Monday, December 28, 2015

The Pacific Clipper flight, redux


Regular readers will recall Weekend Wings #23, in which I discussed the involuntary round-the-world flight of a Pan American Boeing 314 Clipper airliner at the start of America's involvement in World War II.  It's a story that's long fascinated me.




Now, courtesy of an e-mail from reader Jacob, we learn of another look at this pioneering flight, in much greater detail than my single article.  This one's in three parts, titled 'The Long Way Round'.  You'll find them at these links:








There's also a book about the flight by Ed Dover titled 'The Long Way Home'.  It can be read free of charge by Kindle Unlimited members at Amazon.com.  I've already downloaded the e-book version for future reference.

The flight of the Clipper is a fascinating story from the days when international air travel was a major undertaking and a real adventure - sometimes a dangerous one.  The articles and the book are highly recommended reading for aviation and military history enthusiasts.

Peter

3 comments:

Solomon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
drjim said...

One of the Old Guys in my radio club worked for PanAm back in the 1930's setting up the radio stations and refueling sites through the Pacific.

He had some amazing stories to tell.

Anonymous said...

One of my Dad's college room mates flew in a Catalina PBY as an observer, said the ride wasn't too bad and the views from the side bubble windows was great.