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As early as 1935 Pan American had identified that a truly trans-Pacific flying boat with unprecedented range and double the passenger payload of the airline's Martin M-130 would be required particularly if they were to provide a service across the longer more difficult Atlantic route and requested proposals from a number of American manufacturers.
The Pacific Clipper (civil registration NC18602) was an American Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat, famous for having completed an unplanned nearly around-the-world flight in December 1941 and January 1942 as the California Clipper. [1]
Pan Am also used Boeing 314 flying boats for the Pacific route: in China, passengers could connect to domestic flights on the Pan Am-operated China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) network, co-owned with the Chinese government. Pan Am flew to Singapore for the first time in 1941, starting a semi-monthly service that reduced San Francisco ...
The spirit of Pan Am lives on. For passengers eager to relive the days of flying the iconic airline, a charter company will re-create two early routes of the now long-gone carrier.
It is the site from which Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) initiated trans-Pacific airmail service on November 22, 1935. A flying boat named China Clipper made the first trip, and the publicity for that flight caused all flying boats on that air route to become popularly known as China Clippers.
Pan Am was seeking to expand its trans-Pacific air service between San Francisco and Hong Kong in 1937. This route had been pioneered by the Martin M-130 and Pan Am was in need of a larger aircraft. The San Francisco to Hawaii flight was 2,400 miles (3,900 km) and took 18 – 20 hours. Pan Am would have configured the M-156 as a 26-berth sleeper.
Pan Am initiated trans-Pacific airmail service on 22 November 1935; and began carrying passengers in October 1936. Pan Am requested Boeing to design a longer range flying boat to improve service offered by the original Martin M-130s; and Boeing completed NX18601 with the canceled Boeing XB-15 wing design and a single vertical tail fin on 1 June 1938.
Pan Am opened an Art Deco terminal building at the airport in 1934, featuring a globe in its lobby that was 10 feet in diameter and weighed 3.5 tons. Pan Am operated Sikorsky S-41 and Sikorsky S-42 flying boats from the airport. [1] The Navy requisitioned the entire Dinner Key facility in 1943 and commissioned it as Dinner Key NAF. [1]