Pan Am: An Airline and Its Aircraft

98 Pages·1987·73.92 MB·English

by  R.E.G. Davies

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AN AIRLINE AN·D ITS AIRCRAFT
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AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST AIRLINE
AND THE AIRPLANES THAT
REVOLUTIONIZED AIR TRANSPORT
FROM 1927 TO THE PRESENT.
D By R.E-. G. DAVIES D Illustrated By MIKE MACHAT D
AN AIRLINE AND ITS AIRCRAFT
OTHER BOOKS BY R.E.G. DAVIES
A History of the World's Airlines
Airlines of the United States Since 1914
Airlines of Latin America Since 1919
Continental Airlines-the First Fifty Years
Rebels and Reformers of the Airways
, AN AIRLINE AND ITS AIRCRAFT
By R.E.G. DAVIES
Illustrated By MIKE MACHAT
a
ORION
BOOKS
ORION BOOKS / NEW YORK
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Althea "Gerry" Lister,
whose unstinting efforts as Pan American's historian
andrecordkeeperthroughoutmostofPanAmerican's
industriouslifehavesetastandardofexcellencewhich
Ihopethisbookcanaspireto.
Textandmapscopyright© 1987byR.E.G.Davies
Illustrationscopyright© 1987ByMikeMachat
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedor
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanicaL
includingphotocopy,recording, oranyinformationstorageandretrieval
system,withoutthewrittenpermissionofthepublisher,
PublishedbyOrionBooks,a divisionofCrownPublishers,Inc., 225ParkAvenue
South,NewYork,N.Y. 10003,andrepresentedinCanadabytheCanadianMANDAGroup.
ORIONandColophonaretrademarksofCrownPublishers,Inc.
ManufacturedinJapan
DesignedbyMikeMachat
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Davies,R.E.G.(RonaldEdwardGeorge)
PanAmerican, AnAirlineandItsAircraft
I.PanAmericanAirways,Inc.-History. 2.Aero
nautics,Commercial-UnitedSlates-History.3.Airlines
-UnitedStates-History.1.Title.
HE9803P36D38 1987 387.7'065'73 87-5581
ISBN0-517-56639-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
FirstEdition
Contents
TheGreatPiston-EnginedLandplanes
PreludetoPanAm 2-3
TheModernAirliner DouglasDC-2 44-45
TheOldIndestructible DouglasDC-3 46-47
TheFormativeYears
Flying"AbovetheWeather" Boeing307Stratoliner 48-49
TheFormationof
PanAmericanAirways TheFortuitousFirstService 4-5 TheyAlsoServed SikorskyS-43 50-51
TheFirstPanAmericanService FokkerF-VIIa/3m 6-7 TransoceanLandplane DouglasDC-4 52-53
WestIndianAerialExpress KeystonePathfinder 8-9 EflicientElegance Lockheed049Constellation 54-55
LuxuryAloft Boeing377Stratocruiser 56-57
CiaMexicanadeAviaci6n Fairchild71 10-11
TheSecondLevel Convair240 58-59
EncirclingtheCaribbean SikorskyS-38 12-13
LestWeForget. CurtissC-46 60-61
PanAmerican-GraceAirways FairchildFC-2W2 14-15
TheThoroughbredAirliner DouglasDC-6B 62-63
PanAm's
NonstopTrans-AtlanticatLast DouglasDC-7C"SevenSeas" 64-65
LatinAmericanWorkhorse PanAm'sFords 16-17
TheJetAge
AVersatileMetalAirplane FordTri-Motor 18-19
TheJetAgeBegins Boeing707-120 66-67
NewYork,Rioand
BuenosAiresLine ConsolidatedCommodore 20-21 ChangeofAllegiance DouglasDC-8-32 68-69
TheEraofDomination Boeing707-320C 70-71
TheSCADTAStory PanAm'sCovertConnections 22-23
Variationsona Theme Boeing720B 72-73
MexicanManeuvering CaribbeanConsolidation 24-25
TheMostSuccessfulAirliner Boeing727 74-75
TheFirstAtlanticSortie FokkerF-IOA 26-27
PermutationsonthePedigree Boeing737 76-77
TheWide-BodiedEra
TheFlyingBoatEra
TheUltimateAirliner Boeing747 78-79
TheFirstClipperShip Sikorsky5-40 28-29
TheUltimateRange Boeing747SP 80-81
TransoceanicProblems PlanningforthePacific 30-31
DomesticRoutesatLast McDonnellDouglasDC-IO 82-83
OperationsinAlaska LockheedL-l0Electra 32-33
TrijetQuandary LockheedL-1O11TriStar 84-85
ChinaNationalAviationCorp. DouglasDolphin 34-35
TheWindofChange AirbusA300B4andDH
AnAirlinerBeforeItsTime SikorskyS-41 36-37 (Canada)DashSeven 86-87
ConquestofthePacific MartinM-130 38-39 Appendices
AssociatesandSubsidiaries 88
Competitionfor
AtlanticSupremacy TheContenders 40-41 PanAm'sFlyingBoatsinPerspective 89
TheGreatestFlyingBoat Boeing314 42-43 Index 90
The Airline of 1,000 Airplanes Acknowledgments
In this book 982 Pan American aircraft are listed Incompilingthematerialinthisbook,Iamindebted
individuallybyregistrationandconstructor'snumbers, to many sources, notably to Pan American's own
andwiththeirClippernames.PanAmericanalsotook records,patientlyestablishedbyveterankeeperofthe
possession of 20 or more SCADTA aircraft and so the books Althea Lister and continued since 1974by Ann
total hasexceeded LOOO. There were 103flyingboats, Whyte. These have been supplemented by compre
including 38 S-38s Exactly 100 DC-2s and DC-3s are hensivecontributionsfrom manysources, HarryGann
accountedfor, aswell as92 DC-4s. SofarPan Amhas ofDouglas,Dr.PetervanDrielofBoeing,HarveyLippin
operated381jets. cott of United Technologies, Theron Reinhart of Fair
To provide every aircraft detail would require a child, and many contributors from the American
muchlargervolumethanthis.SomeClippers,forexam Aviation Historical Society, notably Bill Larkins, world
ple, hadasmanyasfive differentnamesbutonlythe authorityontheFordTri-Motor, andRichardAllen, spe
firstandbestknownislistedhere. cialistonLockheedandmuchelse, andDonThomas.
Among the modern types, fuel capacity and Mostofthephotographswere fromPan American's
payload have been traded off depending upon the voluminousfiles-alsoestablishedby"Gerry"Lister-or
mission required of each individual type. Here, the from those of the National Air and Space Museum.
range and seating quoted have been selected as Those oftheearlyGermanaircraftandairshipscame
thosenormallyusedtocomplywiththemajorityofthe from Lufthansa, most of the Mexican aircraft from the
missionsdemandedbyPanAmerican.Weightsquoted filesofIng. JoseVillela-G6mez, andthefineShortsS-23
areinshorttons(2,000lb.);dimensionsareroundedoff picturefrom the Rudy Arnold collectionatNASM. The
to the nearestfooL and dates are stated accordingto early Chinese aircraft of CNAC were from Mrs. Price,
international practice, i.e., day, month, year, inthat courtesy of Dr. BillLeary, andone ortwophotographs
order. Numberofseatsismixedclass. werefromMikeMachat'sormyowncollections.
FinallyIwouldliketo thankBobvanderLindenfor
helpingmetoselectthephotographsandforactingas
my technical conscience throughout the preparation
ofthebook, andtoDonnaCorbettfortheindex.
REG.D.
Further Reading
I hope that the contents of this book will stimulate
readerstoseekmoredetailedreadingmaterialonthe
fascinatingstoryofPanAmericanAirways.Forthispur Artist's Notes -
AircraftColorSchemes
pose,Irecommendotherbooksofmineandthefollow
ingspecialistworksonPanAmericanAirways, After thirty years of researching aircraft color
The Struggle for Airlines in Latin America, by schemes, I have discovered "Machat's Law" - "The
William Burden (New York Council on Foreign onlyconsistencyinaircraftcolorschemesistheirincon
Relations,(1943) sistency:' The corollary states, "Upon review of five
examplesofonetypeofaircraft,allfivewillhavecolor
Empire of the Air, by Matthew Josephson (Har schemevariations:'
courtBrace, 1943) Withthisinmind, Ifacedtheformidable challenge
ofdepictingPanAm'saircraftintheircorrectmarkings,
AirwaysAbroad,byHenryLaddSmith(University
onlyto discoverMachat'sLawatwork again. Theair
ofWisconsinPress, 1950)
craftshown arethe first examplesofeachtype deliv
AnNnericanSaga-Juan TrippeandhisPanAm ered to Pan American unless noted otherwiSe. The
Empire, byRobertDaley(RandomHouse, 1980) criterion for each choice was, therefore, the delivery
date published in official Pan Am records, and not
The Chosen Instrument, byMarylin Bender and necessarilythefirstaircraftinservice.
SeligAltschul There was, however, some consistency, the colors.
Fromthe 1930suntil 1958, Pan Americanused a dark
The Perilous Sky, by WesleyPhilips Newton(Uni
bluetrim(PMS289)anda lightlmediumblue(PMS299)
versityofMiamiPress, 1978)
thereafter.Theinsigniawasinblackuntilthelate1920s.
MM.
vi
Author Artist Publisher
I had just finished my contribution to John Wegg's Iagreedwithgreatpleasureandexpectationtojoin The name Pan American has for sixty years been
immaculatebookonFinnair, towhich endeavorMike forceswithRonDavies,oneofaviation'sleadingwriters synonomous with all our daydreams of what flying
Macha!. my former colleague at Douglas, had also and historians. to produce this unique work. Ron's should be-adventurous, romantic. and a force for
supplied his meticulous aircraft drawings. I was on a tireless interest and enthusiasm (not to mention his peace in bringing peoples and nations together.
Pan American trans-Atlantic flight and the idea of a ocasional slave-driving tendencies) have been an Duringthepioneeringdecadesofthe 1920sand 1930s,
new kind of aviation book occurred to me I hastily inspirationasthese pagesemergedfrom a congenial Pan American wasledbyone ofthe airlineindustry's
scribbled down some notes on the back of an writer-artistpartnership. giants, JuanTrippe,andadvisedby,amongothers,the
envelope, which I still have as a souvenir of howPan To me, the name PAN AMERICAN has always immortal Charles Lindbergh. They created a world
Am-AnAirlineandItsAircraftstarted. symbolized the future. In October, 1958, at the age of airline network by developing long range naviga
During 40 years of reading-and sometimes eleven,Ihadbeenoneofa crowdofonlookersatNew tional and logistical techniques. These were later to
writing-about airlines and airliners, I had observed York International Airport on the historic occasion assumesuchimmenseimportanceinWorldWarIIthat
thataviationliteratureseemedtofallbroadlyintotwo when the world's first two jetliners parked next to one Pan Am could be classified as a national asset. Its
categories.Ontheonehandwerethescholarlyworks. another on the ramp that crisp autumn afternoon, largely self-taught operational and engineering skills
Thesetracethedevelopmentofaircraftoranaspectof pausing for breath as they vied for pride of place in led to ocean-spanning achievements which estab
aviation in the customary academic style. Often the startingtheJetAge. lished the United States as pre-eminent in global air
text is relieved only by hundreds of footnotes, while B.0.A.C:sComet4seemeddwarfedbyPanAm's707 transportation. almos!, attheheightofthe JuanTrippe
some have a few token illustrations or exhibits. Such but both looked like machines from another galaxy era,toa positionofworlddominance.
bookshaveusuallyremainedontheshelfuntilneeded compared to the prop-driven Stratocruisers and The Martin Clipper's piston-engined radials that
by its owner to check a fact or figure. And they are Constellationsparkednearby. Thesceneisasvividin drovethepropellersthroughthe oceansprayandthe
usuallyexpensive. mymemory today as it was then. A year later, I was Pacific skies have given way to the enormous jet
The other type of aviation book is of the so-called thrilled to sit inthe left-hand cockpit seatofa Pan Am engines of the world-embracing Boeing 747s The trim
"coffeetable"variety,toooftenconsistingofa random DC-7C, and watch the new 707s at the gates. I was a but austere paint schemes of a bygone conservative
collection of photographs, poorly-and sometimes youthful witness to the "changing of the guard" as a era have givenway to the brilliant blue andwhite of
incorrectly-captioned. These touchonlysuperficially neweraunfoldedbeforemyeyes. Pan American's contemporary insignia, to symbolize
upontheselectedsubject.Nevertheless,manyofthese Nothing has revived the memory of that moment thetechnologicalmiracleofglobalairlineservice.
booksareartisticallyproduced.ofteninfullcolor.They morethantopreparethedrawingsforthisbookonPan TheCrownPublishingGrouphasbeenprivilegedto
are widely distributed, because of their eye-catching American'shistory.Equally,Ienjoyedthechallengeof work with the noted specialist on air transport and
attractiveness.andtheirtypicallylowerprice. undertaking the thorough research neededto ensure airline history, R. E. G. Davies, whose partnershipwith
Thisledmetoidentifyaparadox,thelattervarietyof the standards of accuracy that I know will be de the meticulous artist Mike Macha!, has produced this
booksusuallyreachesa muchlargeraudience;yetthe mandedbyauthor,publisher,andreaderalike. evocative presentation of the truly remarkable Pan
former type should be more widely read if the Many others have helped directly or indirectly to Americanstory.
fascinatingstoryofthedevelopmentoftheairtransport makethisprojecta reality. JohnWeggseta standardto ThePublisher
industryistobedisseminatedtogeneratemoreinterest. which we could all aspire with his magnificent books
I therefore decided to try to combine the best on Finnair and the Caravelle-in both of which Iwas
qualities of both types of book in a well-illustrated honored to participate. Fellow enthusiasts Jon Proctor
airline history. A key element would be fine aircraft and Craig Kodera offered research material specifi
drawings. supplemented by well selected photo callyformyartisticneeds.LennyPustilnick,backedby
graphs. concise explanatory text. maps, charts. FredDigbyandtheablecrewoftypesettersatAnthony
statistics, andtabular data. Thiswouldbe an exciting Type,lenthisdesignexpertisetohelpcreatethestyleof
way to tell an exciting story, and reasonably priced, textand page layouts. Ishouldmention alsothatRon
mightthusreacha biggerreadership. himselfpitchedinwiththemaps.
ThebackofmyenvelopechosePanAmericanasa ProductionAssistantMichelleGrisantiservedasmy
model. During the 60 years of its brilliant history, it proverbial right hand in keeping the studio under
pioneeredtransoceanandintercontinentalairroutes; controL andIthank especially mywife Sheri and my
it sponsored airplane types which were in the van of daughterMelissa (who, at two, can identify a "Super
technical progress, and as the Chosen Instrument of Eighty") for enduring the hectic months of frenetic
commercial aviation policy overseas, it became a activitynecessarytoproducea workofthiskind.
powerful political force. Without Pan American the
course of air transport. even some nations' destinies. MikeMachat
wouldhavebeendifferent.
Mike Machat's artistry and the enthusiastic coop
eration of the publishers have helped me to tell Pan
American'sstoryina newway.Ihopethattogetherwe
have been able to portray vividly and accurately its
roleintheglobaldevelopmentofairtransport.
R.E.G.Davies
TI
,
Prelude To Pan Am
Florida-The Cradle of World War had ended, the next airline to start regular
Air Transport in the United States service in the United Stateswas also based in Florida,
offeredcompetitionwithshipping,andalsousedflying
Although sustained for only three months, the boatsinsteadoflandplanes.
St.Petersburg-TampaAirboatLinecouldjustlyclaim
to be the world's first airline. Percival Fansler. the Aeromarine-The First
't
founder, chose a Benoist XIV flying boat as hisequip Foreign Air Mail Contract r
ment andoneofthe famousaviatorsofthe day, Tony
Jannus, ashispilot. Dailyoperationsbeganon1Janu Oneofthemostunder-recognizedpioneerairlinesin
'~
ary 1914 on the 18-mile route across Tampa Bay. The the UnitedStateswasAeromarine, a companystarted
I
farewasS5.00,orthesameamountfor 100lb.offreight attheendofWorldWarIbyInglisM.Uppercu,a former
fortheone-waytrip. New York automobile distributor, and founder of the
Thispioneercompanycarried 1204passengersand Aeromarine Plane and Motor Corporation at Keyport.
someairexpresspackagesuntilthefirstweekinApriL NewJersey.Uppercuboughtsomeex-NavyCurtissF-5L
whenitceasedoperations,partlybecauseofthewane coastalpatrolflyingboatsandconvertedthemtocarry
of the tourist season, and partly because of Jannus's asmanyasfourteenpassengers.
desire to seek other adventures. He eventually found At about the same time, a small company, Florida
theseintheGreatWarinEurope, andwaskilledwhile West Indies Airways, had received a foreign air mail
trainingRussianpilotsin 1917. contract from the U.S. Post Office on 15 October 1920
Fansler's initiative proved that passengers and But it was unable to begin service and Aeromarine Aeromarine'sCurtissF-5Lcarriedpassengersandmailasearlyas1920.
packagescouldbe carried safelybyair, andthat an took over the operation as Aeromarine West Indies
airlinecouldpayitswayunderspecialcircumstances Airways. The contract was the first of its kind to be
True,theSt.Petersburgcityfatherssubsidizedtheopera issued,butAeromarinewasthesecondtobeginservice
tion'butFanslerpaidbackmostoftheloanfromearn on 1November. Another operation, Eddie Hubbard's
ings. One lesson to be learnedwas that an overwater Seattle-Victoria (British Columbia) line got under way
route offered an excellent opportunity for airplanesto first. althoughhiswasthesecondcontracttobeissued.
., <i
compete with surface transport because ships were ThethirdwasgrantedtoMerrillRiddick,whoopeneda ,,',' ' 7
slow by comparison. A natural assumption was that routefromNewOrleanstoPilottown. . '" '~:")."-.~ 'Y
. ~',';\'1):'
waterborneaircraftweresaferintheeventofa forced Aeromarine'swas easilythe most extensive opera
landing. Also, in the case of the route between tion ofthe three, eventhoughitwasseasonal Thebig ";M'laml' '-",5"].:' y·1
St Petersburg and Tampa, the surface journey at that Curtissboats, weighingseventons, fullyloaded,witha
time wascircuitous, addingtime, expense, andincon cruising range of four hours, were impressive for their
veniencetoanotherwisesimplejourney. time. Unlike the othertwo mail lines, Aeromarine also KeyWest
The conclusion was widely drawn, therefore, that carried passengers. On 1November 1921 they began
flying boats or floatplanes were suitable for commer two regular daily services, Key West-Havana and
cialairplane operations. Fouryearslater, afterthe first Miami-Nassau.The lOS-mileHavanatriptookbetween Havan,a
lV2and 2hoursandcost S50oneway, comparedwith
Sl9 for an all-day voyage by ship. A similar ratio
appliedtotheS85flightonthe 185-mileNassauroute.
Uppercu showed remarkable ingenuity in utilizing
his aircraft. When the Florida winter vacation ended, ..... REGD
he moved the fleet north to New York and the Great
Lakesandoperatedservicesthereduringthesummer.
Thisseasonalroutine,incidentally.wasrepeatedhalfa
century later by the Provincetown-Boston Airline.
Nevertheless, inspite ofcarrying almost 20,000 pas
sengersinperfectsafetyina littlemorethantwoyears,
Aeromarinecouldnotpayitsway. Itfoldedupin 1923.
and itsmailcontractlapsed. Bythistimethe KeyWest
Havana route had presumably been designated as
FAM 1. WhenPanAmericantookitoverin 1927,itwas
designated FAM 4, the original number having been
TheBenoistXIV-firstscheduledairlinetllghtintheworld.
reallocatedtoColonialAirways.
2
The Colombian Challenge
tobeshippedtoColombia.Theywere ownedbyCon
During the early 1920s, the United States lagged dorandleasedtoSCADTA.
behind Europe and other areas of the world in the VonBauerthenembarkedonaboldventure.Heled
developmentofairtransport.TheGermansparticularly a delegationtothe UnitedStatesinthetwo Wals, leav
hadbeenremarkably enterprisinginovercomingthe ing Barranquilla on 18 August 1925 and arriving in
restrictionsoftheTreatyofVersaillesbydesigningsome Havanaon 1April. Aftersome U.S. prevarication, only
tineaircraft, bUildingandoperatingthemifnecessary thePacificowasallowedtoflytoFlorida.Hammerwent
in foreign countries In South America, a group of toNewYork, toenlistbusinesssupport, whilevonBauer
Colombian and German businessmen founded the went to Washington, and obtained an audience with
SociedadColombo-AlemanadeTransportesAereos President Coolidge. But he received little encourage
(SCADTA)on5December 1919. ment. and only the Commerce Department showed
Demonstrating remarkable initiative, the company anyrealinterest.
imported some Junkers-F 13 metal aircraft, fitted with The delegation had to return, frustrated, to Colom
floats, to operatealongtheMagdalenaRiver. Theline bia. Had the negotiations succeeded, SCADTA could
opened on 19 September 1921 and has continued to havestarteda trans-Caribbeanservice,andthechron
operate ever since. Today's AVIANCA, Colombia's icleofairlinehistorywouldhavebeenverydifferent.
nationalairline, isSCADTA'sdirectdescendant, andis Von Bauer's expedition certainly gave food tor
thustheoldestairlineintheAmericas. thoughtintheUSA Withina fewweeks, on8January
PeterPaulvonBauer,headofSCADTA,consolidatec;l 1926,theState Departmentcalledaninterdepartmen
a Colombiandomesticnetworkandthencasthiseyes talconference.TheAirCommerceActandtheForeign
northwards.AGermanmastersalesman,FritzHammer, AirMailActwerepassedshortlyafterwards.TheU.S.A.
representing the Condor Syndikat, arranged for two was about to enter the international commercial air
DornierWalflyingboats,theAtlanticoandthePacifico, linearena. Allitneededwasanairline.
TheDornierWolPacificoatLakeAmatjtlan,Guatemala.
UNITED STATES
200 400
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