Classroom clipper, Vol. I, No. 6, March 1945

              March, 1945
Published by Pan American World Airways
Yol. I, No. 6
AIR LINES HELP IN SOLVING WAR’S SUPPLY PROBLEMS
BY FLYING UNDER CONTRACT TO U. S. ARMY AND NAVY
Air Transport Operations Place U. S. Headquarters Within 3 Days of Any Fighting Front
In this war, the modern equivalents of the infamous horseshoe nail whose lack led to the defeat of an army get to the battlefield on time by air.
The organization of world-wide air supply services of the Army and Navy air forces on every continent except Antarctica, and in most of the ocean areas, ranks with the development of a combat air army capable of putting 7,000 bombers in the air at one time. It puts Washington, D. C. or any military center in the U.S. within three days of the most distant fighting front.
This world-wide international air transport system came into being in a matter of weeks after war’s beginning through the efforts and close cooperation of all who were in a position to contribute, whether in uniform or in civilian clothes. Organizing personnel were drawn from the Army and Navy air forces and the commercial air lines, and these individuals trained others recruited from all walks of life.
In the Army the responsibility is entrusted to the Air Transport Command, familiarly known as ATC. The Navy’s organization for the same type of operation is the Naval Air Transport Service, NATS.
Army and Navy transport type airplanes were assigned to the operation, flown by military crews assigned to that duty.
Constellation Sets New Record Flying From Pacific to Miami
The first of two Lockheed Constellations flown last month from the factory at Burbank, Calif, to the Pan American World Airways base in Miami covered the distance coast to coast in 8 hours and 43 minutes, a record for the flight from the Pacific Coast to Florida.
The two new four-engine giants will go into' service in the P.A.A.—operated contract air service for the Army’s A.T.C.
The country’s commercial airlines were asked to carry on their existing services for transportation of passengers, mail and express under a priority system, and at the same time to undertake contracts with both the Army and Navy to operate services exclusively for ATC and NATS. These assignments included domestic and overseas transportation services, and special training for pilots, navigators, flight engineers, and other specialists. Every U. S. air line contributed in one way or another to organizing the air transport phase of the war effort.
Experience, knowledge of techniques, manuals, blueprints of specifications — all went into a common pool. Everything that (Continued on page 4)
CLIPPER IS DESIGNED FOR 204 PASSENGERS
New Craft Will Fly Over Oceans at 342 Miles per Hour
A fleet of giant 204-passenger land-based Clippers, vastly exceeding the size of any transport aircraft previously proposed, has been ordered from Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation by Pan American World Airways.
The new Clipper’s wing span of 230 feet will be twice that of a Liberator bomber and equal approximately to the height of a 21-story building. Its six engines, of a new type now under development, will produce power equivalent to that of 353 average automobile engines.
Cruising speeds will range from 310 to 342 miles per hour, varying with altitude and power output selected by the Captain. Cabins will be conditioned for operation as high above the ocean as 30,000 feet.
Eight of the new Clippers operating on the Atlantic route, supported by three additional craft during high traffic summer months, would transport 442,764 passengers annually using 50 percent of passenger capacity. On the Pacific, three of the 204-passenger Clippers, at 50 per cent capacity, could carry 150,106 passengers per year.
The capacity and speed of the craft will be translated into unprecedented low fares not possible with smaller aircraft.
These new Clippers are in addition to other new designs previously announced.
CORONADO—Designed as a patrol bomber the Consolidated Coronado was converted for transport service on NATS routes over the Pacific and Atlantic. From its official designation PB2Y3, flight crews worked out the affectionate nickname “2 by 3”.