![]() ![]() He was a Master of Ocean Flying Boats - the certification pilots received once they learned the intricacies of flying such a complex aircraft. Photo: Gettyįlight NC18602 originated in San Francisco on December 1, 1941, with Capt. Passengers boarding one of Pan American Airways' clipper fleet. "There were nearly as many crew members on these flights as passengers to ensure comfort and safety." "If you got on an airplane like this then, you were flying premium first class with a suite in an airliner today," van der Linden said. The cost to fly one way from San Francisco to Hong Kong in 1940 was $US760 ($1067) - nearly $US15,000 ($A21,070) today. The Boeing 314, which could carry 74 passengers, also had sleeping quarters with turndown bed service. Service on board the flying boat - essentially a glamorous luxury ocean liner in the sky - was exceptional, with gourmet meals cooked in onboard galleys and served in dining rooms. A long stretch of calm water was all the landing strip this behemoth needed to reach populous seaports in the United States and Europe or exotic destinations like Honolulu, Fiji and Java. A lack of airfields and the need for travel to remote locations made this unique aircraft a necessary form of transportation. Pan Am pioneered the use of flying boats in the 1930s. With a wingspan of 152 feet, the plane weighed 84,000 pounds (38,000 kg) when loaded with passengers and fuel, requiring the full power of its four 1,600-horsepower Wright Cyclone engines to help it break free of the water's pull and get into the air. The Boeing 314 was one of the largest aircraft of its era - nearly as large as a Boeing 747 today. These planes were beautiful, but they were hard to fly." "They didn't get lost and they had only one engine problem, which they fixed. Robert van der Linden, curator of Air Transportation and Special Purpose Aircraft at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. "Flying around the world with no charts is astounding," said F. To top it off, the crew managed this feat without the aid of maps or radio contact, using only celestial navigation and an atlas obtained from a library in New Zealand.īy submitting your email you are agreeing to Nine Publishing's They flew more than 30,000 miles (48,000 km) over vast expanses of empty oceans and remote landscapes on five continents while crossing the equator four times. They were shot at twice, narrowly escaped getting blown up and otherwise avoided disaster while piloting the first commercial flight to circumnavigate the globe. Instead of heading home by going east, they took the massive Boeing 314 in the opposite direction, flying blind with no charts and no support from the airline. That event, 80 years ago Tuesday, propelled the United States into war and forced the Pacific Clipper's crew of 12 to make a dangerous - and historic - detour from their scheduled flight plan. ![]() The return flight from New Zealand to San Francisco via Honolulu was interrupted by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 - "A date which will live in infamy," as President Franklin D. ![]() The Boeing 314 'flying boats' were like flying premium first class with a suite in an airliner today. Little did he know it would be the only change of clothing he would have for more than a month. He had only a few dollars in his wallet, so this extra shirt was going to have to last him until then. Poindexter had no clean clothes for the flight, which still had to make another stop in Auckland, New Zealand, and was not scheduled to return to San Francisco until December 10. He had left California unexpectedly the day before as a stand-in for an ill radio man onboard the Pacific Clipper, a large flying boat - essentially a seaplane on steroids. The chief flight radio officer on Pan Am Flight NC18602 needed a spare shirt. It was December 2, 1941, and palm trees swayed to the gentle rhythm of the trade winds that sunny Tuesday morning. Jack Poindexter walked briskly into the Liberty House department store on King Street in downtown Honolulu. A long stretch of calm water was all the landing strip this behemoth needed to reach populous seaports. ![]()
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