Comments on: China Clipper

By: Lin Snow

Lin Snow — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:05:47 +0000

My late father-in-law, John Walsh Morse, was on the last flight of “China Clipper” in January 1945. He is listed in the crew/passenger manifest as a flight engineer. He went to work for Pan Am in 1942 at Miami Beach and apparently was deeply involved in efforts to improve fuel consumption on various types of aircraft flown by Pan Am including DC-3s, the Boeing Stratocruiser, and the Martin 130. He made several flights to Leopoldville. Sometimes on their return flights they brought back uranium.
He survived the crash and went on to be Pan Am station manager at Port-au-Prince.
Among his momentos is a piece of fabric removed from the China Clipper’s vertical stabilizer that includes a portion of the American flag, as well as a number of wreckage photos. The official crash report put the crash down to pilot error, however the photos indicate unexplained pieces of wood in the wreckage suggesting she hit a boat. The China Clipper starred in a movie that featured Humphrey Bogart. Not great, but some good flight footage.
Lin Snow

By: Chris Ellinger

Chris Ellinger — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:23:37 +0000

I have a piece of mail from the first Clipper flight. Is it valuable?

By: William Davenport

William Davenport — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:00:30 +0000

Hi Don,

I’m an American living in Ireland and I love flying boats. The romance of the time, the manners, the slower pace of life, etc., etc. Anyway I am starting a coffee company here and am thinking about using flying boat images for my theme. On the labels of my bags I was thinking about using images of some of the old posters and postcards from the 30s showing Boeing, Martin, and Sikorski flying boats in exotic (coffee growing) locales. To that end I am trying to build up a photo library because I want to support the brand with a website that complements the theme.

You mention you have some photos of the old flying boats. Might I be able to use those photos either in my packaging or website? Please let me know. Send them along if you can.

Kind Regards,
William Davenport
Worldwide US phone – 603.672.4035

By: William Davenport

William Davenport — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:58:02 +0000

I live in Ireland and we have the Foynes Air Museum here and they have what is supposed to be the only 314 still in existence. I just learned about the museum and plan to travel down there sometime in September (they are closed from late October through March I think). It is located south of Limerick if you are familiar with Ireland, right on the water.

I’ll try and post my notes about my trip when I get back.

By: William Davenport

William Davenport — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:53:58 +0000

Hi David,

You mention you have some photos of your father and the 314. Might I be able to use those photos either in my packaging or website? Please let me know.

Kind Regards,
William Davenport
Worldwide US phone – 603.672.4035

By: Grace

Grace — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:00:01 +0000

I recently purchased a old silver seaplane pin at an antique store in my town. The owner didn’t know what the model of the plane was. I work for an Aerospace company and thought it would look nice on my badge necklace. I did some research on passenger seaplanes from the 30’s and it turns out that my pin is the Martin M-130. It is really a neat little pin. Although worn down a bit you can still see the Pan Am logo. Nice find, I love it, but was disappointed that out of the 3 built none survived, but was happy to learn that it really was quite a plane.

By: Barbara Cluthe Moore

Barbara Cluthe Moore — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:28:54 +0000

Thanks for good memories. I am the daughter of William A. (Bill) Cluthe (pronounced cluth-e). After the first air mail was flown to Manila, my father completed the last leg of the air mail flight to China. He was in the first graduation class of Navy aviators in Pensacola, and was hired by Pan American around 1931. I was told he was the fifth pilot they hired. After living in Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Miami, he transferred to San Francisco in 1937, where the flights flew from Alameda, later from Treasure Island in the Bay. His good friends were Ken Beer and Lanier Turner, both pilots for Pan American. I was a teenager during this time, so I remember it well. I have a photograph of my father with Mr. W. Beall, designer of the Boeing Clipper ships. This picture was taken on the overseas test flight of the first Boeing February 24, 1939.

The photo can be seen here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34539072/W-A-Cluthe-and-W-Beall.jpg

By: Bruce Gordon

Bruce Gordon — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:50:22 +0000

I was a child in Manila when the first China Clipper came. I have photos of my mother with my brother and me with the first China Clipper, and one of it being serviced in Manila Bay. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to attach the photos.

By: Hector

Hector — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:36:13 +0000

The PanAm seaplanes, of course, landed in the ocean — Manila Bay.

By: thomas arnold

thomas arnold — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:21:34 +0000

I was told that my grandfather,a native of guam and saipan,worked for pan am and on the clipper in the 1930’s or 40’s.His name is Juan Cruz Matagulay.Anybody have any way to confirm or any information on his service would be greatly appreciated.