Pan Am Clipper of the Day - April 7, 2008.

[Mycroft Holmes]

"THE MOST WATCHED-FOR SHIP IN THE WORLD!"

Life; October 13, 1941.

Click here to view a full-size readable image.

 

[Fletch]

Great ships those Boeing 314s. What a pity their civil service was limited just to a few months before WW2 and a few months after. (They did their bit as transports during, too - of course.)

 

[Tango Yankee]

I did some of my first dives while taking SCUBA lessons off the Pan Am pier on Guam. That was pretty cool, imagining the planes moored there so many years before.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Decodence]

Truly a beautiful bird.

 

[The Wingnut]

...and not a single Boeing 314 remains. A shame, considering not only did Pan Am fly them, but three of them were operated by Britain and not a one escaped scrappage, cannibalization, crashes, salvage or even one being sunk by - of all organizations - the U.S. Navy!

And now, the first clipper, Sikorsky S-40 NC-80V:

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Old Igor sure loved struts didn't he?! "...a conglomeration of wings, wires, struts and booms."

http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/s42.html

-dixon cannon

 

[Fletch]

It doesn't even look like it should fly. It looks like it's been thrown together from various aircraft and boat parts. If I didn't know it was real, I'd guess it was a piece of steampunk art.

 

[dhermann1]

Wasn't there a thread at some point about the many and various bizarre forms of flying boats? I've always loved those 84 engined Dorniers. Just the thought of flying hundreds of miles over uncharted oceans, without modern avionics or communications, gives me the willies. But I'd do it in a heart beat, if I had chance.

 

[kampkatz]

Please elaborate a bit on an 84 engined Dornier. Is a photo available?

 

[dhermann1]

Slight exaggeration there. They just made some amazingly complicated aircraft. I believe there was one with as many as 8 engines.

 

[Fletch]

Twelve! The unbelievable Do X.

She was the first (and biggest!) of several superplanes that pushed, and exceeded, the limits of engine technology. They were slow, limited in range and payload, and hugely expensive to operate.

It took WW2 to bring a quantum leap in engine power, and by then it made more sense to have many medium-to-large planes that could move masses of goods and people.

 

[dhermann1]

This is a good example of what you could almost call a real Steampunk artifact. I love that airplane. You can just imagine Captain Nemo at the controls.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

The Pacific Clipper

I have an airline pilot friend that keeps me abreast of the latest efforts of the Underwater Admiralty Sciences (UAS) team. They are working currently on finding and recovering the Pan Am 'Honolulu Clipper' somewhere in deep ocean Pacific.

There will be a conference on the project in Cor d' Lene, Idaho next month featuring old timers from the Golden Era of Pan Am - the flying boats. I made acquaintance with a 90+ year old retired Pan Am pilot at a recent CAF event in March. He flew the B-314 and the other post-war recips. UAS is attempting to interview as many of these Clipper crew as possible before they're all gone - like the ships they flew!

Here is the UAS website: http://www.nwrain.com/~newtsuit/uas/boeing314.html

http://clipperpioneers.com/news/boeing_story.html

-dixon cannon

 

[Decodence]

If anybody is interested in a show all about the DoX and Dornier, torrent this:

Discovery.Civilisation.Mission.X.The.Aviation.Duel.PDTV.XViD-SomeTV.avi

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Look at this b&w photo and compare to the color shot I posted earlier. Two different airplanes, in two different places, on two different days, in two different configurations (airborne and taxiing). But.... the angle at which they were photographed is exactly the same. Uncanny, no?!

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I always loved this Clipper model box cover art.
-dixon cannon

 

[dhermann1]

Was the Short Sunderland ever used for international passenger flights?

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Was the Short Sunderland ever used for international passenger flights?

Hi dhermann,

Here's what I've decerned; "For the Empire routes, BOAC used a fleet of 21 Sunderlands converted into 22 seat airliners, know as the 'Hythe' class. These proved to be among the most comfortable air transports in operation at the time (post war). Sandringhams were used to supplement 'Hythes' on services to Singapore, Japan, and Johannesburg." -Seaplanes and Flying Boats by Maurice Allward 1981 B&N Books

So, it seems, yes - The Short Sunderland 'Hythe' class flying boat was used on international routes.

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

The Dornier Do X

Twelve! The unbelievable Do X.

She was the first (and biggest!) of several superplanes that pushed, and exceeded, the limits of engine technology. They were slow, limited in range and payload, and hugely expensive to operate.

It took WW2 to bring a quantum leap in engine power, and by then it made more sense to have many medium-to-large planes that could move masses of goods and people.

It FLYS!!!

-dixon cannon

 

[dr greg]

the ends of the earth

Being a long way down here, flying boats had a long history in this country
http://www.clubmarine.com.au/internet/clubmarine.nsf/docs/MG19-6+Feature
http://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Rose Bay pre war 1.htm