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ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF

TAKE OFF Pan Am Fokker land plane Take Off Era

Pan Am 90 Years Ago Banner Miami 1933, PAHF/Jahnke Collection

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.

Read more: Pan Am in 1933

First Flight 10 19 27 blog

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.

Read more: Pan Am's Big Day

Pan Am Pilot Chili Vaughn, early years

Chili & the Generalissimo. Pan Am/CNAC pilot Chili Vaughn's adventure with William Bond & Chiang Kai-shek: 1940s aviation diplomacy in China PDF.

More... Chili & the General

Pan Am S40 at Dinner Key blogpic

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.

Read more: The Very 1st "Clipper"

New PanAm Airport w crowd blogpic

January 9, 1929. The day that marked the beginning of Pan American’s coordinated route system, which would grow exponentially in years to come.

Read more: A Day to Remember

Pan Am's First Crash in 1928. Fokker F-7 on Mail Route from Key West to Havana, Cuba

The 1928 loss of a passenger during the crash of Fokker "General Machado" from Havana to Key West marked the start of Pan Am's radio navigation. PDF

Read more: Pan Am's First Crash

Lindy blogpic

Lindy Gets Pan American Airways Rolling: Lindbergh's Sikorsky S-38 airmail flight from Miami to Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, in February 1929.

Read more: Lindy Gets PAA Rolling

Compilation Key West Photo (PAHF) & Key West Citizen,  October 1927 Courtesy of the Monroe County Public Library

Pan Am’s Cornerstone Moment: October 28, 1927, the day that was the true start of Pan American Airways, as a scheduled airline.

Read more: First Schedule

Frank Ormsbee Pilort

Capt. Frank E. Ormsbee, pilot of Pan American Airways' 1930s flying boats & land planes, pioneered air routes in the Caribbean & South America.

Read more: Ormsbee: Early Pilot

Brownsville Airport

Pan Am's Base at Brownsville, during the early years. Gateway to Mexico and laboratory for instrument flying techniques.

Read more: The Brownsville Base

0 PAA Ford in Managua media pic rsz

Keeping the Pan Am story alive falls to a generation of writers born after 1991. This article introduces new perspectives by Jack Seufert.

Read more: My Signature & Honor

Princes Fly Pan Am 1931, France Field Panama Canal Zone

Feb.1931: A royal pilot, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George, accepted invitations from Pan American Airways & Pan American-Grace Airways.

Read more: Princes Fly Pan Am

NYRBA worker atop Sikorsky S-38

The "Pernambuco," a Sikorsky S-38 flying for New York Rio Buenos Aires (NYRBA) became a Pan Am plane when NYRBA was absorbed by Pan Am.

Read more: The "Pernambuco"

Pan Ams first Pax flight F 7 General Machado blog

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.

Read more: 1st Pax to Cuba

Pan Am in South America with a Sikorsky S-38

Racing down the South American East Coast: Starting on the "Lindbergh Trail," the new route became the foundation for Pan Am's spectacular growth.

Read more: Race to So. America

Ford lands w llamas

The Battle for South American routes: Pan American Airways and the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) line, in 1930.

Read more: Battle for So. America

Miami: Pan Am's original Hangar Five video

A video history around the beginnings of international aviation in Miami: Pan Am Field's original Hangar Five, circa 1929.

Read more: A Living Legacy

Preflight conference Eyes on the Sky by Eric Hobson

1929, A challenge to archeologists: On PAA's first mail flight over the Yucatan, Lindbergh saw  pyramids jutting through dense, unmapped jungles PDF.

Read more: Eyes in the Sky

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