bob@islenet.UUCP (Bob Cunningham) (11/22/85)
50 years ago today...
A silver flying boat flew across the Pacific for the first time: the first
China Clipper.
It started out from San Francisco on 22 November 1935 and island-hopped
for 6 days: Honolulu, Midway, Wake, Guam, then Manila. The total
flying time, 59 hours and 48 minutes set a new world's record.
It covered 8,219 miles.
The first flight didn't carry any passengers, just 58 bags of mail and
various freight (including thanksgiving turkeys for Wake and Guam).
Thereafter, once a week three flying boats carried mail and cargo across
the Pacific. Finally, on 21 October 1936, Pan American Airlines
inaugurated Pacific passenger service (first flight had five men and two
women passengers).
It was the age of the elegant passenger ships, express trains like the
"Orient Express", prestigeous Zepplins, and the world's most
luxurious airplane: the China Clipper.
Emulating the other premium transportation services of the era,
the Clipers had big comfy chairs, a downstairs lounge and bar, sleeping
berths, dinners on China plates with silver and linen.
It was an interesting era ... and it ended on 7 December 1945. One Clipper
was in Hong Kong; it was strafed by the Japanese while floating at a buoy
in the harbor and burned to the water line. One Clipper was at Wake, they
took off and left for Honolulu with the last passengers; they made it to
Honolulu even though they were strafed on take-off from Wake and 60 bullet
holes were later counted in the aircraft. Clipper Service was suspended
for the duration of World War II.
After the war, the remaining Clippers flew briefly, but a new and swifter
plane -- a product of the war -- the DC-4 quickly took over trans-Pacific
service. The last Clipper flight flew on 8 April 1946.
--
Bob Cunningham {dual|vortex|ihnp4}!islenet!bob
Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii