China Clipper
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The China Clipper (NC14716) was the first of three Martin M-130 four engine flying boats built for Pan American Airways and was used to inaugurate the first commercial Trans-Pacific air service from San Francisco to Manila in November, 1935. Built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, at a cost of $417,000, it was delivered to Pan Am on October 9, 1935.
On November 22, 1935 it took-off from Alameda, California in an attempt to deliver the first airmail cargo across the Pacific Ocean. (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 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
Cover flown on the "China Clipper" on the first commercial transpacific flight from Alameda, CA, to Manila, PI (FAM 14) November 22-29, 1935 (The Cooper Collections)
- 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.[citation needed]
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.
[edit] 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 (film) in 1936. It made use of much stock footage of the airplane and was one of Humphrey Bogart's early roles.
- The Monkees' 1967 song "Zilch" contains the line "China Clipper calling Alameda".
- In Detroit, Michigan, there is a Chinese Restaurant named the "China Clipper", with a neon sign of a Martin M-130 flying boat as its billboard.
[edit] 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.
- "Transpacific" Time (Magazine), December 2, 1935
