became aware of him... He was patient, he was courteous. . . but in the air, his face sharpened, his eyes thrust ahead, his body straightened, he was thinking ahead …." — John C. Leslie papers/Pan Am Historical Foundation.

John Leslie (top) and Harry Rummer (on float) checking out the China Clipper at Acapulco (JCL Scrapbook/PAHF Collection).

ABOVE CALIFORNIA: 

NBC Shortwave Radio Report by Clipper

In 1935, shortwave broadcasts via commercial radio was still a new technology. When the China Clipper was making its way to the West Coast to start Pan Am's new transpacific flight schedule, an NBC Radio crew was aboard to give listeners at home a first-hand chance to listen in during the several-day flight. This is one of those broadcasts.

 FLYING TO SAN DIEGO

CHINA CLIPPER HOPS TO SAN DIEGO BAY: Second Day's Journey Places Pan-American Plane 3,100 Miles From Miami

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,  SAN DIEGO, Calif., Nov. 9. -- "Pan-America's China clipper landed on San Diego bay at 4:36 p. m., Pacific Standard Time (7:36 Eastern Standard time) today, completing a 3,100-mile one-stop flight from Miami, Fla. The elapsed time for the second leg of the trip, from Acapulco, Mexico, to San Diego, was 12 hours and 2 minutes. The 1,503-mile hop from Miami to Acapulco yesterday was made in 11 hours and 3 minutes. Leaving Acapulco, the big liner hummed northward with her four 800-horsepower motors at nearly full throttle to an easy landing here..." -- JCL Scrapbook (John C. Leslie /PAHF Collection). 

TO SAN PEDRO & BACK

November 10th, traveling from San Diego for a day trip,  the China Clipper was caught up in a search for a missing vessel off the coast, but landed on time in San Pedro Harbor at 11 am. From there local Los Angeles observers joined guests from San Diego on short demonstration flights aboard the aircraft. The ship and crew returned to San Diego for a banquet in their honor that night.

"The graceful, winged giant, her four motors droning evenly, made a leisurely inspection trip from San Diego to San Pedro and back... High praise for the Pan-American Airways craft came from her commander, Captain Edwin Musick, who was honored with his crew at a banquet at the San Diego Exposition last night [November 10th], the Associated Press said. - Recipient of a gold medal, Capt. Musick said the "big thrill" of the trip from the Atlantic Coast was when the plane "lifted her gross weight of 50,500 pounds off the water at Acapulco in less than 50 seconds and flew out of that completely mountain-locked harbor with a load of power to spare." (Oakland Tribune, Vol. 123, No. 134, 11 November 1935, From California Digital Newspaper Collection https://cdnc.ucr.edu )

MONTEREY: MILLIONS LISTEN IN

A moment in history captured on live radio.

At the same time that the China Clipper was expanding the range of flight distance across the earth, a stratrospheric balloon, Explorer II, piloted by U.S. Army Capt. Albert Stevens was reaching record altitudes above the earth in South Dakota.

On November 11, NBC established a three-way connection as Ed Musick commanded the M-130 over Monterey CA, with NBC radioman Burke Miller on board. They spoke directly with US Army Capt. Stevens who was 14 miles up in his balloon’s enclosed gondola, sheltered from freezing temperatures and low air pressure. For NBC, shortwave technology created a new dimension for commercial broadcasting.

The China Clipper would become the very first commercial passenger plane to cross the Pacific. And Explorer II, the first helium balloon, would hold a world altitude record until 1956. Both trailblazing flights were broadcast live and audiences listened to events as they happened on their home radio sets. 

 NOVEMBER 11, 1935

CHINA CLIPPER REACHES SAN FRANCISCO

Pan Am China Clipper on a flight over San Francisco's Ocean Beach, by Photographer Clyde Sunderland (PAHF Collection).

After 3 days of flying from Miami to Acapulco and up the west coast of California to Pan Am's Alameda base, Ed Musick began preparing for the M-130's 60-hour transpacific crossing on November 22nd. He had about a week and a half to make multiple test flights with the crew of the China Clipper over the ocean west of San Francisco Bay. Throughout the  days leading up to the M-130's's take off for Manila, the tests also provided opportunities for the crew of the recently-delivered Philippine Clipper (November 14th) to become familiar with M-130 operations. Also taking place on November 22nd, the Philippine Clipper flew to California via Acapulco, following the same trail as the China Clipper to San Diego and Alameda with Capt. R. A. Dahlstrom in command.

November 17, 1935 

"The China Clipper...was undergoing final grooming, for its first transpacific hop to Manila Friday. It made a 1000-mile test flight over the Pacific in a five-hour trip yesterday afternoon. With 12 company employees aboard, Captain Edwin C. Musick took the 25-ton seaplane on the cruise to check the performance of its motors and instruments. He reported "all O.K." Purpose of the test, besides checking instruments and fuel consumption, was to give the men who will handle the Philippine Clipper experience in flying over the ocean in the new type seaplane. Six of the men who were on yesterday's test will take the China Clipper on its long hop, the other six will form the Philippine Clipper's crew, according to present plans of Pan American Airways.''  --Oakland Tribune, Vol, 123, Number 141, 18 November 1935, p. 17.

November 18, 1935 

"The clipper's crew, getting everything ready for the hop to the Orient, made two test flights yesterday and last night. The first one took the 25-ton seaplane 500 miles out, while calibration checks were made on its radio compass equipment. The second flight at night, a two-hour trip that covered 300 miles, was made to give its officers a chance to practice night navigation." -- Oakland Tribune, Volume 123, Number 142, 19 November 1935, p. 3.

China Clipper over San Francisco Bay, by Clyde Sunderland (PAHF Collection).

 CHINA CLIPPER - ALAMEDA NOV. 22, 1935 

Plans for the M-130 flight from Alameda to Manila had been many years in the making. By November 22nd, 1935, seven Pan Am crew were ready to embark on the China Clipper journey across the Pacific:

Capt. Edwin Musick
First Officer - R.O.D. Sullivan
Second Officer - George King
1st eEngineer Officer - C.W. Wright
2nd Engineer Officer - V. A. Wright
Navigation Officer, F. J. Noonan,
Radio Officer - W. T. Jarboe

Planes that escorted the China Clipper out of San Francisco Bay flew above the 500 foot towers of the Bay Bridge which was under construction. But in a breathtaking maneuver, Captain Edwin C. Musick, commander of the massive flying boat, made the decision to fly his 25-ton craft under the bridge to accommodate its heavy load of mail. Wild cheers erupted in the crowds as they watched.

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