IMAGINE BOARDING A LUXURIOUS WINGED OCEAN LINER IN MIDAFTERNOON, THEN RELAXING AS IT TAXIS SLOWLY INTO SAN FRANCISCO BAY.
Suddenly there’s a mighty roar from its four engines and the behemoth accelerates. You watch through portholes as the spray diminishes. Then, almost imperceptibly, there’s a feeling of release as the giant flying boat breaks the water’s surface tension and lifts smoothly into the air. Shortly, at cruise altitude, the seat belt sign goes out and you experience the ultimate in cruise ship luxury: drinks served in crystal and cuisine fit for royalty on china. Some enjoy a berth for the all-night journey to Hawaii or points west.
The clientele on these Pan American Airways Clipper flights was so exclusive that during the first years of operation the airline provided passengers with a copy of both the crew and passenger manifest. Meanwhile, for the crew, the 15-to 20-hour overnight flight was an exercise in fatigue management.
In the early to mid-1930s, the Pan American Clippers became an indispensable part of world commerce. Travel time between Hawaii and the mainland was reduced from five days and four nights at sea to less than 20 hours in the air. The nearly month-long journey by ship to Manila was reduced to 60 flying hours.
The genesis of what ultimately became Pan American Airways began in 1926 when 27-year-old Juan Terry Trippe and Yale classmates and fellow pilots John Hambleton and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney—along with Cornelius’ cousin, William H. Vanderbilt—formed Colonial Air Transport. Their financial motive was an airmail contract between New York and Boston since in those days landplanes could not carry enough passengers to make them
