ERA | EXPLORATIONS
Panagra Capt. Stephen Dunn, forced in a storm to fly his Sikorsky S-43 "blind" across the Isthmus of Panama, never reached Cristobal.
Loading the China Clipper, like Days of Sailing Ships: Pan Am's First Transpacific Thanksgiving, account by Pilot Ed Musick, November 25, 1935.
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.
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.
Hawaiian ships are shaking and shoulders quivering to a brand new island dance-the “Clipper Hula”-dedicated to Pan American Airways).
August 17, 1935: Pan Am's newly constructed and vital base on Wake greeted the 3rd survey flight from California with Capt. R.O.D Sullivan in command.
Preparing for the Pacific, Oct-Nov '35: China Clipper demos in NYC & DC , PAA testing in the Caribbean & Alameda, plus innovative shortwave broadcasts .
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.
The Life and Times of Dinner Key, by Doug Miller: A story that looks at the development of Pan Am's Miami flying boat base in the 1930s. (PDF).
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.
Pan Am in 1936: Stories of PAA by month in its 9th year of operations: the people, aircraft, explorations & destinations (90 Years ago series). Photo: Pax to San Juan on new S-43.
Lighter than Air by Doug Miller: When Juan Trippe of Pan Am explored the possibilities of airships and the technology that might have been.
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.
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.
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.
Celebrating the life of Pan Am pilot Capt. Ed Musick. He is legendary for breaking the isolation of the remote Pacific island of New Zealand.
