First Commercial Plane that Circumnavigated the World

[walkinghorse]

The Long Way Round: The Plane that Accidentally Circumnavigated the World

Story of a Pan Am flying boat that had to circumnavigate the world due to the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. Though they say circumnavigate the actual flight was from San Francisco west to NYC.

 

[billwill]

Pan Am flying boat...now that would have been a cool way to fly for sure!

 

[Alk8944]

Sorry, but: "On 1 July 1931, pilot Wiley Post and navigator Harold Gatty completed their circumnavigation of the world in a Lockheed Vega airplane, Winnie Mae, in 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes; the record for fastest circumnavigation was once again held by an airplane. This was 10 1/2 years before the Pan-Am Clipper is claimed to completed a circumnavigation. And it was a full circumnavigation, leaving from and returning to Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY.

There were actually several before this, but not Americans.

If Amelia Earhart had completed her flight she would have simply been the first woman to do so.

Sorry but you didn't say non-stop, but the Pan-Am Clipper couldn't have done it non-stop either. To get across the Pacific the Clippers had to re-fuel at Midway Island, where Pan-Am had facilities. Oh, and you didn't define "commercial". The Lockheed Vega is by definition a "commercial" type, and since the Post-Gatty flight was sponsored by an oil company the flight itself could be termed commercial. If you had said "Being operated in air-commerce...." that would have changed things! AND, in spite of the term "Circumnavigation" being used to describe the Clipper's flight it strictly was not, since it concluded the flight some 2,600 or so miles from returning to the it's starting point!

 

[THE PILGRIM]

This was the First Round the world Commercial Flight.
It was remarkable feat especially considering it was work it out as you go.
They didn't always have a nice big ocean to land in.
They landed in the Nile and the Congo.
Obtaining Gasoline was a problem almost every where they Landed. They needed a lot of high octane.
Unfortunately, they couldn't fly across the US back to SF and maybe get a chance land in the Miss, we had a war to fight.
The entire Pan American company was taken over by the Gov.
As I have posted, my FIL flew from Natal, Brazil to the Gold Coast in a Pan Am Flying Boat.

December 7, 1941 and the First Around-the-World Commercial Flight | National Air and Space Museum

 

[Onomea]

Great read, Walkinghorse!

I take "commercial" to mean by an aircraft designed primarily to ferry passengers from one place to another as part of a regularly offered transportation service.

 

[DWalt]

This was the First Round the world Commercial Flight.
It was remarkable feat especially considering it was work it out as you go.
They didn't always have a nice big ocean to land in.
They landed in the Nile and the Congo.
Obtaining Gasoline was a problem almost every where they Landed. They needed a lot of high octane.
Unfortunately, they couldn't fly across the US back to SF and maybe get a chance land in the Miss, we had a war to fight.
The entire Pan American company was taken over by the Gov.
As I have posted, my FIL flew from Natal, Brazil to the Gold Coast in a Pan Am Flying Boat.

There was a 1936 movie starring Humphrey Bogart called "China Clipper". It does show up on TCM occasionally, usually when they have a Bogart festival. Not that the movie is all that great, but it does have many scenes in which Bogart is piloting a Clipper over the Pacific. I think it is a somewhat fictionalized version of the early history of Pan Am, with Pat O'Brien playing a character much like "Hap" Arnold or Juan Trippe. Anyway there is a great final scene of a Clipper flying gracefully over the partially completed Golden Gate Bridge.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Must have been a great adventure, for a formerly great airline.

The Pan American seaplane base, in Port Washington on Long Island.

Edit: Looking into that flight some more and found this video that talks about it. Ironically, after this flights long-range accomplishment, it never flew in commercial service again because of the war and aircraft advancements that occurred during the war.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9bBZGZ1Hpk[/ame]

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I almost said I have seen a floatplane land in a river.
Not quite true in this case.
I was on the river walkway at Laughlin between casinos.
I hear a noise over the Colorado.
A plane I think comes down on the river.
It's pitch dark and I really couldn't see it.
The Nevada side where I was is pretty lit up and defined.
Not so much lighting or definition on the AZ side.
I suspect it was a local pilot and he knew exactly how to line up in the middle of the river.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

This was the First Round the world Commercial Flight....

They may of also been the first to fly it the "wrong way". East to West, and across sub Sahara Africa.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

The Pan Am F,ting Boat lost an Engine during my FIL's flight from Natal Brazil to Africa.
Even though they were actually closer to Africa than Brazil, the Captain elected to return to Brazil.
Why? There was a replacement engine and mechanics who knew how to install it in Natal.
If he continued on to Africa, it would be a major problem.
No spare engines there, and getting the spare over from Natal would be difficult.

 

[TomkinsSP]

Personally I find it humorous that people buy...

Magellan brand GPS systems (they should lead you to the Phillipenes and then stop functioning.)

Amelia Earhart brand luggage (should never be seen again after being tendered to airline.)

But I am easily amused.

 

[woodsltc]

Thanks for the read.....great piece of forgotten/unheralded history.


Don

 

[Gamecock]

My first wife's cousin was a Pan Am stewardess. 1970s. Pan Am was a glamour airline when flying was still a Big Deal.

 

[DWalt]

My first wife's cousin was a Pan Am stewardess. 1970s. Pan Am was a glamour airline when flying was still a Big Deal.

It really was a class act back in those days. I flew PAA several times back in the 1970s, and it was an experience. Great food, knockout stews (known today as grandmotherly Cabin Attendants). Remember the Pan Am TV series (set in the 1960s) a few years back? I was sorry to see it canceled but I was obviously in the minority.