Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats

The Flying Boat Airliner

The flying boat airliner dominated international airline service in the 1920s and 1930s.

Although aerodynamically less efficient than streamlined landplanes, flying boats could provide scheduled passenger service to any city with a sheltered harbor, which made them the ideal international airliner at a time when runways capable of handling large aircraft were scarce.

The Pan Am Clippers

The most famous flying boat airliners were the Pan Am Clippers, and the era of the flying boat reached its height with the luxurious Boeing B-314 Clipper, with which Pan American Airways inaugurated the first scheduled transatlantic airline service between Europe and America in 1939.

Pan Am’s leader, Juan Trippe, decided to call his flying boats “clippers” as part of his effort to link his airliner with the maritime heritage of the ocean liners with which Pan Am was in competition, and with which the public were so comfortable.

Sikorsky S-40

The first Pan American plane to be called a “Clipper” was the Sikorsky S-40 flying boat, introduced in 1931. The S-40 helped Pan Am spread its wings in Latin American, but it was a relatively primitive machine which never fully satisfied the needs of the airline.

Sikorsky S-42

The streamlined Sikorsky S-42 was a giant leap forward in flying boat technology. The S-42 was used extensively on Pan Am’s Latin American network and made pioneering survey flights to develop Pan Am’s routes across the Pacific.

Martin M-130

Pan American’s famous China Clipper, a Martin M-130 flying boat, inaugurated the first regularly scheduled passenger and mail across the Pacific in November, 1935.

Boeing B-314

The apex of flying boat design was the Boeing B-314, introduced in 1939. Sometimes known as the Yankee Clipper or Dixie Clipper type, the luxurious B-314 provided the first scheduled heavier-than-air passenger service across the Atlantic ocean.

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Charles Parker October 21, 2012 at 6:46 pm: Trying to identify this large 2′ x 3′ publicity photo of a Pan Am Clipper flying over a 19th c clipper ship at anchor in front of a shipwreck with palm trees /island to the left. It’s a a Siskorsky S42 and the Pan Am logo is much further toward the nose than the other examples I’ve seen. It is in it’s original 1930’s frame. I’ve not opened it yet to look for the printer. It is a half tone from the original photo. I have a pic but can’t figure out how to post. Many thanks.

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Gary Lizak Reply:
December 17th, 2012 at 2:31 am
Dinner Key Auditorium Coral Gables now used as City Of Miami City Hall was the original Pan Am Seaplane Hangar in the 40s

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John L. Hitchcock June 28, 2012 at 2:08 pm: I have a photograph of the Pan Am crew taken by my father in the late 1930’s. It was taken on the Western Union Telegraph Company property, Horta, Faial, Azores where the crew used to stay during lay-over while crossing the Atlantic. Horta was the mid-way re-fueling point between the UK and America.

John Hitchcock (johnhitchcock@shaw.ca)

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