ERA | PAN AM TAKE-OFF
Pan Am's Arctic explorations: Following the Viking Trail - Newfoundland to Greenland to Iceland. Then on to Europe, Africa, South America and home again.
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.
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.
A View from Ketchikan: Pacific Alaska Airways, subsidiary of Pan American Airways, based on an article by Dave Kiffer (2006).
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 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
January 9, 1929. The day that marked the beginning of Pan American’s coordinated route system, which would grow exponentially in years to come.
The Battle for South American routes: Pan American Airways and the New York, Rio and Buenos Aires (NYRBA) line, in 1930.
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.
Pan Am’s Cornerstone Moment: October 28, 1927, the day that was the true start of Pan American Airways, as a scheduled airline.
Ralph O'Neill's Magic Carpet: The Once and Future Commodore by Doug Miller.The story of Pan Am's Consolidated Commodores. PDF.
Pan Am's Clipper Debut. Sikorsky S-40 “American Clipper" was the very first to be named a Clipper, delivered to Pan Am in October 1931.
1929, A challenge to archeologists: On PAA's first mail flight over the Yucatan, Lindbergh saw pyramids jutting through dense, unmapped jungles PDF.
