ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF
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.
Four Engines Out and Going Down: Aviation’s first forced landing, PAA's Sikorsky S-40 Caribbean Clipper piloted by Stanley J. “Red” Williamson.
Influential figures in the Pan Am's incorporation March 14, 1927: Investors and military officers who had concerns for the safety of the Panama Canal.
The Battle for South American routes: Pan American Airways and the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) line, in 1930.
Lessons Learned: In the 1927 Dole Race to Hawaii, tragedy provided valuable lessons for the transpacific future of Pan American Airways.
1929, A challenge to archeologists: On PAA's first mail flight over the Yucatan, Lindbergh saw pyramids jutting through dense, unmapped jungles PDF.
A Mysterious Frying Sound: Ferris W. Sullinger's unique challenges installing direction finder apparatus in Jamaica during Pan Am's early days.
Racing down the South American East Coast: Starting on the "Lindbergh Trail," the new route became the foundation for Pan Am's spectacular growth.
Pan Am's Base at Brownsville, during the early years. Gateway to Mexico and laboratory for instrument flying techniques.
April 1931, the story of PAA Radio Operator, Hans Frederick “Fred” Due, who worked on the expedition into Brazil’s western frontier, Matto Grosso.
Lindy Gets Pan American Airways Rolling: Lindbergh's Sikorsky S-38 airmail flight from Miami to Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, in February 1929.
Capt. Frank E. Ormsbee, pilot of Pan American Airways' 1930s flying boats & land planes, pioneered air routes in the Caribbean & South America.
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
Miami and the Flying Honeymoon" - A chapter about Pan Am's early days, from Peter Leslie's book on the airline's pioneering flying boat era. PDF
A Flying Boat Christmas: "Delivering the mail took precedence over tradition, so when Christmas coincided with a flight day, someone had to fly."
January 9, 1929. The day that marked the beginning of Pan American’s coordinated route system, which would grow exponentially in years to come.
Pan Am's Arctic explorations: Following the Viking Trail - Newfoundland to Greenland to Iceland. Then on to Europe, Africa, South America and home again.
Feb.1931: A royal pilot, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George, accepted invitations from Pan American Airways & Pan American-Grace Airways.
