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ERA | WORLD WAR TWO

Pan Am b- 314 Dixie Clipper during World War Two

M 156 Russian M 162A Tadpole Martin Factory 1937 PelicanFilmsMartin Marietta

1937, Glenn Martin’s Birds of a Feather, Two Branches of the Family Tree: “Russian Clipper" & the “Tadpole Clipper" at the Martin Company in MD.

Read more: Birds of a Feather

Pan Am Air Ferry blog

Pan Am's Air Ferry Service to Africa in World War 2: August 18 [1941] Pres. Roosevelt announced plans for the world’s most ambitious airways project.

Read more: PAA Air Ferry Service

Airmail and History blog

Air Mail & Pan Am History: China Clipper Endnote, a cover from Ken Sanford's impressive collection of stamps, courtesy of Jon Krupnick. Read the PDF.

Read more: China Clipper Endnote

Morten Beyer Chapter: Loading the China Clipper

Loading the China Clipper: An Excerpt from Morten Beyer's book about Pan American World Airways' China Clipper cargo, "Flying Higher" (2010).

Read more: China Clipper Cargo

Flying Cloud

Flying Cloud's debut: In Feb.1940 Boeing's famed test pilot Eddie Allen & PAA's Francis Jacobs flew the airline's first B-307 down to Brownsville TX.

Read more: Flying Cloud's Debut

War Boat  - The M-130 Philippine Clipper

The M-130 China Clipper was the first out of the gate, but it was the Philippine Clipper that saw WW2 up close on Wake Island in 1941 for Pan Am.

Read more: War Boat: A Heroic Tale

Bermuda Genteel Sort of War

As WW2 began in Europe, PAA Pilot Charles Lorber landed his B-314 in Bermuda and British censors & marines removed all mail bound for Germany.

Read more: A Genteel Sort of War

Mighty Design Boeing 314

A Mighty Design: The story of the development and construction of Pan Am's famous Boeing B-314 flying boat, written by Doug Miller. Read the PDF

Read more: Mighty Design: B-314

Willkies PAA Africa C 47 Landing in Turkey

"The Day Wendell Willkie Chose To Fly Pan Am" by Tom Culbert: Willkie's tour around the world for FDR, and a story about an unusual WW2 mission.

Read more: Willkie & PAA in WW2

Capt. Eveland (in hat at right) at Dinjan India after refugee flight

Pan Am Capt. I. Wayne Eveland flew the notorious Hump between India and China in World War Two & experienced the 1942 Evacuation of Burma.  PDF.

Read more: Burma Evacuation

Marine Air Terminal, MAT, LaGuardia 1940s

Marine Air Terminal (MAT) at LaGuardia, still in operation, was New York's first true airport where Pan Am's Clipper ships flew.

Read more: The MAT @ LaGuardia

The Commodore FDR

The Commodore and the President, from John C. Leslie's memoir: Arranging Pres. Roosevelt's daring WW2 flight to Casablanca on B-314 Dixie Clipper.

Read more: The Commodore & FDR

Pan Am M130 flyby 1935 2

"When Passengers Were News." Pan Am's flying clipper ships were a lifeline in June 1941, prior to United States' involvement in World War Two.

Read more: When Pax Were News

Marine Air Terminal LaGuardia flying boat model blogpic

NYC's 1965 Landmarks Preservation Law preserved the Interior at the MAT, LaGuardia with its Art Deco Design and stunning WPA Mural by James Brooks.

Read more: A Landmark Interior

Wake Island aerial, from the Bonnie Gilbert Collection

Echoes of Wake Island, by Bonnie Gilbert tells the story behind her 2012 book, "Building for War" and the civilian contractors and marines on Wake Is.

Read more: Echoes of Wake Is.

Pan Am Boeing 314 Yerba Buena San Francisco Bay blog

Service Aboard Clippers in Wartime: A few notes on Pan Am's flying boat operations during World War II, from Pan Am Transpacific Newsletter 1942.

Read more: Clipper Service in War

War Claims a Clipper

War Claims a Clipper: Six hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, December 8, 1941: 6:50 a.m., local time (Dec. 7, 1941, 12:20 p.m.)

Read more: War Claims a Clipper

winstons wild ride blog

After the Pearl Harbor attack, Churchill sailed to Washington DC to meet with FDR, but flew home on the B-314 Clipper Berwick due to safety concerns. 

Read more: Winston's Wild Ride

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