Comments on: Boeing B-314

By: Tom Sparks

Tom Sparks — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:33:19 +0000

Fans of the Clipper crews and their passengers may be interested in this page on The Short Snorter Project website:
http://www.shortsnorter.org/D_Ray_Comish_Short_Snorter.html

By: Charles Ganong

Charles Ganong — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:58:20 +0000

Ms. Dondero,

Thank you for your reply to my comments about the Boeing 314 flying boats. We are still gathering pictures, info, etc. for Mr. Burke’s autobiography. The 314 was the first Boeing plane he flew, after transferring from Alaska. I plan to contact the Boeing Museum of Flight here in Seattle to see what other pictures and records they might have.

Thanks again.

Charles Ganong

By: John Wilson

John Wilson — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:27:27 +0000

Hi Meg,
I have been researching the operations of the PanAm Clippers during WW2 for a long time and am always eager to learn of the existence of flight logs from any of the crews of these great aeroplanes. I would be extremely grateful for photocopies of any flight logs in the period December 1941 through December 1942 and later, and have already had generous help from a number of venerable ex PanAm crew members. I know this is a great imposition but would you be willing to get photocopies of such logbooks as you may have, or better still digital scans and let me see them? I will of course pay any expenses that may be incurred and as the story will eventually be published in specialist aviation journals, full acknowledgement will be given so that the true extent of what these crews achieved will be remembered.
With kindest regards,
John Wilson

By: John Wilson

John Wilson — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:14:09 +0000

Hi,
I am researching the operations pf the PanAm Clippers during WW2 and have been fortunate enough to locate a few living crew members who have sent me photocopies of their flying logbooks so that I can check where the clippers were flying to and from. Does Jack Burke still have his logbook and would he be generous enough to let me have photocopies to add to my limited collection of data? You are absolutely right about the skill of these crews, and what a tribute to their expertise that they managed to keep the supply routes open with remarkably few “incidents”, apart from the loss of “Yankee Clipper” in Portugal – almost certainly due to over-enthusiastic flying by the captain.
I would sincerely appreciate any help you may be able to give.
Kindest regards,
John Wilson

By: Magge

Magge — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:17:46 +0000

Charles,

My dad was often WWII courier passenger on Yankee Clipper, Atlantic Clipper and others to and from LaGuardia to London via Lisbon (Azores), also via Foynes, Ireland, near
Limerick. I don’t know if pilots ever got to know the regular passengers but dad’s
passed on now, name- Orris Gates (nickname Butch). Don’t know too many details
of these flights as much was hush-hush at the time and he didn’t reveal much later.
I’m researching his exploits and am having little results so far but more and more is
being de-classified from NARA and service histories. I know before US entered the war and maybe afterward, couriers weremilitary required to dress in civilian suits in Allied countries.

By: Magge

Magge — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:03:27 +0000

Thanks for the article to come on crash of Yankee Clipper.
My dad flew as State Dept courier many times on the Yankee,
1940 till crash. A courier friend, James N. Wright, was onboard and died that day, acc to my mom’s account. I will
enjoy reading and this site is awesome. I have the movie about Jane Froman’s life who was injured badly in crash.

By: David Williamson

David Williamson — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:42:35 +0000

You need to start with Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 (also called Flight Simulator 2004). Some stores still sell it, or you can order it from Amazon or find it on E-Bay. Then you need the B314 add on software of which there are both payware and free versions. You can buy it from simmarket (http://secure.simmarket.com/pilots-boeing-b314-the-clipper-online-v2.phtml) or download free versions from http://www.flightsim.com (search on FS2004 – early aircraft). I recommend the payware version. It only works with FS2004 or FS2002, not FSX.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:40:56 +0000

Yes, Arthur Lee was a passenger on the Yankee Clipper when it crashed on the Tagus River, Lisbon, on Februarry 22, 1943, during Trip Number 9035.

Lee was president of Artee Corporation, representing British motion picture films, and he was returning to London to visit his son, who was an RCAF sergeant assigned to the RAF in England.

I will be posting a complete article about the crash in the near future.

By: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:09:40 +0000

It actually says that on the bill (silver certificate). He was part of a team from MIT and this was their 2nd trip.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:02:46 +0000

That was known as a short snorter; you have found a great little piece of history!