China Clipper

Information about China Clipper

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After 59 hours and 48 minutes the China Clipper arrives in Manila from San Francisco


The China Clipper was the Martin M-130 flying boat NC14716 used by Pan American Airways for its San Francisco to Manila route. It was built by the Glenn L. Martin Company.

Although its inaugural flight plan called for the China Clipper to fly over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (still under construction at the time), upon take-off the pilot realized the plane would not clear the structure, and was forced to narrowly fly under instead.

On November 22, 1935 it took-off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean. On November 29, the airplane reached its destination, Manila, after traveling via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam, and delivered over 110,000 pieces of mail. The crew for this flight consisted of:
  • Edwin C. Musick - Pilot
  • R. O. D. Sullivan - First Officer
  • V. A. Wright - Flight Engineer
  • Fred Noonan - Navigator
  • W. T. Jarboe - First Radio Officer
  • George King - Second Officer
  • C. D. Wright - Second Radio Officer
The inauguration of ocean airmail service and commercial air flight across the Pacific was a significant event for both California and the world. Its departure point is California Historical Landmark #968 and can be found in Naval Air Station Alameda.

Interestingly, just prior to the China Clipper's maiden flight, two Japanese nationals were caught aboard the aircraft as they were attempting to sabotage the plane's radio direction finder. The incident was kept quiet in an effort to avoid publicity.

The navigator for the November 22, 1935 flight, Fred Noonan, went on to work with Amelia Earhart and disappeared along with her over the western Pacific ocean in 1937.

The China Clipper remained in Pan Am service until January 8, 1945, when it was destroyed in a crash in Port of Spain, Trinidad. 16 passengers and 9 crew members died in that crash.

China Clipper in popular culture

  • The China Clipper was referred to as "Sweet Sixteen" by Pan American personnel. The "Sixteen" is a reference to the aircraft's registration number NC14716.
  • The China Clipper is a popular model airplane subject.
  • First National Pictures released a movie called China Clipper in 1936. It made use of much stock footage of the airplane and was one of Humphrey Bogart's early roles.
  • "The China Clipper" is also a nickname for former Canadian Football League running back Normie Kwong.
  • "China Clipper" is also a Classic Sail Yacht commissioned by Alan Miller, designed by Sparkman & Stephens, built by Wing on Shing, yacht-builders in Hong Kong in 1963.
  • The Monkees' 1967 song "Zilch" contains the line "China Clipper calling Alameda".

References

  • Alameda. California Historical Landmarks. Office of Historical Preservation. Retrieved on 2005-08-25.
  • Wings to the Orient, Pan-Am Clipper Planes 1935-1945. Author: Stan Cohen. Publisher: Pictorial Histories.

External links

The Martin M-130 was a rare but influential plane designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. Only three of these aircraft were built and all were sold to Pan American Airways at $417,000 per copy: the China Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the
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A flying boat is a type of aircraft which uses its fuselage as a floating hull, generally stabilised on the water surface by underwing floats or stub projections. It is a specialised form of seaplane, an aircraft that is designed to take off and land on water utilising a carriage
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PA ICAO
PAA Callsign
Clipper
Founded 1927 (as Pan American Airways)
Hubs Miami International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
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City and County of San Francisco
"The Painted Ladies"

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Nickname: The City, The City by the Bay, San Fran, Frisco,[1] Baghdad by the Bay[2]
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City of Manila
Lungsod ng Maynila

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Nickname: The City of Our Affections, City by the Bay, Distinguished and Ever Loyal City
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The Glenn L. Martin Company was an early U.S. aircraft company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin. The company went through a number of mergers over time and now exists as Lockheed Martin.[1]

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San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (; known locally as the Bay Bridge) is a toll bridge which spans San Francisco Bay and links the California cities of Oakland and San Francisco in the United States, as part of Interstate 80.
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City of Alameda, California

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Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send. Airmail may be the only option for sending mail to some destinations, such as overseas, if the mail cannot wait the time it
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Wake Island

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Edwin C. Musick (c. 1894, St. Louis, Missouri – January 11, 1938, Pago Pago, American Samoa) was Chief Pilot for Pan American World Airways and pioneered many of Pan Am's transoceanic routes including the famous route across the Pacific Ocean on the China Clipper.
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Frederick Joseph Noonan (4 April 1893 – missing 2 July 1937, declared dead 20 June 1938[1]) was a flight navigator, sea captain and aviation pioneer who first charted many commercial airline routes across the Pacific Ocean during the 1930s.
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Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send. Airmail may be the only option for sending mail to some destinations, such as overseas, if the mail cannot wait the time it
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Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. Built on reclaimed land at the west end of Alameda Island, the site was acquired by the USAAC in 1930 but turned over to the Navy in 1936.
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Amelia Mary Earhart (24 July 1897 – missing 2 July 1937, declared deceased 5 January 1939) was a noted American aviation pioneer, author and women's rights advocate.[1][2] Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross,
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